When Dean Croke placed a custom fifth wheel cover on his Peterbilt truck in honor of a dear friend who served in the Vietnam War, he didn’t know that it was only the first step to becoming involved with Wreaths Across America (WAA).
“He’s my best friend in Australia, a trucker, and he always wanted to come to America and drive Peterbilts with me,” Croke said.
Croke, who hails from New South Wales, Australia, is a principal analyst for DAT Freight & analytics. He hasn’t always been an analyst, though — he started out driving trucks for his family’s company in the Outback region.
Even after making a name for himself as an industry analyst, Croke never lost his love for driving, and his 2003 Peterbilt 379 — dubbed “The Grumpy Pete” — is a familiar site at truck shows and events around the country.
A chance encounter introduced Croke to WAA.
While showing his truck at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky, one year, Croke appeared on Radio Nemo. Courtney George, who serves as director of transportation and industry relations for WAA, was also a guest on the show.
“As Courtney was explaining what the organization does, I thought, ‘What a wonderful concept — they put wreaths on the headstones of all of the fallen heroes at Arlington,’” Croke said.
Fascinated by the story of how a wreathmaker began a nationwide movement by placing 5,000 excess wreaths on the graves of military personnel one December, he wanted to know more.
“So, with my Vietnam War connection friend from Australia represented on the back of my truck I went to Arlington last year just to see what this was about,” he shared. “I watched all the trucks wrapped with pictures of fallen heroes — and then I saw all the fleet trucks wrapped in military colors and themes that were driven by veterans.”
Croke also found himself grateful to be a part of something that is so dear to the heart of truckers.
“It’s a very moving experience to be part of (the WAA mission). Some drivers spend a week’s vacation (participating) just to connect with all of their buddies,” he said, adding that some drivers have served in the military — and even those who never served in the military have found a common bond through delivering the wreaths.
It takes a lot of planning for WAA to ‘move the mission.’
In 2025, Croke says, he had a chance to participate in WAA beginning at “ground zero” — the organization’s origin point in Columbia Falls, Maine, where the wreaths are made and loaded onto trucks to be transported across North America and beyond.
The experience left him in awe.
‘I was just blown away by the scale of the operation — from the thousands of acres of balsam trees to the hundreds of workers … to the cook team that serves three meals a day in the driver’s lounge, and the dispatch process,” he said.
“It’s like a combination of a truck stop and a truck terminal. They have everything there,” he said of the driver’s lounge. “It was amazing to watch this process of trucks in and out: The trucks come in and drive around the building; then the drivers come in, sit down, have coffee and food.”
While the scene might seem chaotic to some, Croke says it’s all carefully orchestrated. Each driver has a set appointment time to pick up their load of wreaths, and the process moves like clockwork, from 6 a.m. until midnight, until the last wreath has been loaded and shipped.
“I watched this Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (leading up to the truck convoy from Maine to Arlington), and it was this amazing process of trucks in and out,” he said, noting that the work continued regardless of the weather. “It’s cold. It was down to 2 degrees one night.”
Croke described the honor fleet convoy as ‘humbling to watch.’
While many drivers vie for the honor of transporting wreaths to veterans’ cemeteries across the U.S. and abroad, Croke says, being selected for the honor fleet to Arlington National Cemetery is an even bigger honor.
In communities along the route, spectators lined the road, waving and cheering.
“To see each of the communities that get involved in this — that’s something I never really appreciated, (seeing) the schoolkids out in the cold, waiting for the trucks to pull in and waving their flags,” he shared.
Through his participation in WAA, Croke says he’s made countless new friends.
“The best part is the connections I’ve been able to make with this network of truckers; it’s just a wonderful group of people,” he said. ”I’ve become pretty good friends with a bunch of these guys. You could see how they become lifelong connections with this network of truckers.”
Croke says one encounter during WAA’s 2025 event was especially impactful: He had a chance to visit with a couple who were participating in the honor fleet in memory of their son, SSGT James C. Shepard, who had served in the Marines for more than a decade before taking his own life.
“In the driver’s lounge (at WAA), you can make your own wreaths,” he said, adding that he watched the couple make, with their own hands, the wreath that would be laid on their son’s grave. I don’t know if I can adequately put it into words what something like that means.”
Croke’s participation in the 2025 WAA event concluded on Dec. 13, National Wreaths Across America Day, at Arlington National Cemetery, where he served as a radio host.
To find out more about WAA and how to help honor America’s military heroes, visit wreathsacrossamerica.org.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
