WWII Airman Killed In Action Over Germany 1944 Gets Clean Veteran Headstone by Memorial Day 2021
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 เม.ย. 2021
- Watch and learn as Trae Zipperer cleans the veteran headstone of Staff Sergeant Robert A. Andrews who was Killed In Action over Europe during World War II while manning his gun during a bombing mission on 23 Mar 1944. In this video, Trae explains the neglected condition of veteran headstones marking the graves of hometown heroes who were buried in their local cemeteries only to be forgotten as memories of their ultimate sacrifices disappeared. Filmed on location at New Hope Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery in La Crosse, FL just north of Gainesville, FL.
Ssgt Robert A. Andrews went Missing In Action and was later confirmed as having been Killed In Action. Watch the movie Memphis Belle. Source: The American Air Museum in Britain website. Assigned to the 728th Bombardment Squadron, SSgt Robert A. “Bob” Andrews was a Waist Gunner aboard B-17 Flying Fortress #42-39933. On 23 Mar 1944 while on a bombing mission from their base in England to bomb targets in Brunswick, Germany, his airplane was attacked by German fighter planes, exploded in mid-air, and crashed NE of Diepholz, Germany. Eight crew members were Killed In Action. Two crew members survived, were captured, and became Prisoners of War (POW).
His body was exhumed five years later in 1949, transported across the Atlantic Ocean aboard the USS Haiti Victory along with the bodies of 5,328 American service members, and reinterred in his family’s burial grounds. The final resting place for World War II American hero SSgt Robert A. Andrews is located in the New Hope Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery among members of his mother’s side with the surname Clemons.
Covered in decades of biological growth buildup, in this video Trae uses D/2 Biological Solution, water, a soft nylon bristles horse brush, and a tooth brush to honor this American hero with a clean veteran headstone by Memorial Day.
VeteranGraves.com is introduced as the place to Register in order to add Cemeteries and Graves to document all veteran graves before and after cleaning.
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Who gives two thumbs down here? I find it very honorable to do this work. Greetings from Germany. Torsten
There’s 15 now as of today. SMH. I agree. This is honorable work.
Bots
@@user-se6es7db5b there's 17 now today and I agree with you I wish I had the ability to get out there and clean American heroes head stones
@@broccolisalad9556 bro how is this a bot
And greetings from Poland!
As a Jew who lives in Israel, a grandson to holocaust survivors whose most of the family on both sides were murdered by the Nazis, I thank the American veterans who fought WWII over Germany and you, sir, for honoring these people.
You're welcome. My grandfather liberated a concentration camp in Germany. I don't know if he helped liberate more than one camp, but the photos he took were so disturbing, my grandmother threw them away. I wish she hadn't done that, because those photos should be in a holocaust museum.
@@honoryourdna8897You should be proud of your grandfather. Too bad about the photos.
@@PlasmaKong2 I think about those photos all the time. I never saw them.
@@honoryourdna8897 My Dad (at age 16) was part of the occupying forces after the war was declared over. He went into Dachau to make sure there were no Germans hiding in there and he said you could still smell what had gone on there. That smell stayed with him and haunted him until he passed in 2007. He was my hero and is missed dearly.
This one pulled on my heartstrings. My Grandfather, Glen E. Davis, was a belly turret gunner in a B-17. Of the 36 missions he was in, he was shot down 33 times. I sit and wonder if this man, SSgt Andrews, was on any of the missions my grandfather was in. Was my Grandfather there when he died? My Grandpa was the shortest man in the unit, and thus got the smallest seat in the plane. I feel appreciation to my core. Thank you for doing this job, and sharing it with us. (My Grandfather died in 1995.)
I wish I could have spent an hour with your grandpa.
❤️
I'm the great granddaughter of a double war Soldier and the granddaughter of a Korean/Vietnam War Vet and you hit me right in the feels by doing this. Sad thing is, last summer I couldn't find my great grandfather's grave! Raymond William Dionne fought in WWI and WWII but was discharged home, went to SGH where he died from Stomach Cancer, my grandfather fought in the Vietnam/Korean War he passed when I was four from lung cancer. He would've had his entire burial and head stone paid for but my late grandmother screwed it up by putting him in the wrong cemetery. He wasn't Catholic but Anglican so he'd have been properly buried in the Protestant Cemetery.
