‘They’ve been neglected for over a century:’ Black Civil War soldiers honored

A century after serving in the th United States Colored Infantry Regiment two soldiers are to receive veteran headstones The United States Department of Veterans Affairs approved headstones for Private John Thomas Weedon and Private Henry Adolphus Weedon which will be placed at their grave sites in Frederick Maryland at the Sunnyside New Life Society Church cemetery The two men who are maintained to be cousins were part of the founders of the church in If you look into the church s cemetery you will find the headstones of countless of Weedon s descendants who served in World War I World War II and Vietnam Roxanne Weedon a trustee of the church and John Thomas Weedon s great great granddaughter gave WTOP a tour of the church and cemetery It s pretty awesome to be able to walk across the same grounds where your forefathers came to church every Sunday Weedon reported We still have descendants that go to church here every Sunday Joe Wilson Jr was also part of the tour The former member of the nd Airborne Division conducted research and worked with Fabia Taylor of the Delaware County Veterans Affairs Office of Ohio to secure the headstones for the Civil War veterans They ve been neglected for over a century The very least we could do is make sure that they have a proper headstone Wilson reported Especially for Memorial Day that these men are recognized for their sacrifices Wilson shared that the th United States Colored Infantry Regiment was organized in March of in Baltimore Maryland and included the enlistment of mostly enslaved men The outfit saw action in Virginia and North Carolina and fought with distinction The regiment had a casualty rate of and one-third of the entire regiment died during the war Weedon stated WTOP she is thankful for what Wilson did for her ancestors and will tell her family at the church s Memorial Day barbecue dinner sale on Saturday When petitioned what motivated him to help get the headstones for the two members of the th Regiment Wilson answered It s part of my duty Source