HAMILTON — Adorning gravestones with boughs to honor the dead is an American custom that dates to the 1800s, but the history of wreaths themselves is much older.
The ancient Greeks and Romans gave athletic champions wreaths woven of laurel branches, while military heroes were presented with wreaths made from the symbol of a peace offering, olive branches.
But peace has historically come at a high price — the lives of the young, mostly men, who went to war believing the freedom of their country might demand the ultimate sacrifice of them.
On Monday, the 68th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a convoy loaded with wreaths destined for Arlington National Cemetery is stopping briefly in Hamilton, its only stop on the North Shore. The reason why has everything to do with the town's most famous former resident, Gen. George S. Patton Jr.
Wreaths Across America was conceived in 1992 when Worcester Wreath Co. owner Morrill Worcester found he had 5,000 wreaths left in inventory as the end of the holiday season approached.
With the help of Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, Worcester began an annual tradition of delivering the wreaths to Arlington to be placed on graves in a section of the cemetery that was seeing fewer visitors every year.
Worcester's efforts were for the most part unnoticed until 2005, when a photo of the wreaths resting on gravestones in the snow-covered cemetery circulated on the Internet. The Patriot Guard Riders volunteered to escort the wreaths, and by 2008, cemeteries in every state, Puerto Rico and overseas were being decorated at Christmas.
This year's convoy of 18-wheelers is detouring through Rowley, Ipswich, Hamilton, Wenham and Beverly in order to pay respects to Gen. Patton at the Bay Road park in Hamilton that bears his name.
The change in route came at the urging of Stanley Wojtusik, one of the legions of survivors of the Battle of the Bulge who have worshipped Patton ever since.
The battle lasted just over a month from mid-December 1944 through January 1945, but it was a pivotal engagement.
It got its name from the bulge created in the Allied forces in the Ardennes forest in Belgium and northern France by German regiments desperate to halt their rapidly advancing foes. It was the largest land battle America took part in during the war.
The embattled Allies hung on as Patton wheeled his Third Army toward the town of Bastogne, which it reached on Dec. 26.
"Gen. Patton was the hero of all the generals," Wojtusik said. "There's no question about it, he was a natural-born leader."
Not everyone shared that assessment, then or later. Patton was a lightning rod who drew both praise and criticism during the war. While some have characterized his drive to Bastogne as a rescue of its defenders, the 101st Airborne, no member of that proud division has ever agreed rescue was necessary.
Until last January, Wojtusik was president of the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge while also serving on the board of Wreaths Across America.
Over the years, he made contact with the Patton family, and Patton's daughter-in-law, Joanne Patton, was the main speaker at a recent reunion of the veterans' group in Quincy.
He tried to arrange a trip past Patton Park a year ago, but things couldn't be worked out. Monday, Joanne Patton will lay a wreath at the Patton tank in the park that is the town's tribute to its most well-known military leader.
Patton isn't Wojtusik's only local tie. Hamilton's Jack Akin, chaplain of the American Legion post in Hamilton, met him through the Pattons, and he is the local coordinator for the convoy's swing through the North Shore.
While no stop is planned in Wenham, it is there the significance of the day will be dramatically saluted. Akin said ladder trucks from the Hamilton and Wenham fire departments will suspend an American flag that was flown at Pearl Harbor over Main Street as the convoy passes through town.
The flag is being loaned by Hamilton Town Clerk Jane Wetson, Akin said.
Also, 55 wreaths will be placed on veterans' graves in the Hamilton cemetery as part of the ceremonies.
One of the most famous Patton controversies involves his much-publicized disdain for what was then called battle fatigue.
In August 1944 while visiting a hospital in Sicily, Patton slapped two hospitalized soldiers who claimed they were so traumatized by battle they couldn't return to the front lines.
So the general might be at the least surprised by Wojtusik's explanation of what he believes was at the root of the incident.
"I guess post-traumatic stress disorder caught up with him (Patton)," he said. "No one really knows if he was really himself."
The Wreaths Across America convoy is expected to arrive at Patton Park on Monday at approximately 10:30 a.m.
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