Thank you for your service to these veterans. The rural cemetery my parents are buried in comes and removes all flags right after Memorial Day. I complain every year, and continue to place another flag as often as needed...
great granddaughter of a WW2 Veteran here, thank you so much for all that you’re doing!! 💕
These are amazing. I mentioned this to my son to bring up to his scout troop
I am a veteran, and I am moved to tears every time I watch one of your videos. May God continue to bless you and the services you are rendering for those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
I've been cleaning my family and friends gravestones for 5 or 6 years now. They are scattered in graveyards all over this state (NH). While cleaning a stone one day about 3 years ago i noticed there was a veterans marker next to it that was black as can be with some other growth as well. I cleaned it and it was most satisfying. Since then whenever I go to a cemetery to clean a family member's or old friends' gravestone when I'm done I look for a nearby veteran's stone to clean. Sometimes more than one, but always at least one. Best part of the day.
The stones in this video are the type I'm cleaning in our local cemetery. Quite the transformation, and very rewarding. I'm using wet and forget and it works very well. Some stones are black as you know and they clean up very nicely. There are a couple flat stones that were so covered all that gave it away as a veteran was a flag stuck in the dirt; It's very dishearten how the local sextons treat the veterans markers. Your video's has inspired me to do what I can in my local 2 cemeteries.
Thank you Myren for being the one in your community to answer the call to honor our veterans with clean headstones by Memorial Day. Others are taking action every day, so eventually we will get Volunteer hands on each and every veteran headstone or grave marker.
As I watch your video I wonder if my dad may have known this man. My father “Wayne Eugene Bryant” was shot down over Gotha Germany February 24,1944. He was a radio operator/tail gunner in a liberator called Paper Doll. (There were a lot of planes named paper doll) It was a famous day in battle. Their mission was to bomb a ball bearing factory. The mission was successful but on the way back to England they were shot down. 8 men on board 4 perished. My father was 19 years old the day he bailed. (HE SURVIVED) he landed in the middle of a farmer’s field and that man came after him with a pitch fork and a dog then turned him in as a POW. he remained in 2 different stalag camps plus one of the death marches for 18 months. I have his pow letters and also sent for his debriefing papers when he came back to the states. (MACR Report) he never really talked about the war but my journey to understand everything about him has been powerful. He was an amazing father and Christian. I love what your doing! All these men deserve such respect! Even in death.
A true hero thank God for men like him my dad was in 3rd army ww2
Hi RT! My dad was in the 145th 702. Call sign U Uncle.
Sherry your dad was one of the very special men of his generation too face danger of the German airforce and the flack in aircraft that had temperatures at 40 below zero wow true hero's I cannot fully put in words what these guys mean to me i am fascinated at what they faced with such bravery thank God for their sacrifice 🙏
@@RT-fe1mu yes I’m with you all the way! My father had 4 little girls. He died very young in a logging accident here on the central Oregon coast after having 5 children. I was only 8 years old. I am the baby. I’ve been the one to trace his footsteps. He would tell a couple stories like when he bailed out. his body hit the side of the plane and knocked off one of his boots along with the over boot (protection I guess) when he hit the ground he took his over boot and put it on the foot that lost the boot. That’s all he had on his foot for 18 months. Then the other story was when the Americans came into their camp and they were liberated. They came in with hot coffee and doughnuts. They told them to go slow and they were allowed 1 cup of coffee and 1 doughnut. They didn’t want them to get sick. But dad said he kept getting in the back of the line over and over again. Lol. Kinda cute. ..... But in that 18 months all of dads teeth rotted. He lost them all. They were starving and filthy. Same clothes he bailed out with. From what I understand the South Pacific was a whole lot worse with their POWs. War is so sad. These guys were just babies. They left kids and came back men! AND the got on with their lives! I feel like that adds to being the GREATEST GENERATION! Thanks for letting me talk about my dad!🤗
Sherry, I've received hundreds of comments from my TH-cam videos encouraging people to honor our veteran heroes buried in hometown cemeteries with clean veteran headstones by Memorial Day. Your comments rank among the best. Thank you so much for sharing your father's stories. If you are willing, I would appreciate it if you documented your father's military story on my new website VeteranGraves.com. I just launched it about a week ago. All you have to do is Register, add his Cemetery, then add his Grave. I did my best to include data fields for all information pertaining to military service. I also included a Hero's Story text field where people can write about the veteran. Of course, we enable uploading of photos for both Cemeteries and Graves. The details in your stories are amazing! For example, the loss of a boot, the same clothes for 18 months, going to the back of the line to get more coffee and donuts. Those are historically significant memories. I also recommend you share your father's stories with the National Prisoner of War Museum located at Andersonville, GA.
