By Joette Kunse
Clarkston News Contributor
Wreaths Across America Day is Saturday, Dec.14. Two million wreaths are placed in 4,600 local, national and military cemeteries across the nation and abroad.
Independence Township’s Lakeview Cemetery in Clarkston is the resting place of 1,139 veterans. Many of those veterans passed away before Great Lakes National Cemetery was opened in 2005.
The Sashabaw Plains Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) began honoring those veterans buried at Lakeview Cemetery in 2023. The group will again have a Wreaths Across America wreath laying ceremony on Dec. 14 at noon in the cemetery at the flagpole. The public is welcome and following a short ceremony, the public is also welcome to help place wreaths.
The national Wreaths Across America nonprofit is dedicated to remembering the fallen, honoring those who served, teaching the next generation.
Of the 1,139 graves of soldiers in Lakeview Cemetery, there are two small veteran’s graves that face White Lake Road that have an interesting story. The graves are of George L. Molter (born 1903, died 1970) and Marvin L. Molter (born 1931 – killed in action 1951).
George L. Molter enlisted in the Marines at the very young age of 15. He was a trumpeter in World War I. His son, Marvin L. Molter enlisted in the United States Army at the age of 19 and was killed in action while fighting in Korea in 1951 at the Battle of Chipyong-ni. The battle was referred to as “the Gettysburg of the Korean War” because of number of deaths. The younger Molter was in the 23rd Infantry and was one of 51 soldiers killed in the three day battle.
According to General Matthew Ridgeway, “the 23rd Infantry was surrounded by 8,000 men of the Chinese Army in this battle and sustained two of the severest attacks experienced during the entire Korean campaign.”
When the Molters were buried at Lakeview Cemetery there was no national cemetery at the time. Marvin’s brother Richard Molter, who was also a veteran and died in 2014, is buried at Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly.
Wreaths Across America honors these veterans and their heroic actions.
The Sashabaw Plains Chapter sells the wreaths that are placed on veteran’s graves for $17. Purchasers may designate the cemetery, Lakeview Cemetery, Sashabaw Plains Cemetery, Great Lakes Cemetery, and/or Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C. You may designate the veteran that the wreath is for at Lakeview and Sashabaw Plains Cemeteries only. The information sheets are available in the brochure rack at Clarkston Independence District Library or at the Independence Township DPW office.
For more information regarding Wreaths Across America email jkhorses46@gmail.com or 248-514-1729. Deadline for purchasing wreaths is Nov. 29.