Volunteers help Civil Air Patrol remove more than 7,200 wreaths from North Dakota Veterans Cemetery

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - Ever year, thousands honor heroes at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery with Wreaths Across America.

Now that the holiday season is over, volunteers and the Civil Air Patrol removed wreaths from more than 7,200 headstones at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery south of Mandan. Volunteers often show up way before the clean up begins.

”It’s almost like a competition to get out here because our official starting time was 10 o’clock but people come out here earlier to make sure that they’ll able to participate. We were all done by 20 (minutes) after 10,” said Civil Air Patrol Lt. Col. Kevin Iverson.

Iverson says they’ll decide whether to hold an in-person wreath ceremony later in the year.