Memorial Park Cemetery cleaned up for Memorial Day weekend
The Brief
The Memorial Park Cemetery was cleaned up ahead of Memorial Day weekend.
Earlier this month, the group cleaned off headstones. Saturday, they returned to the property to plant nearly 500 American flags.
TAMPA - Volunteers banded together to clean up and beautify a previously neglected East Tampa cemetery ahead of Memorial Day.
Memorial Park Cemetery on E Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd is a predominately African American site for hundreds of veterans and their families.
The backstory
Some served dating back to World War I. Others served while Jim Crow Laws were in place.
Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera said, "I have to think that the people who served during that time who were African American, wanted to gain respect at home for folks like them."
The property was in shambles up until last year. Many burial sites were unintelligible.
He said, "Having this cemetery the way it was a few years ago was a disgrace to Tampa, it was a disgrace to our values."
It was then mistakenly sold in a land auction.
"The city of Tampa was preparing to buy it but apparently someone else purchased it so we as a city had to go back and purchase it from that owner," he added.
READ: 28th annual Memorial Day Observance ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park & Museum
The city has since given the cemetery a historic designation and used ground-penetrating radar to identify gravesites.
Viera said upkeep of the cemetery is a top priority for a host of organizations.
What they're saying
"Every year we come out here, the firefighters, the Cemetery Society, the Veterans Treatment Court Mentors, Vietnam Veterans of America, different organizations and everyday volunteers come out here in Memorial Day month to clean up this cemetery," he added, "As a way of just making sure we honor those American heroes, those who died of natural causes and those killed in action."
Earlier this month, the group cleaned off headstones. Saturday, they returned to the property to plant nearly 500 American flags.
"People should, Memorial Day Weekend, Memorial Day do something for our fallen soldiers and our Gold Star families," he said, "We're home to a lot of heroes. Pay tribute to those heroes."
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The Source
Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Jennifer Kveglis.
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