Civil Air Patrol

Martin squadron hosts wreath laying ceremony

12/25/2017 – Middle River, MD.:– Maryland Wing Civil Air Patrols Glenn L. Martin Composite Squadron hosted an annual wreath laying ceremony to honor and remember our fallen military veterans.

The event was held at Holly Hill Memorial Gardens, at the Lamky Luther Whitehead Veterans Memorial. Each branch of the military, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines, were represented by laying a wreath at the memorial. An additional prisoner of war wreath was placed to honor those veterans that never returned.

Cadet Captain Greggor Hines began the ceremony with a moment of silence. Cadets Jose E. Boscana, Felix Caratini, Zachary Packer and Jakob Ranlet, the squadron color guard, posted the colors. State Delegate Rick Metzgar lead the more than 100 attendees in a prayer. Cadet Second Lieutenant Valerie Purdie led our special guests, placing the wreaths along the memorial.

As the ceremony ended, Cadet Second Lieutenant Jose A. Boscana urged those in attendance to, “Write down the information on the person placed [in the cemetery] and when you return home, research their name on the Internet and find out all you can about this person. You will find they were real Americans with families, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles. They were and are more than just a statistic.”

Over 350 wreaths were placed on individual sites in the cemetery as part of the event.

For pictures and video of the ceremony, visit www.glmcscap.org for links to our social media accounts.

Glenn L. Martin Composite Squadron meets every Thursday from 6:45 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Martin State Airport. For information on the squadron, including meeting address and contact information, visit www.glmcscap.org. Follow the squadron on Facebook at www.facebook.com/glmcscap and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/glmcscap.

Nearly 1,500 CAP members serve in Maryland. Last year wing members flew 13 search and rescue missions. The wing was credited with four finds. Maryland Wing flew 32 missions for the State of Maryland. Members flew 2,245 hours in all mission categories. Volunteers contributed services estimated at $4.6 million. For more information, contact the Maryland Wing at mdwg.cap.gov or follow the wing on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MarylandWingCivilAirPatrol.

Civil Air Patrol, the longtime all-volunteer U.S. Air Force auxiliary, is the newest member of the Air Force’s Total Force. In this role, CAP operates a fleet of 560 aircraft, performs about 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and is credited by the AFRCC with saving an average of 80 lives annually. CAP’s 57,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. CAP also plays a leading role in aerospace/STEM education, and its members serve as mentors to 24,000 young people participating in CAP’s Cadet Programs. Visit www.GoCivilAirPatrol.com for more information.

 

This article is also posted on Patch: https://patch.com/maryland/essex/civil-air-patrol-hosts-wreath-ceremony

 

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Lt. Col. Christopher Roche

Public Affairs Officer

Glenn L. Martin Composite Squadron