[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n Saturday, June 18 at the Greenwood Union Cemetery, located at 215 North St. in Rye, the nonprofit organization Friends of the African American Cemetery held a solidarity ceremony for veterans and others buried at the cemetery in response to acts of vandalism perpetrated on-site just before the Memorial Day ceremony.
Vandals reportedly destroyed and stripped the cloth of the American flags from their poles at the cemetery.
Local leaders called upon members of the community to rally in solidarity to support the cemetery and express outrage over the acts of violence. As many as 100 people attended the event.
“This kind of act clearly aims to denigrate our community and the veterans buried in our landmark cemetery. It seems clear that someone was trying to send a heinous message to our community,” said David Thomas, the executive director of the Friends of the African American Cemetery.
The land for the cemetery, located near Interstate 95, was donated to the town of Rye in 1860 by Underhill and Elizabeth Halstead. Among those buried there include individuals who served in the Civil War, the Spanish-American War and both World Wars I and II.
The Rye Police Department has collected forensic evidence from the site to track down the vandals, but there are no clear leads as of press time.
