A rainbow appeared north of the Veterans Memorial Cemetery just as volunteers began to lay wreaths at last Saturday's Wreaths Across America event. (Photos by Robert Perea)Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter
greeted so kindly when he returned home after his deployment to Vietnam. But along with hundreds of people who gathered to remember and honor the veterans buried and interred at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley on Saturday, his daughter Becky makes sure his service and that of the more than 14,000 veterans buried and interred in the cemetery are never forgotten and always appreciated.
A crowd of about a thousand people was undeterred by the wet, chilly weather Saturday morning for the Wreaths Across America ceremony at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley. More than 8,300 wreaths were placed on every grave in the cemetery and along the columbarium wall during Saturday’s ceremony.
The rain stopped just in time for the ceremony to start, and when it was over, Master of Ceremonies Rich Crombie, president of the Nevada Veterans Coalition, noticed a rainbow beyond the columbarium wall at the north edge of the cemetery.
“How epic was that?” Crombie asked. “That in itself, the symbolism of that, however you want to interpret that, but it just kind of helped round out what the meaning of this day is. There are bigger, higher things than us.”
During the ceremony, representatives of each branch of the United States armed forces, each escorted by a U.S. Navy Sea Cadet, placed a wreath at the seal and flag of their respective service to honor those who served and are serving.
In his remarks, Crombie encouraged every volunteer who places a wreath on a veteran’s grave to say that veteran’s name aloud and take a moment to thank them for their service.
“It’s a small act that goes a long way toward keeping the memory of our veterans alive,” he said.
Crombie said the wreaths are not Christmas wreaths, but remembrance wreaths.
“We’re here to remember not their deaths, but their lives,” Crombie said. “Each wreath is a gift of appreciation from a grateful America.”
Michael McAtee’s daughter Becky kneels in front of his nameplate.Before making her way to the columbarium wall where her father is interred, Becky laid a wreath on the grave of her husband, U.S. Army Specialist Jason Charles Ritch, who died four months shy of his 40 birthday in 2015.
Jason and Becky went to high school together at Reed High in Sparks, then lost touch for a while when he went into the military and she went to get an automotive degree. They eventually married in 2010, but while deployed on the East Coast, he suffered a cardiac event and died from an allergic reaction to a medication.
“I always leave a heart for him,” Becky said.
At the columbarium wall, Becky placed mushrooms and rocks in the shape of hearts on her father’s nameplate.
“It’s just something silly,” she said.
Michael McAtee was an Aviation Electronics Technician Petty Officer 1st Class in the U.S. Navy. Becky said he worked as an elevator mechanic but was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam and also suffered from PTSD.
“He was a 6-foot-3ish leprechaun,” Becky said. “He had bright red hair, and then he turned into Santa Claus, and that was like his favorite role to play in the world.”
McAtee eventually settled in Fernley with a dog named Foxy.
“She looked like a little fox. When he would go to the bank, people would go “Where’s Foxy?” Becky said. “My dad loved living out here. It was very peaceful for him because of the PTSD. I think it really helped him heal.”
Wreaths Across America was first held at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery n Fernley with 28 wreaths and has grown every year as the number of veterans buried and interred there has increased.
“I remember we had maybe 60 people show up in 2016, and it’s just exponentially grown, and it just makes my heart so happy,” Becky said.
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