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He didn't introduce himself. He didn't have to. President Obama simply stuck out his hand and asked for my name as he stepped toward me amid a bone-chilling drizzle in the Gardens of Stone. This was Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery. I wasn't there as a reporter, but to visit some friends and family buried there when Obama made an unscheduled stop - a rare presidential walk among what Lincoln called America's "honored dead" - after laying a Veterans Day wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. What I got was an unexpected look into the eyes of a...

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were not invited to Arlington National Cemetery by Gold Star families last week to commemorate the third anniversary of the attack at Abbey Gate, a White House official and a Harris aide told NBC News, refuting separate claims made Sunday by GOP Sen. Tom Cotton and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. The two were speaking about former President Donald Trump's visit to Arlington National Cemetery last week, where he has drawn criticism for posing for photos with Gold Star families in a section of the cemetery where photos are traditionally prohibited. Last week,...

Fuming Kamala Harris supporters are calling for the director of the Arlington National Cemetery to be "fired" for allowing Donald Trump to attend a Monday memorial service for fallen soldiers. Democratic media figures and activists expressed their fury at Arlington National Cemetery director Karen Durham-Aguilera, a longtime senior Army official, after Trump marked the third anniversary of the Kabul airport terrorist attack by attending a wreath-laying ceremony with the families of the fallen service members. The Gold Star families invited Trump to attend the service. Thirteen American soldiers were killed and 18 wounded in the Abbey Gate suicide bombing during...

President Biden wrapped up his five-day trip to France with a Sunday visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, where more than 2,200 U.S. soldiers were buried after fighting in World War I. Biden laid a wreath at the headstones of U.S. soldiers in a solemn ceremony marking their sacrifice for their country. In remarks to the press, Biden stressed the importance of alliances and, without mentioning former President Trump explicitly, drew a stark contrast with the former president, who famously skipped his visit to the same cemetery in 2018. Trump cited weather at the time, but subsequent reporting revealed Trump...

First lady Jill Biden will lay a wreath at the Pentagon Memorial on Monday in a remembrance ceremony that honors those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack. The staff event will commemorate the day when hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Virginia and a field in Pennsylvania. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will also host an Observance Ceremony at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, per the White House.

Ho ho, no … Cuo! CNN anchor Chris Cuomo did some wreath shopping after trashing Christmas in a Thanksgiving rant about holidays and cancel culture pushed by “woke folks.” Cuomo, spotted Thursday loading some wreaths into his car’s trunk in Amagansett, had said earlier on his Sirius radio podcast that Thanksgiving was his favorite holiday, though he fumed that “woke people” are ruining it for him — and that Dec. 25 isn’t one of his faves.

President Biden on Thursday laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and commemorated Veterans Day with a speech hailing the “unrelenting bravery and dedication” of America’s service members, including his late son Beau and the recently deceased Colin Powell and former Sen. Max Cleland. On the 100th anniversary of the tomb’s dedication, Biden spoke of his friendships with Powell and Cleland and how his own family understood the experience of veterans through his late son’s deployments.

British Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Sunday suggested that Jeremy Corbyn should quit as Labour leader following controversy over his visit to a cemetery in Tunisia containing memorials to Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) terrorists, the Daily Mail reports. Questions were raised over Corbyn’s 2014 trip after the Daily Mail published pictures of the Labour leader holding a wreath near the graves of some of those terrorists who were responsible for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Labour said that Corbyn had already made clear he was paying his respects to the victims of a 1985 Israeli...

A Boston woman is asking the city of Boston to include a menorah next to the wreaths at the Boston Public Library. According to WHDH, Esther Weissman considers a wreath to be a symbol of Christmas. “The wreaths are a seasonal display; they are secular symbols and do not represent any religion,” the Boston Public Library said in a statement to CBS Boston. Weissman thinks otherwise. “If this is a city of inclusion and diversity and fairness for everybody, then it seems like an easy thing to do,” Weissman told WHDH.

(JTA) -- President Obama participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in Poland’s capital city. Obama was joined at Friday’s wreath-laying ceremony by members of the local Jewish community and Holocaust survivors. In the 1943 uprising, lightly armed Jewish fighters battled German forces trying to liquidate the ghetto for nearly a month. Politico reported that a woman attending the ceremony raised the issue of Israel with Obama, telling him, “It’s the only Jewish state we have, and we trust you,” to which the president responded, “I will always be there for Israel,” an exchange...

Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden are getting trigger happy for the spot light. They are seen this morning in a surprise ceremony at Arlington National Cemetary, laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Not only is that the duty of the President on Memorial Day, it is an encroachment of the solemn respect earned by what the tomb represents. I resent it being used for a photo-op by two Senators who have voted against funding military.

12/18/2007 - ARLINGTON, VA. (AFPN) -- Members of the Civil Air Patrol paid their respects to fallen Airmen at a wreath laying ceremony at the Air Force Memorial here Dec. 15. CAP Brig. Gen. Amy Courter, national commander, joined the Hagerstown, Md., unit at the memorial to "offer support in the spirit the Civil Air Patrol always has." "We came out here to honor Airmen at their memorial," General Courter said. "Of our 23,000 cadets across America, to bring some of those cadets here is just a terrific honor." The ceremony included several members of the unit's honor guard, a...

A Day in the Life of President Bush (with photos): 12-08-07 Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island PHOTO OF THE DAY First lady Laura Bush and President Bush wave as they arrive at the Ellipse for the lighting of the National Christmas Tree in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2007 ~ ~ ~ QUOTE(s) OF THE DAY "Good Morning. Today I want to talk to you about some important policies affecting taxpayers and homeowners this holiday season. On Thursday, the United States Senate passed a bill to fix the alternative minimum tax, or AMT. The AMT was designed to ensure...

Airmen, civilians lay wreaths at Arlington http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123013643 by Senior Airman J.G. Buzanowski Air Force Print News 12/19/2005 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Despite the cold, wind and snow, about 75 people gathered at Arlington National Cemetery on Dec. 15 to lay more than 5,000 wreaths on gravesites, including four at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Since 1992, members of the armed forces, civil air patrol, veterans of foreign wars and several civilians have gathered to take part in the project, a brainchild of Maine resident Morrill Worcester. Mr. Worcester owns and operates a holiday decoration company. Thirteen years ago he...

On 15 December 2007, Wreaths Across America will be conducting its annual wreath laying at Arlington National Cemetary. This is a request for all DCFReepers and members of the DC Chapter of Protest Warrior to join me in lending a hand.

PAGOSA SPRINGS - In a town in scenic southwestern Colorado homeowners are battling over whether a Christmas wreath that includes a peace sign is an anti-Iraq war protest or even a promotion of Satan. "We have had three or four complaints. Some people have kids in Iraq and they are sensitive," said Bob Kearns, president of the Loma Linda Homeowners Association in Pagosa Springs. He also said some believe it is a symbol of Satan. Jeff Heitz, of the association board, sent a letter to Lisa Jensen saying: "Loma Linda residents are offended by the peace sign displayed on the...

  ADVENTThe word Advent is from the Latin adventus for "coming" and is associated with the four weeks of preparation for Christmas. Advent always contains four Sundays, beginning on the Sunday nearest the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, (November 30) and continuing until December 24. It blends together a penitential spirit, very similar to Lent, a liturgical theme of preparation for the Second and Final Coming of the Lord, called the Parousia, and a joyful theme of getting ready for the Bethlehem event.Since the 900s Advent has been considered the beginning of the Church year. This does not...

Hundreds of protesters greeted President Bush in Atlanta shortly before 4 p.m. as he placed a wreath on the grave of Martin Luther King Jr. on what would have been the slain civil rights leader's 75th birthday. Buddhists chanting, students beating African drums and others shouting "Bush go home" burst past barriers but were driven back by police who, in an attempt to corral the protesters, parked four MARTA buses between the protesters and the grave site. One protester held a sign that read "Bush - Zionist, puppet and liar." Police had said they planned to keep the protestors 500...

ADVENT WREATH "Customarily the Advent Wreath is constructed of a circle of evergreen branches into which are inserted four candles. According to tradition, three of the candles are violet and the fourth is rose. However, four violet or white candles may also be used” (Book of Blessings 1510).The rose candle is lit the third Sunday of Advent, for this color anticipates and symbolizes the Christmas joy announced in the first word of the Entrance Antiphon: "Rejoice" (Latin, Gaudete). For this reason the Third Sunday is also called Gaudete Sunday, and rose color vestments are permitted.The Advent Wreath represents the...