A small group of Brevard County veterans are raising money and seeking help to fix a historic cemetery.
- Group of veterans repairing historic cemetery
- Veterans also raising money, seeking help with repairs
- The goal is to honor Brevard's Veterans Cemetery
Sam DiBlasio leads a small group of veterans, who call themselves Friends of the Cemetery.
Their mission: to honor Titusville’s nearly 40-year-old Veterans Cemetery.
“We are really trying to do something that will be seen as a community minded project that won’t cost people money just really a bit of their time,” DiBlasio said.
Since beginning their journey, the five veterans have enlisted the help of nearly 200 volunteers in the community to help them on the weekends by tending to the grounds, installing historical fixtures and raising $5,000 for the cemetery.
“We have veterans in here from WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam, and they all deserve dignity and respect and a final resting place,” veteran Robert Patry said.
“Without these men being on the front lines we wouldn’t enjoy the freedoms we have today,” veteran Albert Therriault said.
But with Veterans Day around the corner, they’re hoping to have more completed by then.
The friends say the cemetery still needs new mulch, updated fencing, a new entrance and benches. The say they hope to make this place one of community pride and a place to honor fallen heroes.
“There are a 126 veterans buried here, 126 stories, 126 photos of veterans we’d like to obtain, we’d like to meet their families. We want to really make this a historic site,” DiBlasio said.
Friends of the Cemetery partners with the local VFW Post 4228.
If you’d like to donate you can reach out to Post 4228.
Upcoming events at the cemetery:
- Oct. 28 - Volunteer day (10 a.m. at Veterans Cemetery, 1143 Day Street Titusville)
- Nov. 11 - Veterans Day Ceremony
- Dec. 16 - Wreaths across America