She wants to tell the stories of USCT troops

For 50 years, Corene McDaniel has walked through the rows at Mound City National Cemetery in southern Illinois to visit her father. But it was only a few years ago that she noticed an abbreviation chiseled into some of the oldest white headstones: USCT. It stands for United States Colored Troops -- the name given to about 200,000 black men who fought for the Union in the Civil War. McDaniel has identified 350 USCT graves. McDaniel, of Carbondale, hopes her records can be added to the directory at the cemetery museum, allowing future visitors to more easily find the graves. She also wants to tell their stories. • Article