What's Your Why? Volunteer Spotlight on Morgan Reid


American military veterans rest in peace worldwide, and this What’s Your Why takes us to Cuba. Morgan Reid is an active-duty Army spouse serving on Naval Station Guantanamo Bay.

When Morgan and her husband left for his next duty assignment in Cuba, Morgan left her Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in Washington. Still, her desire to fulfill the DAR’s mission remained a top priority. She immediately found a way to serve upon her arrival. “I got involved with Wreaths Across America through the DAR,” Morgan shared her introduction to veterans’ wreaths and saying their names. “There’s no DAR Chapter here to join. Historic preservation is a big piece of the DAR mission; patriotism is a piece of it too, so participating with Wreaths Across America gets me at least fifty percent of the DAR mission right there.”

Morgan and other supporters care for the fallen at Cuzco Well Cemetery. “It’s a relatively small cemetery secured on the naval installation. About three hundred people are buried there, and we honor sixty fallen veterans. This is the oldest, continuously operating overseas installation, founded in 1903. Most of the service members buried there perished in the early 1900s. We have a fair amount of information about these people and what ships they were assigned to. To share their information and help remember these people who are only visited on Memorial Day otherwise is really special.”

Morgan admits getting wreath sponsorships is the easy part of the effort, but the logistics of getting those wreaths to Cuba in good shape and on time for Wreath Day is the challenge. “You have to say where you want the wreaths delivered. It's funny because one option asks, ‘if you want them through the mail, where do you want them delivered or, if you get the wreaths by 18-wheeler, where do you want them delivered?’ That wasn’t going to work for us. We investigated how wreath shipments to Puerto Rico were handled, and that’s not an option either. We were concerned that the wreaths would be dead by the time they got here using standard mail to a fleet post office (FPO). Mail can easily take two weeks to a month, and I’ve had packages go to Turkey instead of here. It’s not a big deal when they miss-ship in the U.S., but if they miss-ship to an FPO, the package can wind up on a boat.” 

Morgan explains that the Command Master Chief was essential to coordinating the mail flight and receiving the wreaths. “There’s so much willingness because this is such a great cause. Everyone was willing to help, from the Wreaths Regional Coordinator to the installation CMC, the Command here, and the volunteers. I was blown away by how many people were so stoked to do this. They’re so passionate about it that any hard work is worth the effort.”

Morgan is confident the Wreaths Across America effort will continue at Cuzco Well Cemetery when she moves on to the next duty station. “This will be our second year participating. Gitmo’s been here a long time and will be here well beyond my time stationed here, but the Command is so supportive that I don’t see a problem passing the torch.”

Thank you, Morgan, and all those at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, for helping us remember, honor, and teach. You can hear Morgan’s full interview and that of our other volunteers in the What’s Your Why feature heard on Wreaths Across America Radio.