HAMPTON, Va. - The Hampton community honored the fallen on National Wreaths Across America Day.
Saturday afternoon, volunteers from Wreaths Across Americawere at Hampton National Cemetery at Hampton University to remember and honor veterans of the U.S. military by laying remembrance wreaths on the graves of our country's fallen heroes and saying the name of each and every veteran out loud.
Delegate-elect A.C. Cordoza, the first African American Republican delegate of Virginia's 91st District, was the keynote speaker. The district includes Hampton University.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Hampton National Cemetery is located near where the historic Civil War naval battle between the CSS Merrimac/Virginia and the USS Monitor ironclad ships happened in 1862. The cemetery’s first burials took place that year, and the cemetery is among a number of national cemeteries with origins that date to the Civil War.
There are 638 unknown soldiers buried at the cemetery, most of whom are Civil War soldiers who died in battle and were originally quickly buried on the battlefield.
Related: More than 11,000 wreaths laid on graves of veterans in Suffolk cemetery
