Volunteers lay wreaths on every gravesite at Springfield National Cemetery and Veteran's Cemetery

More than 13 thousand wreaths were laid on the gravesites of Springfield veterans Saturday.

Hundreds of Volunteers braved the cold Saturday to honor those who braved something much more difficult.

"It's just. It's just moving," said volunteer Arthur Kevin Fent.

Fent's parents are buried in the Springfield National Cemetery. His father served during World War II.

"I was amazed at how many people were here," he said. "We were thinking there would just be a small crowd because of the weather and everything and here we are."

For the first time, every single headstone has a wreath.

"We don't want nobody to ever think that we forgot them," said Robert Shawley. "Just like the fallen officer in Arkansas, officer Carr, we will not forget about them and we try to make sure that every veteran's headstone in the state will end up getting a wreath during the holidays, that's our eventual goal."

Robert Shawley and his motorcycle organization have been volunteering in Springfield for the last five years. He said nearly 19 thousand wreaths have been laid this holiday season between the Springfield National Cemetery and the Missouri Veteran's Cemetery.

"It's awesome to look out there and see how many volunteers we've had," Shawley said. "Over the last two weekends I guarantee we've had one thousand volunteers."

He said a single wreath can bring so much comfort to a family.

"Holidays are very tough because look at how many soldiers we have over seas taking care of the needs that are over there to keep us safe over here," Shawley said. "The families suffer just as much as the soldiers do because while the soldiers are overseas the families are at home taking care of business."

Shawley said next year his group would also like to lay wreaths at the Veteran's Cemetery in Ft. Leonard Wood.