GRAND JUNCTION, Colo (KKCO) The 21st annual "Wreaths Across America" event took place at Veteran's cemeteries across America, including Grand Junction. The Patriot Guard Riders, Grand Valley Combined Honor Guard, and dozens of Veterans came out to pay their respects. The event honors fallen heroes and Veterans by placing wreaths on their headstones. The wreaths are made possible by donations from individuals, businesses, and non-profits.
Organizers say it's important to never forgot those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

"It's really their Christmas; it's one of those things that they're not here, but yet they are here; they're still here with us, and to place that wreath with the ones that we had out here yesterday (Friday) doing it, I think everybody, they took a great pride in placing that on each of the headstones. We buried almost 800 of them out here, well over 800 of them; and now doing this for them; it just added that much more, to what it means to me anyway, to come out here and honor these Veterans and so forth, for what they did ahead of us and so forth, it's humbling," said Art Edwards, Assistant State Captain with the Patriot Guard Riders.

The event was started in 1991 by the Worcester wreath company in Harrington Maine, who donated a surplus of wreaths to Arlington National Cemetery that year.

The company now donates seven wreaths to every U.S. Veteran's Cemetery, and 24 veteran's cemeteries on foreign soil, to support the event.