Volunteers clean up dozens of veterans’ headstones in Dayton

On Saturday, April 1, a team of dedicated volunteers spent the morning honoring dozens of military veterans buried at the Linney-Acie Cemetery in Dayton. The oldest of the military grave markers date back to the Civil War and World War I.

Armed with gloves, rags and buckets of water, they set to work. Grave by grave, headstone by headstone, they worked diligently, scrubbing away years of grime, pollen and dirt from roughly 100 headstones. Some of the headstones were barely visible as they had sunken into the ground with the passage of time. These were lifted, cleaned and reset so that future generations will remember their sacrifices.

Organizing the cleanup this year was Lynda Young with the Linney-Acie Cemetery Association. Prior to the event, she and other volunteers mapped out the 10 cemetery sections and noted how many military headstones were in each section, so that none would be missed in the cleanup. Then volunteers were assigned to their sections.

Another volunteer group made up of Glenn Smikal on his tractor and community service workers from the Adult Probation Department tackled the last remnants of a fence that once bordered the cemetery. This process also was painstaking as they had to lift each pole, originally set with concrete, from the ground and load it into the back of a trailer.

Young said volunteers moved quickly through the cemetery and were finished in time to enjoy snacks and drinks by noon.

The Linney-Acie Cemetery is one of the oldest in Liberty County. Its history dates back to the 1850s. Originally there was the Linney Cemetery for white residents of Dayton and the neighboring Acie Cemetery for black residents. In 2019, the two cemeteries merged, removing the fence that separated the sections. Today it is known as the Linney-Acie Cemetery.

For more information on the cemetery, click the link below: