LANCASTER, Pa. — The Lancaster County community gathered at Stevens Greenland Cemetery on Saturday to install and dedicate new crosses at the gravesites of military veterans.
The ceremony, held on Sept. 17, also served to honor the hundreds of people buried at the cemetery in unmarked graves.
There are nearly 800 veterans buried on the grounds, but only about 250 gravestones.
“When you look at the headstones and you see that veterans died as young as 25 or in their 30s and it doesn’t matter even if they were older, they were willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice, so understanding that history here, in this ground, is so important,” Sheryl Meck, co-chair of Lancaster County D.R.I.V.E. Committee, said.
Stevens Greenland Cemetery is the largest African American cemetery in Lancaster County.
The veterans buried there span the time from before the Civil War until the Korean War.
Some worn-down headstones were replaced in addition to installing the crosses.
In keeping with tradition, the former stones were then made into 4x4 pieces that were placed one by one in the prayer garden at the cemetery. The pieces honor the service members whose crosses are being replaced, as well as the hundreds of people buried at the cemetery in unmarked graves.
“This essentially was a forgotten land," Meck said. "It’s amazing to realize how many people didn’t even know, including myself, that this area was out here.”
Restoration began a year ago, starting with rehabilitating the land from overgrowth and lack of maintenance
