At Unkempt Old Cemetery, a Sign Someone Cares

(NECN: Greg Wayland, West Warwick, RI) - It's good to remember all who defended the nation, living and dead, from the very beginning. A recent assignment on an unrelated story reminded our Greg Wayland of a group of veterans we sometimes forget.

An old cemetery lost in ferns and vines reveals the gravestones of those who served , and of some who died, fighting the American Revolution.

Ezekiel Dowd was a revolutionary soldier, and Carl Becker is a 21st century Revolutionary War re-enactor and could only speculate about Dowd's role.

Rick Greenwood of the Rhode Island Historic Preservation Commission, said Rhode Island very strongly supported the American cause of freedom from England.

Becker and Greenwood say the cause of finding and preserving the old cemeteries can be daunting.

"If you're lucky they'll have fences, if you're lucky they have prominent headstones that are standing up," said Greenwood.

Becker and Greenwood hope the generations who come after them will take care of the cemeteries and remember those who served not only on Memorial Day, but every day.

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