It's part of the free Wreaths Across America Remembrance Tree Program. On this particular sun-filled and breezy day, the NSDAR ladies were joined by other volunteers to “tag” trees that would one day have their tops “tipped” and branches trimmed for brush that go into the making of the fresh balsam fir, veterans’ wreaths that adorn the headstones of our fallen military members throughout the country, at sea, and abroad every December.

“This is a great program. Tree-tagging is important to me because it’s just another way to remember,” shared Brenda Kaesler, a Gold Star mother and NSDAR member who traveled from California to Maine for the experience. “It’s almost like now they’re immortal. They’ve got a dog tag on the tree, and they’ll live forever, or at least as long as the tree lives. It’s the importance of saying their name out loud and the reverence of placing the tag on the tree. I love doing it for our California chapters, and I love doing it because our family has a tree, too. My son, Jeffery Michael Kaesler, was a medic in the Army and is on a tree.”

The NSDAR was founded in 1890 as a non-political, non-profit volunteer women’s service organization dedicated to historic preservation, education, and patriotism. The names and dates stamped on these tags represent the American Revolution ancestry of the members of the California chapters. “On this trip, we had about a thousand dog tags to hang, and we’ve got a few thousand more to place, so we’ll be coming back again,” Brenda chuckled. “The people honored today did a mirid of things. Some were in the militia, which meant they were farmers, and if some skirmishes were going on in the area, they would make sure their cows were taken care of, put down their farming equipment and go fight for a couple of days and then return to the farm again. The minutemen in each state could be ready to go in a “minute” hence the name. Then there were people in the Continental Army and those were the professional soldiers, trained by the French on how to fight, and were on the American payroll working for George Washington. Some did forms of patriotic service and served as spies for Washington, or judges as an example.”

In addition to her service in the DAR, Brenda has long volunteered for Wreaths Across America and serves as the Location Coordinator for the Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego, where her son is laid to rest. “I went to a committee meeting for Wreaths Across America one day and decided this would be something I could do to honor my son. Of the seven people in the room, one was a man and six of them were women, all members of the Daughters of the American Revolution. I knew I had a patriot, but I had never thought about joining the organization.” Brenda decided to join both organizations and has been an exceptional volunteer for each of them, whose missions are closely aligned. “The DAR mission is historic preservation, education, and patriotism, and that works so nicely with remember, honor and teach that the DAR has become the biggest sponsorship group for Wreaths Across America across the country. Plus, my son was a lover of the American Revolution, so I thought it would be another way I could honor him.”

In her capacity as Location Coordinator for Miramar, Brenda has mentored others who are just starting out. “I love doing that, and I have a little PowerPoint program that I have for DAR chapters ready to go for those who want me to help get them started.” Brenda has led by example, initiating procedures as part of her wreath-laying program at the cemetery that have been duplicated elsewhere. One powerful example deals with family members who have been disappointed to get to a participating cemetery where their loved one is laid to rest only to find that a volunteer had already placed a veteran’s wreath on their headstone ahead of them. “We are right next to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, so I thought we’ve got some military folks who could kind of stand vigil, and they stand as sentinels behind the headstones of those folks who we know are going to be there. I was the one who started this practice. It was my idea, but I was kind of surprised, I’ve got to tell you. The first time I did this, and I went to my son’s headstone, there was a Captain in the Army standing vigil behind there, and I lost it because I felt so honored. She pulled me aside and said, ‘This is the most meaningful thing I’ve done in my military career,’ and I thought, honor those who serve.”

Brenda traveled to Maine with two other NSDAR chapter representatives from California who participated in the tree-tagging activity. Brenda, Julie Plemmons and Peg Ellington met with Ann Marie Sokoloski of the Hanna Weston NSDAR chapter in Maine. They also toured the Wreaths Across America Museum and the Gold Star Family History and Hospitality House and had a chance to make a wreath.

Wreaths Across America thanks the NSDAR for their support of the mission to remember, honor, and teach.