(Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of articles submitted by Heroes & Horses to raise awareness for its goal to place wreaths on veterans graves in Cedar Hill Cemetery.)

MILL HALL — In a heartfelt ceremony this December, the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Mill Hall will once again become a place of collective remembrance and gratitude as remembrance wreaths are laid on the gravesites of over 800 Veterans who have been laid to rest there.

Heroes & Horses (H&H) founder Vickie Hancock teamed up with Wreaths Across America to raise funds for remembrance wreaths that will be placed on each veteran’s grave at Cedar Hill Cemetery on Dec. 14.

This initiative was born when Vickie and Ella Yothers, fundraising coordinator for H&H, noticed that none of the veterans’ graves receive wreaths at Christmas time to honor their service, so they made it their goal to honor every one of them through H&H by starting a fundraiser to purchase the wreaths. To achieve the goal, H&H will need to raise $11,000, and the organization invites members of the community to join them in the honorable cause.

As she continues her fundraising efforts, Vickie is also doing research to learn more about as many of the veterans buried at Cedar Hill as she can to put a spotlight on each one for their service, and she reached out to The Record to help her do just that. Simultaneously, Vickie continues operations with her team at H&H, a therapeutic equine-assisted program created to serve veterans by providing them with a support system. Veterans who participate in H&H find solace and support by gathering together at the H&H farm in Mackeyville, riding, grooming and experiencing the therapeutic benefits of horses amongst comrades.

One soldier that Vickie sought to spotlight is Spc. Phillip E. Neff. Neff was a 20-year-old combat engineer who tragically passed on Christmas Day in 1967 while in Long An, Vietnam. Phillip’s death was particularly heart-wrenching, as it resulted from friendly fire.

Known for his gentle nature, Phillip had asked to work in the mess hall as a cook, likely out of his desire to avoid hurting anyone. On the night of his death, he was delivering sandwiches when a new soldier on guard duty got spooked and shot him in error.

Phillip was laid to rest with little recognition beneath a rusty steel plaque at Cedar Hill Cemetery. Due to the overwhelming number of soldiers killed in Vietnam, the Federal Veterans Administration began to cut costs by purchasing cheap steel plaques to mark the graves of those who were killed in combat. lt wasn’t until 50 years after Phillips death on a somber December day in 2017 that a small group of friends and comrades gathered at the cemetery to honor him again, this time with a new bronze plaque.

John MacMillen, a Vietnam veteran, was instrumental in leading the effort to replace Phillip’s plaque. Supported by other veterans and community members, MacMillen raised the necessary funds through donations and his own contributions to secure a proper bronze plaque for Phillip, ensuring that his memory would be honored with the dignity he deserves.

MacMillen’s fundraising campaign saw significant support from community members, former friends and fellow veterans who not only felt the weight of Phillips story but also recognized the importance of acknowledging soldiers like him, whose quiet bravery and tragic death had gone largely unnoticed for too long.

With a bronze plaque now in place, Phillip is remembered with the respect he deserves. For Christmas 2024, he can be honored again with a remembrance wreath through the H&H Wreaths Across America initiative.

The contributions that are collected will go toward H&H’s mission to lay a wreath on every veteran’s gravesite at Cedar Hill, ensuring that Spc. Phillip E. Neff, alongside the other 899 fallen heroes, is remembered not just through the story of his tragic death but also through a tangible act of appreciation.

To learn more, visit the Heroes & Horses and Wreaths Across America websites. Donations can be made by contacting Vickie directly, visiting the Wreaths Across America donation page through the link below or mailing contributions to Heroes & Horses, P.O. Box 110, Woolrich, PA 17779.

To sponsor a wreath to be placed on a Veteran’s grave at Cedar Hill Cemetery on Dec. 14, visit www.wreaths acrossamerica.org/PA0864.

The deadline to sponsor a wreath is Dec. 3.

To learn more about Heroes & Horses, visit https://heroesadhorsespa.org/ or contact Vickie Hancock by phone at 570-660-6881.