Nam Knights Pay Tribute to Veterans Buried at Tiny Cemetery at Palisades Center

As thousands of shoppers dash for a prime parking spot every day this holiday season at Palisades Center mall in West Nyack, many don't notice the small patch of land alongside a mall driveway that is the historic Mt. Moor Cemetery.

But for Charlie Maushardt and fellow members of the Nam Knight Motorcycle Club's Hudson Valley Chapter, the cemetery continues to be a key landmark in the community and deserves to be honored as the proud resting place of veterans dating back to the Civil War.

At 10 a.m. Saturday, the Nam Knights Motorcycle Club plans to honor the veterans who are buried at Mt. Moor Cemetery with a brief wreath laying ceremony. Maushardt said that the 15th of December is the day that wreaths are placed on the graves at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC., and in keeping with that tradition, the Nam Knights will be placing wreaths on the graves of veterans at Mt. Moor Cemetery. 

The cemetery, which dates back to July 7, 1849, for generations has been the burial ground for local African-American families. Those buried at the cemetery include veterans from the Civil War through to the Korean War.

"For too long the military service of black Americans has been overlooked or taken for granted. This is a way to make sure that these veterans are recognized and not forgotten," said Maushardt, who is president of the Nam Knights MC - Hudson Valley Chapter.

The cemetery is located on the south side of Palisades Center off Route 59, alongside a driveway to the multi-level parking garage at the mall. The cemetery has a small parking lot of its own, with graves running along a small hillside.

Before construction of Palisades Center, access to the cemetery was through a rough dirt road through a swampy area. In years prior to the mall's development, Rockland County veterans joined forces in clean up operations at the cemetery — paying tribute to veterans buried there.