County Commissioners Fail Their Veteran Dead
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2024
- Veteran headstones are no longer a priority for county and city leaders across America. On a mission to clean every veteran headstone by Memorial Day, Trae Zipperer exposes local government officials for their lack of concern for veteran graves within their jurisdiction. How soon we forget the sacrifices made by our hometown military heroes of the past. Hundreds of millions of tax dollars spent annually, but money have we none for maintaining the final resting places of our sacred dead. The contrast between veteran graves in Manatee County, FL and those respectfully cared for in perpetuity at our National Cemetery shrines is extreme. At Old Memphis Cemetery in Palmetto, FL, the government-furnished headstones and grave markers of African American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines are covered in black algae, coated in lichens, leaning, sunken, and worse. It's sick, it's disgraceful, and the entire community should be embarrassed into taking action.
Manatee County, Florida is not alone when it comes to a lack of concern for the treatment of veteran graves. Share this video with your County Commissioners, your Mayor, and your City Council Members. Ask your elected officials why veterans buried in your local cemeteries have iconic white marble headstones covered in nasty grime and moss, while National Cemeteries are operated as national shrines. Why do we have guards posted 24 hours a day 365 days a year at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier? Who decided the graves of America's heroes are no longer sacred?
Each town, each city, each county must decide whether or not veteran graves are to be honored with the same level of dignity, honor, and respect as their brothers in arms buried at National Cemeteries. The National Cemetery Administration Vision Statement ensures No Veteran Ever Dies. Will you join the mission to clean every veteran headstone by Memorial Day. Register as a Volunteer at VeteranGraves.com. Learn how to clean veteran headstones at ByMemorialDay.com. And follow the veteran headstone cleaning protocol issued by the National Cemetery Administration.
I'm in north Georgia and have started clean Tombstones near a Baptist church using elbow grease and lots of water with D2 final spray. I locate veterans of all wars and children I'm a volunteer retired.. it's very satisfying
If you're going to use water and elbow grease, I recommend you use WET & FORGET as a final spray, because it does a great job for 10% of the cost. If you're using D/2, the label calls for the D/2 to be sprayed on 10 minutes prior to scrubbing. I guess the 10 minutes on the stone is sufficient time for D/2 to kill every living organism on the stone, because when I come back a few weeks later, the white marble looks brand new squeaky clean. The D/2 plus your elbow grease will be a fantastic combination! Whatever works for you, but I can tell you from my experience the D/2 first, then scrubbing, then rinsing, then come back a few weeks later, is my favorite process. Please Register as a Volunteer at VeteranGraves.com. Thank you for your help cleaning gravestones.
Thank-you!
God Bless!
You, Sir, are a True American. 🇺🇸
I clean Veterans headstones once a week in the Lakeland, Florida area ......been doing this for a year now ....I do it because I am a Veteran .
Thank you Johannah! Keep up the good work. I will continue my best efforts to rally Volunteers to help you and others like you.
I’m in eastern central Arkansas and will begin washing headstones immediately. This is one of the greatest movements I’ve ever seen.
I appreciate you taking up this movement in your local area of central Arkansas. Be sure to Register as a Volunteer at VeteranGraves.com and watch the introduction video on the home page.
@@theyfaceeast yes sir I will
Yesterday I sprayed over 200 headstones in my hometown cemetery. I used D/2 on some and wet-n-forget on others. I still have another 200 to spray before Memorial Day. I also want to hand scrub the KIA stones (12 stones) before Memorial Day. I also have several stones/bronze plaques that I need to pour new concrete bases for. If I don't do it nobody will.
Luckily I meet absolutely no resistance because my brother is on the Cemetery board as well as two cousins. I also sprayed the headstone of the Veterans spouses with wet-n-forget.
I think I can get new bronze flag holders free of charge from my county Veterans Service officer to replace those that are broken or missing? Is that correct???
Thank you for honoring these veterans. How can we make people more aware of the importance of taking care of these headstones?
@@lynnwaters2557 I'm a disabled Veteran and I agree that people need to be educated. People need to know how simple and easy it is. I have wanted to do this for several years but didn't want to harm the stones by doing the wrong thing . I'm so glad I was educated by this channel!!!
@@lynnwaters2557 Good question Lynn. Word of mouth can get it done if we each tell two or more people about what we're doing to honor veterans with clean headstones. The majority of people support this mission, so we just need to make more people aware. From an education standpoint, I've blazed a trail for others to follow via ByMemorialDay.com, TH-cam Channel Honor Your DNA, the protocol issued by the National Cemetery Administration, and VeteranGraves.com. Now people just need to be told about the mission. Memorial Day is almost here, so maybe people will be more open to listening.
Thank you for your service and dedication to our veterans headstones.
You're welcome. People are hearing the message and taking action. It will take longer than I'd like, but we will eventually get them all clean.
That is a very powerful story about her dream.
