More than 90,000 wreaths were laid at the graves of America’s fallen heroes on Saturday, but one soldier, David Sharrett II, has a special place in the heart of the Oakton football team.
David, an Oakton graduate and football player from the class of 1998 was killed in Iraq on Jan. 16, 2008. David’s number 55 was retired, and the Oakton football team every year since his death.
Wreaths Across America, a national organization committed to honoring and remembering the sacrifice of those have died to defend America, organizes the ceremony.
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In addition to participating in the ceremony for the past three years, the team also organizes to sells wreaths and raise funds for a Wreaths Across America college scholarship, which is awarded each year to a former Oakton player. This year, 2011 graduate Jonathan Rivas received the $10,000 scholarship named for Sharrett.
Carrying a football signed for David by the 2011 team, players, coaches and parents met at 7 a.m. at the Vienna Metro station to make the trip to Arlington Cemetery. After a long journey, they gathered at David’s gravesite, where they paid their respects and then walked among the headstones laying wreaths for other soldiers.
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Head coach Jason Rowley, who coached David in 1998, shared his memories of David Sharrett. He described David as one of the brightest kids he has ever coached. He shared about David’s competitive spirit and passion for adventure, telling how David spent several years traveling, working and "doing the things he loved" before joining the Army in 2005. He laughed when he remembered how David was once ejected from a game for fighting, but then lovingly recalled that David, though impulsive and headstrong, was also one of the kindest young men he has known.