Wreaths of gratitude

Nicholas Carlisle will stand on the beaches of Normandy. 

Next summer, the 11-year-old will see the underground bases and visit the United States cemetery there. He hopes to place a wreath on a grave, with gratitude for the thousands who sacrificed their lives so that he can freely walk the beach. 

“I think it would be cool to honor [the fact that] I’m not speaking German right now,” Nicholas said.

In June, the Greystone Elementary student launched a campaign to raise funds for himself and for veterans through Wreaths Across America, a program that honors veterans by crafting holiday wreaths to place on gravesites in memorial cemeteries. Their mission is to “remember, honor and teach” individuals about sacrifices made by those who keep them safe. 

As a People to People Ambassador, Nicholas chose to raise money with the organization for his trip to England and France in 2015. This past summer, he embarked on his first People to People trip to Australia. 

By taking part in the trips, Nicholas is following in the footsteps of his mother, Crissy Carlisle, who traveled with the People to People program in 1990. Growing up in Oxford, Alabama, she knew that travel would give her knowledge that she could not find at home. Carlisle wanted her son to experience the cultural differences offered by the People to People program. On her own trip, she chose to visit the Soviet Union. With Mikhail Gorbachev as president, the Soviet Union and the United States were fighting to break down cultural barriers. Although feelings of conflict were still alive, Carlisle’s eyes were opened to the differences in culture and citizens of the now-former country. 

“Educating people on those differences is very important,” Carlisle said. “Sometimes war is just a lack of education and respect for peoples’ differences.” 

As the grandson of a former Marine, Nicholas feels a special attachment to the cause of honoring veterans. Although he never had the chance to meet his grandfather, he shows gratitude and understanding of the sacrifice of service members that is far beyond his 11 years.

“They’re doing what most people just wouldn’t do,” Nicholas said. “They’re sacrificing their lives for our freedom.”

By writing letters and sending them to friends, family and businesses as well as handing them out in his neighborhood, Nicholas has sold a total of 563 wreaths, three more than his original goal. He began raising funds for his trip after he returned from Australia in the summer. Wreaths are sold for $15 each, and $5 of each goes toward his trips. The other $10 benefits Wreaths Across America and helps to create more wreaths to place in cemeteries.

Nicholas chose to sponsor wreaths for the Jefferson Memorial Gardens South cemetery. With 560 graves, he will have enough to place a wreath on each site and will have three wreaths left over. In total, he has raised $2,800, nearly half of the needed amount for his trip. The cemetery’s close location will allow him to be present for the ceremony in December. Each wreath is fresh and made with pine from Maine. Volunteers will drive trucks of wreaths to areas across the country in time for the national wreath-laying ceremony on Dec. 13.

“I’ll get to help lay the wreaths that I fundraised for,” Nicholas said. 

For more information on Wreaths Across America, visit wreathsacrossamerica.com.