Editor’s Note: This article is part two of a special series by Now Habersham spotlighting Wreaths Across America, a nonprofit rooted in Maine that honors the service and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans. Each year, communities in Northeast Georgia join thousands others across the country in heartfelt wreath-laying ceremonies organized by this inspiring group. Reporter Nora Almazan and photographer Daniel Purcell journeyed to Maine in October to uncover the story behind this powerful tradition and the enduring patriotism that drives it.
September 11, 2001, was one of the darkest days in American history. Few will ever forget the helplessness we felt—wanting to do something but unsure of what. At that moment, Elaine Greene took a stand.
On September 12, she began waving the American flag fearlessly on a street in Freeport, Maine. Having witnessed many things in her life, nothing compared to the terror that took down the Twin Towers. Little did she know that this small act would grow into something far bigger.
As she stood alone, silently waving the stars and stripes, she was expressing everything she believed in, even as the events of the previous day made no sense.
Her lifelong friends, Joann Miller and Carmen Footer, soon joined her, and together, they became known as the Freeport Flag Ladies.
What began as a commitment to wave flags every Tuesday morning for one year stretched into 18 years of unwavering dedication. Through sweltering summer heat and frigid winter temperatures, the three women, flags in hand, stood together each week to unite their country through patriotism. Some days, they were the only ones there; other days, people from all over the country stood alongside them.
September 11, 2019, marked their final day of flag-waving. But their mission didn’t end there. Wreaths Across America, a nonprofit organization, promised Elaine, Joann, and Carmen that the flag would continue to wave. Wreaths Across America founders Morrill and Karen Worcester were already committed to placing wreaths on the graves of veterans at Arlington National Cemetery and at locations across America each December. They added the weekly flag-waving ceremony as another way to honor the service and sacrifice of their fellow Americans.
Each Tuesday from 9 to 10 a.m. on Route 1 in Jonesboro, Maine, Wreaths Across America volunteers fulfill the promise the Worcesters made to the Freeport Flag Ladies. No matter the weather, they line the road and proudly wave the flag – a living tribute to all that is good about America and the unwavering patriotism of three women who sought to unify a community and nation that was bowed but not broken.
Jim and Dolly Sullivan, Gold Star Parents (family members of a service member who died while serving in the military), are among those who stand along Route 1 every Tuesday and raise the stars and stripes. They do it in memory of their son.
U.S. Army Captain Christopher James Sullivan from Princeton, Massachusetts, lost his life on January 18, 2005, in Baghdad, Iraq. He was serving with the 1st Cavalry Division based at Fort Hood, Texas, when he was killed by an improvised explosive device that detonated near his vehicle.
He was 29 years old.
“We love coming here every Tuesday morning,” Dolly Sullivan shared. “So many people support us, honking their horns, waving, or stopping to wave a flag with us.” Dolly wears a button with her son’s picture. “Remembering him this way helps us get through each day without him.”
Kathy Imamura, from Marina, California, visits several times a year to join in waving the flag.
“I listen to Wreaths Across America Radio for the information it provides about veterans. I especially enjoy the trivia about history,” Kathy said. She and her husband have supported Wreaths Across America for many years.
The flags these volunteers raise to the sky are not the only ones that greet passersby along this straight stretch of road in southeastern Maine. Mounted flags line the route, earning it the moniker Mile of Flags.
In 2019, Morrill Worcester erected a monument honoring the Freeport Flag Ladies along the patriotic route. Signs displaying the pledge of allegiance mark the flag posts lining the route, which ultimately leads to some of the most hallowed ground in Washington County, Maine—Acadia National Cemetery.
Morrill Worcester donated the 6.2-acre tract of land to the government when he learned the Department of Veterans Affairs wanted to establish another national cemetery in his home state. The cemetery opened several years ago. It is a fitting backdrop to the patriotism displayed outside its gates every Tuesday morning at 9.
Wreaths Across America livestreams the weekly flag-waving ceremony on Facebook Tuesdays from 9 to 10 a.m. Click here to watch it.
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