GROVELAND, Fla. – Months after celebrating the restoration of the Oak Tree Union Colored Cemetery of Taylorville, the city of Groveland honored veterans buried there during what was likely the first Memorial Day Ceremony held there in decades.

City officials tell us prior to the restoration the cemetery had been abandoned since 1951.

Samuel Griffin’s uncle is one of the 10 veterans known to be buried at the Oak Tree Hill Union Colored Cemetery of Taylorville.

He said it meant so much to him to see his uncle honored on Memorial Day.

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“I thought about it I said ‘Well Uncle Sam,’ talking to myself, well me talking to him, ‘Well Uncle Sam, I go Uncle Sam, you not forgotten.’”

News 6 was there in February when the city marked the completion of the restoration project.

Groveland Fire Chief, Kevin Carroll, said they could not physically get to some of the graves in the cemetery because the trees and woods had become so thick.

[See NEWS 6 coverage highlighting Oak Tree Union Colored Cemetery restoration]

“It is absolutely an amazing feat to know where we started and what this looked like just a couple of years ago and what it looks like now,” Carroll said.

Carroll was in charge of the restoration project and said some of the graves belong to veterans of World War I.

He said he’s glad they’re now able to honor the veterans buried in this cemetery.

“These people you know, more than 100 years ago were buried here,” Carroll said. “We don’t know for sure, but I cannot imagine these people were given the recognition that they deserved. So being out here today, and now from this point forward, every year being able to come out here to get to them where we can honor them is spectacular.”

Just down the street, the city of Groveland also recognized veterans buried in the Greenwood Cemetery with a ceremony and flags placed at gravesites.

Dozens of people came out for the ceremony including U.S. Army veteran Brandon Toler, who brought his entire family with him so his kids can understand the importance of Memorial Day.

“It’s important to bring your kids out here so they can understand the sacrifices people before us made so we can enjoy the freedoms that we have today,” Toler said. “I want them to understand, and know all of this and respect the people in the military and just never forget who fought for us to be free.”

To learn more about the restoration of the Oak Tree Union Colored Cemetery of Taylorville, click here.