OXFORD VILLAGE – During this season of warmth, joy and giving, a group of community members gathered together Saturday at Ridgelawn Memorial Cemetery to remember all the veterans who served and sacrificed, but are no longer here to celebrate the holidays.

“Today, we show (a) united front . . . all across the United States of America as we remember the fallen, honor those who serve and teach our children the value of freedom,” said Rick Moorhead, commander of Oxford American Legion Post 108.

As part of the annual Wreaths Across America event, a total of 342 evergreen wreaths bearing bright red bows were placed on the snow-covered graves of veterans resting in Ridgelawn and in the Oxford Township cemeteries on the north and south sides of W. Burdick St.

Started in 1992, Wreaths Across America is a nationwide event consisting of coordinated wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia and more than 1,200 other locations in all 50 states, at sea and abroad.

Ridgelawn has been a proud participant since 2009.

“We are gathered here today at this memorial site, and memorial sites all over the country, to remember that we are one nation with one flag,” Moorhead told the crowd.

Moorhead, a U.S. Navy veteran who served in the Vietnam War, reminded folks that “the freedoms we enjoy today have not come without a price.”

“Lying here before us, and buried throughout the nation, are men and women who have given their lives so that we can live in freedom and without fear,” he said.

“Our nation stands as a shining beacon of liberty and freedom to the world,” Moorhead said. “We thank those who gave their lives to keep us free and we shall not forget them.”

Moorhead noted that “as a nation standing together, we can defeat terrorism, hatred (and) injustice.”

“Thanks to our veterans, we have (the) freedom to do just that,” he said.