On Juneteenth, a journalist honors ancestor at ceremony for Black soldiers who served in Civil War

Darren Sands, now a reporter for The Associated Press, was researching his family history three years ago when he found a riveting missing piece. He learned that his great-great-great-great grandfather _ Hewlett Sands _ was one of the more than 200,000 names listed on the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C. He was a soldier from New York who served in a United States Colored Troops regiment that fought for the Union – and for the freedom that American Americans still celebrate today. Darren Sands is attending a Juneteenth commemoration at the memorial to honor those troops, including his ancestor.