ANDERSON TWP. — In his mind's eye, Russ Jackson can see a portion of the hillside awash in a sea of white wooden crosses, the first time in 70 years that the grave sites of 250 military veterans at Hillcrest Cemetery will have markers.

        Placing the crosses on the grave sites is expected to be the centerpiece of a large-scale effort to identify grave sites and to clean headstones on Saturday at the cemetery. Hillcrest Cemetery is on Sutton Road, just north of Coney Island.

        The cemetery, where more than 1,300 veterans — 849 of them African-American — are buried on 14 acres, has been neglected over the years. Weeds have grown long, and erosion has taken its toll.

        In recent years, volunteers have tried to keep the plant growth in check, but the problems persisted.
       

Markers going up
               “After 70 years, we've got some 250 veterans that are finally going to have their graves marked,” said Mr. Jackson, a township trustee who is also with the Anderson Township Leadership Council, which is organizing the cleanup.

        Depending on the weather, more than 200 volunteers are expected to partici pate from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

        Mr. Jackson said that records from 1938 indicate who was buried where, even among what became unmarked graves. An indentation in the ground indicates a grave site.
       

Honoring the dead
               Three Civil War veterans, 17 from the Spanish-American War, and World War I veterans make up the bulk of about 800 veterans who had been buried there by 1938.

        On Friday, volunteers will place names on the wooden crosses that will be placed in the ground Saturday.

        “It's a way for the community to express appreciation,” said the Rev. David Ray, pastor of Mount Washington Church of Christ, who is also on the leadership council. “The timing of it makes it an even more powerful statement, with all that's been going on.”

        The effort is a step in a process that is hoped will eventually enlist the Ohio National Guard to help with an engineering solution to the erosion problems at the cemetery.

        “But the first thing that had to be done was to clear the area so you could even see it,” Mr. Jackson said.

       Anyone interested in volunteering to work Saturday is encouraged to call the township office at 474-5560.

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