Eagle Scout compiles directory

 

As 9/11 approaches there are sure to be plenty of displays of patriotism to remember that tragic day when nearly 3,000 lives were lost.

One of the most common displays of patriotism shown in America is recognition and thanks to all our military men and women of the past and the present. It’s typical for people to say that our veterans must be remembered and never forgotten. But how do you put a name or a face to the countless number of veterans who paid the ultimate sacrifice?

Travis Cade, a member of Boy Scout Troop 106, decided to answer that question here in Lawrence County as part of his Eagle Scout project. With help from his fellow Scouts and troop leaders, Cade spent this past Saturday at Woodland Cemetery compiling a registry of veterans’ graves.

“We’re trying to record all of the veterans gravestones,” Cade said. “We’re writing down their names and numbering the graves so we know exactly where everyone is.”

The total list of veterans at the cemetery will eventually be added to a directory on a website to help out-of-towners find the markers of friends and loved ones. But, the directory will also preserve the legacy these veterans leave behind by ensuring the names at each grave remain known.

“Our veterans need to be recognized,” Cade said. “They deserve that and it’s good that we are doing this now. Because some of the older sections are really weather-beaten. They were tough to read. In 10 or 20 years from now someone may not be able to read them at all.”