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COLUMBIA (WACH) - Veterans at home and abroad remembered this Memorial Day at a Midlands cemetery with a lot of history.

Established more than 150 years ago, the Piney Grove Cemetery is nestled only a couple of miles from Columbiana Centre.
 
Veterans from five wars are buried here including Christine Burton's father.

"This is a great country, and veterans are our greatest citizens, I've been working with them for more than 30 years."

The Piney Grove Cemetery was sometimes the only burial option for African American servicemen and freedom fighters during segregation.

"The freedom fighters that we talked about; these were our behind the scenes people," said Burton.  "They worked to make sure we had alternatives, because of the situation as it was with this country and the freedoms that had been established but not enacted."
 
James Washington's grandfather is one of those freedom fighters buried here. He was able to find his grandfather's grave, but the graves of others laid to rest before him are hard to find. 

"We had to do all this by memory, some of the graves are really out of line," said Washington.  Now, it becomes harder and harder to find some of those graves that didn't have markers."

Burton says she hopes the children who attended Monday's ceremony will keep the memories alive of those who came before them.