SARASOTA – What began as a community service project for the Booker High School Junior ROTC program became a Sarasota initiative.
Wednesday morning, they host a marker placement ceremony paying tribute to veterans and Suncoast family members.
This gravesite is more than just a cemetery. The ceremony recognizes how sacred this ground is for the people of color, for those on the Suncoast, and for those who served our country.
Keynote speaker, Commissioner Willie Shaw, says has family buried at the Oaklands-Woodlawn Cemetery for African-Americans.
The Oaklands/Woodlawn Cemetery is sacred ground for African-American soldiers and families.
“We have people buried in here from as far away as Arcadia because in the earlier days, they weren’t able to buried in that area,” Sarasota commissioner, Willie Charles Shaw said.
This project shed light on the lost stories of people’s past.
“I had no idea that my father’s father was buried here,” Booker High School Principal said.
JROTC Battalion Commander, Amy Dang, says they chose this as their community service project because they wanted to honor their veterans.
“To think that these vets, these families may not even know where they are,” Amy Dang said.
This is a project by the youth and in a way, for the youth.
“The whole intent of these of reflection and remembrance is to bring the young here, to show that their family members made a contribution, not only to this nation but the people of Sarasota,” Shaw said.
Booker High School JROTC students placed a ceremonial marker as part of phase two in this project.
SNN broke this story in 2018, bringing awareness to the Suncoast.
It’s a project, former ROTC Instructor, Lt.Ben Weiss, initiated two years ago.
The cemetery suffered from vegetative overgrowth and broken gravestones.
Lt. Weiss says the fallen African American was his family.
“There is no black, there is no white, there is no brown. It’s green,” Lt.Ben Weiss said. “Being a veteran is more than a community, it is a brother and sisterhood.”
The phase three of the project includes installing a flag pole as a spot for remembrance.
