WILTON – Americans are invited to join in a moment of silence and remembrance at noon today as a thank you to all military personnel, past and present, and their families, some of whom will be without loved ones this holiday.

The event is part of Wreaths Across America, a program by the Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine, to lay thousands of evergreen wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., and at hundreds of cemeteries and memorial sites in all 50 states and Puerto Rico today.

This is the 16th year Morrill Worcester is donating wreaths to honor the nation’s veterans. This year, he doubled the number – from 5,000 to 10,000 – that he is giving toward the effort.

For Joseph Ross, a disabled Vietnam veteran from Wilton who has spent this week traveling in the wreath convoy from Maine to Washington, the experience brings Americans together, he said Friday while traveling through Philadelphia.

After leaving Maine last Sunday as a member of the Patriot Guard, Ross and about 50 others have slowly made their way south to the nation’s capital. They expect to arrive in Washington, D.C., Friday night, he said.

“This trip is so far beyond words. Words can’t explain it. It’s more of an emotion,” he said as he told of the young and old standing by the roads, sometimes in rain and snow, as the convoy passed. Some wave, some shout, some salute, some wave American flags, he said.

The journey started, he said, with 10 tractor-trailers full of Maine-made wreaths. Two have remained with the caravan to Washington while the rest have headed to locations across the country, he said.

“It’s been a healing kind of thing,” said Ross’ wife, Carol, who spoke of how meaningful the week has been for her husband.

The caravan stops for rallies at different towns, she said. At a high school in Connecticut this week, Ross, who was wounded three times in Vietnam during 1967-1969, was acknowledged along with his sons, Erik and Matthew, who are in the military. They were thanked for their service to our country, she said.

The Patriot Guard, he said, is a motorcycle group of veterans he joined this fall and that brought him an invitation to be part of this week. It’s an experience he plans to repeat.