Today, December 16, 2017, as my own contribution to Wreaths Across America, I drove an hour and a half to Paxton MA to put a wreath on the grave of Private George W. Gould, an ordinary soldier who died at Cold Harbor in 1864 to save the Union and end human chattel slavery. The tag on the edge of the ribbon has his story and a link to this website that I created to host his Civil War letters, in the hopes that someone will come across it and his voice will speak to us again.

It was a frigid day as I trudged through the snow-covered cemetery to lay the wreath. In addition to the GAR flag, the little flag I added on Veterans Day was still in place. Light snow began to fall as placed the wreath. I sang the Star-Spangled Banner in a hushed voice, saluted Private Gould, and thanked him for his service. There would be no United States 🇺🇸 today if it were not for men like Private Gould who sacrificed everything for us.  #wreathsacrossamerica2017