Soldiers everywhere, remember if as a soldier or veteran and you are not asking for thanks or appreciation don't worry, you won't be disappointed because you will receive little or none.
When wars are won and wrongs are righted, the soldiers forgotten and often slighted. 🇮🇪
I wish I could do this but I'm only 13 and my parents don't have the money
Ask your parents to contact me via ByMemorialDay.com and maybe we can work with your parents to get you what you need to participate. You are certainly old enough to clean veteran headstones, and have the desire to help, so I'm sure there's a way.
My father-in-law was a 17 year old marine that hit the beach on Guadalcanal. He took out more than a dozen enemy before taking one in the chest. He laid on the beach for three days before he was picked up and taken to New Zealand where they had to remove one of his lungs. He received a Purple Heart but before he died, 50 years later, he was so disenchanted with the way he was treated as a veteran, he asked to be cremated so that his headstone would never look like the ones you show.
Thank you for sharing your father-in-law's story. I gotta say the condition of veteran headstones in cemeteries all across America is very telling about how the population as a whole values those who put on the uniform willing to die for the rest. The value placed on veteran's lives is visibly low. The good news is that people still exist who care deeply. Reaching enough of them is a tall order. I think stamina to stay the course will win the race.
@@theyfaceeast My wife and I have talked about what a loss it is for our family to not have a headstone to remember and honor him.
Happy to say was able to clean three more civil war verteran headstones this weekend. Frank Jaquomin of the 35th OVI, Henry McCarthy of the 47th OVI, and W.F. Murphy of the 60th OVI, who was killed in the Battle of Cold Harbor. Much more to do....
Outstanding Patrick Bates. They gave us so much of themselves and serve as a lasting reminder of what it means to be willing to fight, and die if necessary, for a worthy cause.
This is a pathetic action by the town and community to allow this to happen…I was stationed at Mcuire AFB from 88-93 and was in the honor guard for a year, I took this work seriously and to this day I look for veteran headstones that need care …
I live in Clarksville Tn which is a huge military town, my brother is a recruiter and a Veteran going on 10 years. I love this idea as anytime I visit Cemeteries it upsets me the state of the markers, especially the markers. Maybe one day I can afford the D2 cleaner and get it started.
Contact me via ByMemorialDay.com and I will send you some D/2 and a Magnolia Brush scrub brush.
I can’t afford D/2 or Wet-n-Forget yet so I sadly can’t clean any headstone by Memorial Day this year. But over the last few months I’ve been slowly gathering other supplies that’ll help me once I get my hands on some of that biological solution: a gallon sprayer for water, plastic scrapers & wooden skewers to clear out smaller details, some toothbrushes, a metal hand trowel & a little flat blade I plan to use to “edge” around the flat markers, & I do have a soft bristle brush but I’m going to look for a horse brush after watching some of your newer videos. I will, however, be taking the time to place some flags at family veteran’s graves & at a few veteran’s graves I’ve had to add to Find-a-Grave over the last year that I’ve been a volunteer on there. I hope by this time next year I’ll have been able to clean a few veteran’s graves so they can be properly remembered & honored on their day. Thank you for spearheading such a movement & working to keep these veteran markers clean.
Chris please contact me via Contact at ByMemorialDay.com. Provide your mailing address when you contact me there and I will send you some D/2 Biological Solution. This is a team effort and some folks who can't physically clean veteran headstones have contributed supplies for use by Patriots such as yourself.
Brush and water does wonders lots of water and elbow grease
@@theyfaceeast hey i’d really like to get into cleaning headstones in my area is there a specific article i should research in order to be safe i would be devastated if i ruined the headstone in anyway
edit: i know you linked things to look at but are all stones the same?
Thank you for sharing your story about your great uncle, it sent a chill down my spine
Please tell me the one on the thumbnail got a good cleaning. A lot of respect for your work sir !
Yes! I went back and cleaned his veteran headstone myself. I received a few phone calls and emails from people in the Bradenton Palmetto area who wanted to help clean veteran headstones, but I haven't been back to see if anyone actually got the job done for all 75 veteran grave markers.
Are there no family's that care ? Hard to believe so many go untouched, unvisited 😞
I just started doing this in Atascosa county texas thank you for what you do
Thank you for answering the call there in Atascosa County, TX Patrick Mitchell. Be sure to Register at VeteranGraves.com
@@theyfaceeast will do thank you
Manatee County and others like it are a disgrace for letting these go like this. Problem is they don't care, the attitude is once you're dead and gone, we don't have to worry about your grave marker or headstone. My brother used to be a landscaper, when he comes back goes in there and has to totally cut down the bushes over my great-grandparents headstone because it's near a tree and the cemetery refuses to do upkeep on it, they don't even mow it. They're worthless as well. Now neither one of them were veterans, but it just proves the point that cemeteries won't do anything about it unless they're made to.
