BELTON, Texas -- Soldiers with 3rd Armor Battalion, 395th Regiment, 479th Field Artillery Brigade, Division West, conducted landscaping and upkeep on the historic Dulaney Cemetery on the A.C. Ray Ranch here May 18.
The unit's commitment to the site's upkeep began more than 10 years ago, when retired Lt. Col. Don Miller happened upon the cemetery while bird-hunting with some friends. At the time, the cemetery was completely overgrown with bushes and grass. Cows wandering through the cemetery rubbed on tombstones, damaging them and knocking them over.
Miller decided to find a unit on Fort Hood to adopt the old cemetery, and he found the 3-395th. A lot has changed in the past 12 years, since 3-395th Soldiers have put in a few hours of hard work semi-annually to preserve this piece of Texas history.
A.C. Ray, the cemetery's property owner, said the Dulaney Cemetery is one of the oldest in Bell County, indicated by the earliest marked grave laid down in 1873. However, a number of graves are completely illegible, and other graves are marked only with rocks at the head and foot of the burial site. The cemetery has approximately 36 well-defined graves, but it is likely many more have been lost over time.
"The history of the site started with the burial of a few Indians, and then a man named Miguel turned the land into a working ranch and buried his hired hands here," Ray said. "At that time, the cemetery was part of a Spanish land grant and was considered part of Mexico."
A schoolhouse was also built in the area, according to Ray.
"It was also used as a Masonic lodge and a Methodist Church," Ray said. "So this piece of land is the site of both the first schoolhouse and maybe the first cemetery in Bell County."
The schoolhouse no longer remains, but there are still signs of the Masonic lodge with two grave stones bearing the mark of the Freemasons.
The Soldiers began clearing the approximately one-acre plot of land at about 8 a.m., after they navigated to the remote site.
Some of the 35 Soldiers operated weed whackers, while others raked and removed the grass and vines that were cut down. Other Soldiers repaired the barbed-wire fence line designed to keep out large animals that might further damage the gravestones. By the end of the day, some Soldiers had transitioned to lawn mowers and others were pruning trees inside the lightly wooded cemetery.
By mid-morning, the Soldiers could smell the grill that Larry Wilkins, a member of the Historic Cemetery Association of Central Texas, had fired up to prepare lunch. As the temperature rose, work continued. Soldiers put the finishing touches on their work by clearing the front of the cemetery of some large branches and tall grass and weeds, which had grown up just outside the gate.
Around noon, 3-395th commander, Lt. Col. Gregg Softy, rallied the tired and hungry troops to thank them for their hard work and to thank Wilkins and his helpers for lunch..
Soldiers then kicked back with cold drinks, hamburgers, jalapeño sausages, chips, cookies and plenty of fixings. Most of them lingered to eat, socialize, and reflect on the hard work they put in and all they had accomplished in a few hours on a warm Friday morning.
Many of the Soldiers said they look forward to the next time they come back to this plot of Texan history to again respect the dead and ensure this little old cemetery lives on for decades to come.
"You really get a sense of history for the local area," said Sgt. 1st Class Douglas Shreve. "This has been a great chance for us to strengthen ties with the community, and I was really glad to help out."
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