United States Daughters of 1812 recently recognized Pat McLemore of Mount Ida for her work on behalf of the Unknown Soldier.
State President Sheila Beatty of Hot Springs Village made the presentation, according to a news release.
Since 2016, the Baseline-Meridian Chapter of U.S.D. 1812 has placed faux Christmas wreaths on the graves of unknown soldiers buried at the Little Rock National Cemetery. Prior to this, the soldiers’ graves were lying bare as there were no relatives left to honor their sacrifice, according to a news release.
More than 3,000 wreaths with red ribbons attached were placed. By 2022, the ribbons needed to be replaced. As president of the Baseline-Meridian Chapter, McLemore accepted the task of purchasing the ribbons to be installed by Christmas 2023, according to the release.
Canvassing businesses, veterans service organizations, and other lineage societies for funding, the ribbon needed to cover all the graves was attained.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
McLemore then arranged for volunteers to meet and replace the old bows with new ones. Volunteers from the Arkansas Army National Guard assisted the U.S.D. 1812. Still coordinating, McLemore scheduled the placement of the wreaths, then after Christmas 2023, scheduled the pickup for storage. She estimates she gave more than 400 hours for this project.
There are currently five veterans’ cemeteries in Arkansas: Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery, North Little Rock; Fayetteville National Cemetery, Fort Smith National Cemetery, Little Rock National Cemetery and Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery, Birdeye.
Most of these cemeteries have had Christmas wreaths placed on each veteran’s grave by individuals and corporations in recent years. The Little Rock National Cemetery encompasses 31 acres and is the resting place for 27,000 veterans of all the wars since the Civil War, according to the release.
Early in the Civil War, the land that is currently the national cemetery was located outside city limits and was used for Union encampments. With Union troops still occupying the city in 1866, a portion of the new city cemetery was purchased by the government and set aside for military interments, according to the release.