Battle Develops Over Vets’ Markers

For 3 1/2 years, Gene-o Platt has perched himself at the Santa Ana Cemetery and pulled out his brushes, chisels and drills, determined to restore the markers of 483 Civil War veterans.

He arrives at the cemetery nearly every day in his beat-up wood-paneled Ford station wagon, such a familiar figure that the groundskeepers know him by name.

But the trustees of the Orange County Cemetery District have told Platt not to bother anymore. By a unanimous vote last month, the trustees passed a policy to keep Platt from completing his work.

They say that he may be damaging the historic markers, and that because Civil War monuments belong to the federal government, he must receive its approval. The action comes just as a national group representing descendants of Union soldiers plans to present Platt an award recognizing his work. The group decided to honor Platt before the cemetery board told him to stop his work.

“I’m appalled they won’t let him finish,” said George L. Powell, commander in chief of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, when told of the new policy. “He’s preserving history, preserving the memory of veterans buried there, these American heroes.”

Platt’s name will be engraved on a plaque with other Founders Award winners that is on display at the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pa.

The county Board of Supervisors appoints Cemetery District trustees, who oversee Anaheim Cemetery, El Toro Memorial Park and Santa Ana Cemetery.

The board’s new policy says that any work being done on monuments must receive approval from the trustees. The directive was aimed at Platt, said trustee Maureen Rivers.

“He shouldn’t have been doing it for 3 1/2 years,” said Rivers, who has been on the board for eight years. “We didn’t realize the extent of what he was doing until some of us went out and took a look at it. I don’t think the stones should have been touched.... They probably would have lasted forever. Quite frankly, I feel they’ve been seriously damaged.”

It’s not as if Platt’s work has been a secret. He’s as much a fixture at the cemetery as the markers. “We’re with you,” a groundskeeper yelled to him last week.

Honored by Legislator, Historical Society

He’s received awards from Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) and from the Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society.

He works nearly every day on the Civil War gravestones, maybe a couple of hours, sometimes as long as the sun is out. He cleans the monuments, then coats them with layer after layer of white sealer, finishing by going over the chiseled lettering with gold.

He’s also worked on the 8-foot-high bald eagle monument at the cemetery entrance that reads, “To the Unknown Dead of the Civil War.” A friend repaired the steps leading to the monument, which was dedicated in 1915.

Like the markers, Platt is getting up in years. The 64-year-old recently spent a couple of days at the doctor’s office having tumors removed from his arms, and he has arthritis and diabetes.

Platt spent seven years in the Air Force as a radar technician and later owned a grocery store and a restaurant-remodeling business. He came across the Civil War markers while visiting the grave of his wife, Jean, who died in 1998. He noticed the monuments themselves looked like they had been through a war, and he took it upon himself to fix them. Some believe his restorations harm the historic nature of the gravestones, giving them a cheap look. Still, his supporters last year gathered 200 signatures endorsing his efforts.

Dispute Over Whether Permission Was Given

Platt says he’s gotten permission from cemetery officials. His version is backed by Bill Stetler, former manager at Santa Ana Cemetery. Stetler said that when Platt started his project, Sam Randall, the district general manager, approved it.

Randall said neither he nor the board gave Platt permission. “Halfway through the process, I came along and said, ‘What’s going on?’ We really didn’t step in and say, ‘Gene-o, stop,’ until a few months ago.”

Rivers agreed that someone gave Platt the go-ahead. “But whoever gave him permission, as I recall, it was a long time ago,” she said.

Still, not long ago, Randall told Platt the district would pay the $1,000 he needed to replace silver stars next to the graves.

In a snub to the cemetery district, Platt turned him down, instead using money from private donors.

That’s typical Platt, cantankerous and as stubborn as the lichen he digs out of the markers. He accepts money from some people, turns it down from others and spends what he has, which isn’t much.

Randall says Platt has finished most of the Civil War monuments, except 10 that are supposed to be left in their natural state. That’s wrong, Platt said. He has 45 more to do.

And it doesn’t matter that the cemetery has placed red flags on those 10 to signal that Platt should stay away.

“I’ve committed myself to do them all,” he said. (Platt told The Times last year he had 35 more to finish but now says he must have been misunderstood.)

Platt learned of the cemetery board’s decision when a worker handed him a copy of the policy. The cemetery board held its meeting without inviting Platt. That’s fine with him.

“If the board of trustees want to talk to me, have them [come] out here,” he said. “They owe me that much.”