Christmas Honors Committee

On Saturday, December 10, 2011 citizens of the Greater Fort Smith Region are invited to honor the servicemen and women of our community, who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.  Family, friends and volunteers will transform the Fort Smith National Cemetery by placing a wreath on each of the 13,000 headstones in their honor.  

In 2009, the Education and Quality of Place Division of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce decided to transform the Fort Smith National Cemetery during the holiday season and a local program was born- Christmas Honors. With the help of over 1,000 volunteers 12,000 wreaths were placed on every headstone at the cemetery. Last year, with the help of over 1,700 volunteers each headstone had a wreath.

This Friday, December 9, 2011, volunteers will gather to assembly 13,000 wreaths and replace over 3,000 bows with new ones. The wreath assembly will take place at the Fort Smith Convention Center from 8:00 A.M. – 3:00 P.M. Volunteers are needed to assist in the assembly and preparation for Saturday.

Saturday, December 10, 2011 at the Fort Smith National Cemetery
9:00 A.M.         Family Distribution of Wreaths. Please respect the hour of 9am-10am to allow family members time to place wreaths on their loved one’s headstones and locate family gravesites.
9:30 A.M.       Musical entertainment provided by Christ the King, St. Boniface and Immaculate Conception Catholic School Choirs.
10:00 A.M.       Public Distribution of Wreaths  
10:30 A.M.       Procession of approximately 50-75 Combat Veteran Bikers
10:55 A.M.       National Anthem by Jessica Newman, 5th grader from Immaculate Conception
11:00 A.M.       Wreath Across America Ceremony begins with a flyover by The188th Fighter Wing and ceremonial remarks by U.S. Senator John Boozman, Mayor Sandy Sanders, Craig LaChance, Marvin Mendenhall and others. The ceremony will conclude with a firing line and echo TAPS.


Please reserve the limited parking inside the cemetery for the handicap and elderly visitors who are unable to walk. Parking is available in lots and along street side of Rogers and Garrison in the Downtown District. The City of Fort Smith and USA Truck will have busses available to pick you up and then to return you to your vehicle. We greatly appreciate your cooperation with this. Busses will begin operating at 8:30 A.M. and will remain in the area until 1:00 P.M.

Candlelight Vigil on Monday, December 12, 2011 at the Fort Smith National Cemetery
The program will begin at 5:30 p.m. and will last approximately one hour. The Fort Smith Chorale and Fort Smith Firefighters Pipe and Drum Corp will provide music. Colonel Tom Anderson, Wing and Air Commander of the 188th Fighter Wing, will honor the 22 Arkansas service members who lost their lives in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.  Chairs will be provided for those who are unable to stand during the program.

This event could not be possible without volunteers and resources. Below are several ways one can contribute to honoring our service members.

Monetary Donations - Each year we will need to purchase additional wreaths and ribbons for the headstones of those laid to rest during the previous year. At some point, the artificial wreaths will need to be replaced. Therefore, continuous contributions over the years will aid in this effort when needed. Your donation will fulfill several years of awe-inspiring Christmases at the Fort Smith National Cemetery.

Monetary donations are being accepted at the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce located at 612 Garrison Ave.  Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901 479-783-3111. Please make all checks/payments payable to “Christmas Honors” c/o the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce. Tax ID #: 71-0029620

Volunteers - We need people who are able to help assembly, distribution and pick-up/store the wreaths, etc.

Visit www.ChristmasHonors.org for information on the schedule, contacts, donations, etc.

“A veteran’s greatest fear is not of dying but of being forgotten...”

***“Christmas Honors” was inspired from  www.WreathsAcrossAmerica.org where as part of the program, the Arlington National Cemetery’s gravesites are decorated every Christmas season with wreaths with red ribbons to honor those who have given their lives to provide the freedoms we enjoy in our beloved Nation. The cemetery is transformed into a vision of beauty, and the families of those buried at Arlington take comfort in seeing the respect that is shown to their grandfathers, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, friends and other fallen heroes who so loved our Country.