Kane County Eagle scout project pays tribute to fallen veterans in St. Charles cemetery

Kane County Boy Scout Daniel Zedan organized the restoration of 22 veterans’ graves in St. Charles, some of which belonged to men who fought beside his ancestors in the Battle of Gettysburg.

Zedan chose to use his Eagle Scout Service Project to honor local heroes, their families and their memories. On May 3, with the help of family, friends and fellow scouts, Zedan restored the headstones of Civil War veterans buried in St. Charles North Cemetery.

Zedan, 17, is a junior at Hampshire High School and member of Troop 23, chartered by First Presbyterian Church in Wheaton and member of the Three Fires Council in St. Charles.

Zedan’s great-great-great-great uncle fought in the 4th Michigan Infantry Regiment and is buried at Gettysburg. He chose North Cemetery because several members of the Illinois 8th Calvary, who alongside his family in the Battle of Gettysburg, are buried there.

“This project really helped me understand how much history is buried right in our communities,” Zedan said.

In addition to their connection to the military, the Zedan family also has a long history with the Boy Scouts of America.

Zedan started as a Cub Scout at age 7 and is currently a Life Scout, one step away from Eagle Scout, scouting’s highest achievement. If he achieves the rank, he would be the fourth generation of Eagle Scouts in a line dating back to his great-grandfather.

The Eagle Scout Service Project is a major milestone that every scout has to undertake if they wish to reach the rank of Eagle Scout.

The concept for the project came from Zedan’s beneficiary, Matt Clark, a member of the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War. Zedan and Clark attend the same church.

SUVCW is a fraternal order dedicated to preserving the legacy of Civil War veterans. Clark organizes gravestone restoration projects with BSA troops across the country, where Scouts like Zedan provide the labor and oversight while fulfilling their project requirements.

Once the concept was identified, Zedan got to work on planning the project, which included creating a proposal, filling out paperwork, soliciting gravel donations from Home Depot and Lowes and assembling a team of volunteers.

At the cemetery, Zedan began by identifying the graves of Civil War veterans whose headstones were sinking and in poor condition. The stones were removed, cleaned, carefully repositioned and treated with a substance to restore their original color.

Zedan said he was hoping to be able to be able to improve 12 graves, but on the day of the project his team of over 20 volunteers restored 22 gravestones.

“It went really well, we got double the result we wanted,” Zedan said. “I’m really proud of how may people came out and supported me and supported the veterans, and their families, who fought and died for our country.”

Zedan still has a few merit badges to obtain, but said he intends to have every requirement satisfied before the end of summer.