40 Legion Volunteers Honor 800 Black Veterans' Cemetery

When Army veteran Mike King returned to his Louisville neighborhood after 30 years of service, he barely recognized the cemetery where his relatives were buried.

Greenwood Cemetery, once a beautiful park-like space, had become overgrown with weeds and scattered with trash. The cemetery serves as the final resting place for more than 800 Black veterans, but years of fraudulent practices by previous owners left it in deplorable condition.

On August 28, 2026, 40 volunteers from The American Legion's national convention changed that story. They spent their morning cutting grass, removing weeds, cleaning tombstones, and trimming vines throughout the historic Chickasaw neighborhood cemetery.

"This is something that we all like to do when we go to national convention cities is to be able to give back to the community," said Michele Steinmetz, American Legion Western Region Liaison. The organization has made community service a cornerstone of its annual conventions for 12 years running.

Former national commander Denise Rohan, an Army veteran from Wisconsin, brought her battery-powered trimmer to tackle overgrown vines. Former American Legion Auxiliary National President Lisa Williamson emphasized that volunteers didn't need special skills, just a desire to give back.

The cemetery's troubles run deep. In 1989, excavations revealed that the previous owner had buried around 80,000 people on land meant for 15,000. They removed tombstones and resold plots, leaving families without markers for their loved ones.

King now serves as vice president of Greenwood Cemetery Community Partners, a volunteer group of 200 people who work on the grounds every Saturday. They've discovered about 40 veterans' stones at another cemetery that belong at Greenwood, plus 25 more stored in a garage.

The Ripple Effect

The Legion volunteers didn't just clean up a cemetery. They learned restoration techniques to take back to their own communities across the country.

King says the impact goes beyond the physical work. Having veterans from across America sing the National Anthem and salute at Greenwood honored the Black veterans buried there who may never have received proper recognition.

The volunteers plan to leave Louisville better than they found it, carrying forward both the skills and the spirit of service that brought them to Greenwood Cemetery.