Va. Cemetery a Forgotten Footnote By BILL BASKERVILL .c The Associated Press DARVILLS, Va. (AP) - Willie Wynn's tombstone proclaims he is ``gone but not forgotten.'' That epitaph doesn't seem to apply to the tree- and weed-choked cemetery where Wynn and about 2,000 other blacks and a dozen American Indians were relocated during construction of Fort Pickett in 1942. The graveyard stands in stark contrast to a neat grassy field less than three miles away where about 1,000 whites were re-interred beside a picturesque country church. ``Something needs to be done,'' said Lt. Col. Tom Wilkinson, a public affairs officer for the Virginia Army National Guard, which took over operation of the post from the Army in 1997 but is not responsible for the cemetery's upkeep. Overrun by a tangle of small trees, weeds, briars, vines and scrub, the isolated black graveyard is virtually invisible from a rural road that parallels it a few yards away. Rusted metal markers and some tombstones are scattered through the maze of growth that is nearly impenetrable in some areas. Trees erupt through some graves; many graves have collapsed. ``I think it should be worked on and improved. It is historic,'' said Tyrone Coleman, president of the Dinwiddie County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The two cemeteries were created just outside the boundaries of Fort Pickett - named after Confederate Gen. George Pickett - so graves scattered about the post grounds would not be desecrated during military training. The black cemetery is 50 yards from a tank road and firing range that mark the eastern boundary of Fort Pickett, which sprawls over 41,000 acres in three counties 50 miles southwest of Richmond. Private citizens sold the land for the segregated cemeteries to civilian trustees as Fort Pickett was being built - $250 for eight acres for the black cemetery and $350 for nine acres for the white cemetery. Five trustees agreed to care for each new cemetery, all of whom are now dead. The deeds of sale, filed March 3, 1942, in Dinwiddie County Circuit Court, give the trustees authority to sell burial plots in unused sections of the cemeteries with proceeds to be used for upkeep. ``The trustees didn't do their job in either case,'' said Frank Moore, who grew up in Darvills about 1 1/2 miles from the black cemetery and has researched the history of both graveyards. Moore said the only reason the white cemetery has not deteriorated is that members of Butterwood United Methodist Church voluntarily maintain its grounds. Wilkinson said he has informed his superior officers about the decay of the black cemetery and said they expressed hope that restoring it can be a community effort once it is determined who now owns it. For visitors, the cemetery offers snapshots of history and often touching inscriptions. The homemade tombstone of Wynn, who died in 1930, is a concrete slab 2 feet high with a corroded metal insert that reads ``At Rest.'' Carved on the stone is an inscription from his family: ``We will meet you in the sweet bye and bye.'' On the Net: Fort Pickett: http://fort-pickett.net/reg-index.html African American Cemeteries Online: http://www.prairiebluff.com/aacemetery AP-NY-02-08-01 0116EST Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.