ALPHARETTA, Ga. — A new footstone for Horace Martin, a World War II veteran buried at Pineview Cemetery, was unveiled in an annual Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 10.
For the past six years, the Patriots of Liberty Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) has honored veterans buried at the historic African American cemetery on Teasley Place.
Leroy A. Teasley and his wife Murlie Burse Teasley established the site from a portion of their farm to allow neighbors and relatives from the Bailey-Johnson community and other African American communities to be buried. More than 160 African American are buried at Pineview, and its earliest marked burial is of Nathan Mitchell who lived from 1881 to 1950.
Horace Martin, whose life spanned from 1915 to 1977, is one of 16 veterans buried at Pineview. Their graves were adorned with American flags by attendees after the ceremony. Several guests placed flags by the graves of their family members.
Around four to five years ago during Wreaths Across America, two DAR members stood at Martin’s grave. DAR member Jennifer Boren said all that marked it was a small plastic card and a metal stake.
Kate Messer, who passed away two months ago, was with Boren that day. Boren recalled Messer saying Martin deserved a proper marker.
“As time passed and we remembered him each year with a wreath, I finally decided to do something about it,” Boren said.
This past summer, Boren jumped online and found Martin’s military service record. She then wrote to Veterans Affairs (VA) and included documentation along with a letter explaining that her DAR chapter wanted to honor his memory with a government issued military marker.
“Much to my surprise the VA mailed a beautiful granite marker for us to install,” Boren said.
Phillip Duncan, from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, provided an…
Read the full article here
