Beaufort News

48-foot-long mobile veterans museum travels the nation. It will be in Beaufort Monday

A rolling interactive museum that remembers the nation’s fallen veterans, honors those currently serving and educates the next generation about freedom is stopping in Beaufort Monday.

Beaufort is one stop on the national tour of the Wreaths Across America (WAA) Mobile Education Exhibit, Beaufort County Veterans Affairs and WAA accounced Friday.

It’s a 48-foot-long mobile museum that educates visitors about the service of the nation’s veterans and serves as an official “Welcome Home” station for Vietnam veterans.

The Wreaths Across America Mobile Education Exhibit will be in Beaufort on Monday.
The Wreaths Across America Mobile Education Exhibit will be in Beaufort on Monday. Wreaths Across America

Wreaths Across America is a not-for-profit that launched an annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in 2007 that’s since expanded to veterans cemeteries across the country, including Beaufort National Cemetery.

Through the program, people can purchase wreaths, which are then donated to local cemeteries and placed on headstones to honor veterans.

In 2022, the organization placed more than 2.7 million sponsored veterans’ wreaths at more than 3,700 participating locations nationwide.

It’s a popular program in Beaufort, home to the Beaufort National Cemetery. Each year, WAA in Beaufort, in its 17th year, places wreaths on the headstones of many of the 26,000 veterans buried there. This year’s local ceremony is at noon Dec. 16.

Joe Fulgieri and Lynn Crouse of Beaufort place wreaths at headstones at Beaufort National Cemetery in 2019.
Joe Fulgieri and Lynn Crouse of Beaufort place wreaths at headstones at Beaufort National Cemetery in 2019. Lisa Wilson lwilson@islandpacket.com

The Mobile Education Exhibit will be in the Beaufort Town Center parking lot at 2015 Boundary Street 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday. It is free and open to the public. The exhibit is equipped with a 24-person screening room that showcases the different aspects of the WAA mission through video.

Remembrance wreaths can be sponsored for $17 at www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/GA0175P.

This story was originally published November 4, 2023 at 10:42 AM.

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Karl Puckett
The Island Packet
Karl Puckett covers the city of Beaufort, town of Port Royal and other communities north of the Broad River for The Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet. The Minnesota native also has worked at newspapers in his home state, Alaska, Wisconsin and Montana.
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