More than 500 graves at the Confederate Soldier Cemetery in Quitman were defaced and vandalized over the Easter weekend earlier this year.

    The sight of black paint smeared on the headstones of those who fell for the South in the Civil War angered and saddened some in the area, especially members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. As Boo White, camp commander for the W. D. Cameron 1221 and Mississippi Division Commander Bill Atkinson surveyed the damage, they wondered if and when the hallowed gravestones could be put back into their original condition. Enter 15-year old Boy Scout Austin Culpepper and fellow scouts from Troop 40 of the Poplar Springs Drive Baptist Church troop.

    “It was a wonderful thing they did and we just want to say ‘thank you’ in our own way,” said White, Thursday night at the monthly meeting of the camp in Meridian.

    White and Mississippi Division Commander for the 4th Brigade, Louis Foley, presented Culpepper and assistant scout master Micah Huffman, a check for $250 and a certificate outlining the appreciation the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans have for the troop.

    “It took all day, about a dozen of us, to get the headstones cleaned again,” said Culpepper, who said he designated that project to get his Eagle Badge. “It was from daylight to dark.”

    Culpepper said the group first soaked the headstones with acid, let it sit and then pressure washed the stones. The end result was sparkling, like new stones to honor those who fell in battle fighting for the South.

    “Most of those buried there are from Texas who fell in the battle of Shiloh,” White said. “The rail line that ran south through the state stopped at towns where hospitals were put in to care for them. These are the ones who didn’t make it.”

    Now, instead of ugly graffiti marked graves, those who sacrificed so much in war can rest in a pristine, clean setting.