You are correct. But the underlying issue is a lack of funding caused by the adoption of cheap cremation instead of respectful burial. Cemetery maintenance was funded by burial plot sales. Without burials, there is no need for purchasing burial plots, so the cemetery has no incoming dollars to pay for proper maintenance of the cemetery grounds. There are some For Profit cemeteries out there, but they are mindful of avoiding expenses in order to maximize profit dollars. The grave sites just can't win. Cemeteries are liabilities nobody wants to fund, but they are sacred ground that needs to be maintained in perpetuity.
I recently just found out about one of my great great uncles who was 18, fought and died in action through ancestry, he had no wife or children when he passed, he's buried in Virginia in an old family cemetery, I know no one has been up there to take care of the stones and land because it's been abandoned ever since my great great great grandparents passed away 😢 I highly doubt anyone really knows about him at all.
I plan on going up to the cemetery soon and cleaning up the area and stones.
I don't think family members mean to neglect the stones but as time passes and the older generation passes most of the time their stories and lives are forgotten, hence why I never heard about my uncle or the old family cemetery.
Yours is one of my favorite comments of the thousands I've received. Your personal experience with a veteran of our past and your initiative to honor him with a clean headstone are a testimony to others. To date I have discovered 187 family members who died during the Civil War. These 187 men from 160 years ago shared DNA in common with me. I had never heard of them. I call it: forgotten in three generations. I am excited for you in the adventure you are about to take.
When the family chooses a double/twin -headstone for their parents, it is a common scenario to utilize the ground -level style as "footstone" for their veteran parent.
Having seen your videos, I'm going to be more mindful of stones in need of attention here on the Space Coast
I've lived in California 50 years and been through all the earthquakes of my time. If a headstone gets knocked over, the Cemetery should put it back up. We have earthquakes that actually mean anything maybe once every 10 years that MIGHT knock over a headstone, but I doubt it. I honestly think California has Ground level ones because they're easier to maintain with the lawnmowers.
Unfortunately here in California in ground are the headstones that are allowed. This is because of earthquakes. My father has a Veteran's bronze and my husband has a Veteran's granite headstone.
I've lived in California 50 years and been through all the earthquakes of my time. If a headstone gets knocked over, the Cemetery should put it back up. We have earthquakes that actually mean anything maybe once every 10 years that MIGHT knock over a headstone, but I doubt it. I honestly think California has Ground level ones because they're easier to maintain with the lawnmowers.
hello in the uk all military headstones are kept in perfect condition and replaced if needed .....why not in america... could you explain .
you have better veteran health hospitals .....i dont think we have any in the uk anymore....thanks Daemon
We have veteran cemeteries managed by the National Cemetery Administration where the headstones are maintained properly. We also have veteran cemeteries managed by the National Park Service where the headstones are NOT properly maintained. They blame budget constraints, but I'd fire anyone in charge of a National Park site where veteran headstones are covered in biological filth. Those government employees are obviously NOT the right people for that job. If I were the President, I would call each of those leadership employees to those filthy veteran headstones, make them look at their NEGLECT, and I'd fire them on the spot. There's no excuse. If you don't have enough funding, then by God get off of your rear and go DEMAND the funding. Whatever it takes. The veteran headstones I focus on are those found OUTSIDE our national cemeteries. These government-furnished veteran headstones are identical to those in our national cemeteries, but the National Cemetery Administration has not YET taken it upon themselves to address the problem of no maintenance being done for these veteran headstones located in LOCAL hometown cemeteries. Who cleans the veteran headstones in the local cemeteries throughout the UK?
Hi, here in the UK and throughout the world, we have the commonwealth war graves commission who look after all of the war cemeteries and I believe those headstones also in local church yards and cemeteries at home in the UK. The gravestones in the UK and Europe are made from a special Portland stone, quarried on the south coast of England, all serving soldiers who sadly passed away serving our country are given this special head stone. (I could be wrong and welcome correction) They are then looked after and maintained by the commission and replaced as they degrade, no matter their location. More recently I believe those that need replacing are replaced with an Italian marble, that’s longer lasting , but again I could be wrong.
Sorry also wanted to add, you are doing a fantastic job!
What is the best stone that ages well?
This is based on the cemetery our cemetery is only ground monument and won’t be upright type
5:46
Need to correct spelling on this mans name its Jacquemin.....
Not being rude but what your were about to clean it you were standing on him that’s it nice
Why not bleach?
My train of thought it's better than nothing...
It might short term make a stone look nice, but it can destroy it over time. Multiple bleach washes over the years can shorten the life of a stone dramatically.
@@16Craft82 oh ok.
Iv never heard of that. What does it do to the headstones?
@@jimmieburleigh9549 it eats it away
It will kill the grass and any insects and it's not biodegradable
@@jimmieburleigh9549 it starts to break apart marble especially, after a while, the engraving can even begin to disappear as it sort of turns to sand.