Sir, I thank you for your service to our fallen heroes. They deserve nothing less than our homage and our care. You are a true patriot and a man of God. May you be rewarded in Heaven for your thoughtfulness and caring.
My 2nd great grandfather, Alton Haskins died due to injuries he sustained during the secret Operation Tiger during WW2. He was buried in England and family have never been able to visit him. I hope one day before I pass, I will be able to visit him and thank him for his sacrifices.
God bless your 2nd Great Grandfather Alton Haskins. I am grateful for him. Have you viewed his headstone online? If you contact the cemetery, they will use sand from the beaches of Normandy to fill the etchings and email a photo to you. I can't think of a more meaningful adventure than to visit his grave. What a family legacy he created for you.
@@honoryourdna8897 I actually do have a photo! Thank you for that Information and all that you do. You have inspired me to create a community service event here in North Carolina to clean civil war headstones. I will definitely look into contacting the cemetery!
where abouts, if u wish i could go and clean it if it isnt too far from me? ❤️
@@freyalauren Are you in England?
@@honoryourdna8897 yeah
Wonderful video, Trae. I also lost many of my family in both world wars. Thank you for sharing the stories of these heroes. We need to honor their sacrifice.
Every now and then, I will observe a young man in public, maybe at a fast food order line, or helping their parents somewhere. In their faces, I see those millions of young men who served, fought, and died while defending their countries. It's haunting actually. I can see their civilian clothes transform into military uniforms and image what they would look like if called to the front line tomorrow. They were all so beautiful to have been sacrificed at the alter of freedom.
Thank you for sharing this video , I'm disabled but would like to help clean our veterans headstones .......
Would love to see what you see when you return to the head stones. To see how they look after time. Thank you for doing this.
The Staff Sergeant Andrews took off from the RAF Deopham Green near Attleborough Norfolk England. Thank you for showing respect,
Trae, I truly appreciate your videos. As a veteran myself, I want to thank you for taking initiative and putting a bunch of great videos together and showing what you are doing. This is a tremendous service to these honorable men. They deserve it. I like that you are taking the time to walk someone through the process of cleaning. I started searching for videos like yours because my own parents headstones had developed black algae and lichen growth. I didn’t know about the D2 product before and will take care of the issue myself. Thank you for your selfless service, and I will join your effort here in Northern Virginia.
Excellent video, great to hear someone speaking who is humble. Thank you for sharing your videos and cleaning as many memorial stones as possible.
God bless 🙏
My dad was born on March 21th 1944 in Essen (Nordrhein Westfalen, Germany). His father (my grandpa), a German soldier, was given a day off to say goodbye to his family in summer 1943. That 1 day, his wife was pregnant and my father was born 9 month later. My grandpa lost his life in war at Stalingrad Russia. He left 3 daughters and 1 son. RIP
Thank you for sharing about your grandfather. War is a complex subject. My grandfather fought as an American Soldier during WWII on what would have been the German western front. He landed at Normandy on D-Day +6. He was drafted out of high school at the beginning of his final year, so going to fight in battle was not something he chose to do. However, he did turn out to be a very good soldier. People who write history always write it from the perspective of the winning side, as if the winning side were the good guys, and the losing side were the bad guys. Why do wars start? Why do people get wrapped up in the wars once they get started? The cost of war is too high, yet some leaders start them anyway. Have you watched the movie All Quiet on the Western Front? It is an old black and white movie about German Soldiers during WWI. War can seem romantic to people who haven't experienced it, but those who have been there want no more of it. America, the United States, has never experienced the human cost of war of the scale and magnitude of what those in Europe incurred during WWI and WWII. The number of dead counted in the millions. Some unaffected by loss during war will tell you to just let it go and move on. But he was your grandfather.
A little more about B-17 42-39933 and its crew. Delivered: Long Beach 12/10/43; Walla Walla 9/11/43; ass 535BS/381BG [MS-R] Ridgewell 20/12/43; Transferred: 728BS/452BG Deopham Green /44; MIA Brunswick 23/3/44. Pilot: Charles Young, Co-Pilot: Chas Clark, Bombardier: Sherman Farr, Engineer / Top Turret Gunner: Larry Koon, Ball Turret Gunner: Chas Saul, Waist Gunner: Kenton Anderson, Waist Gunner: Bob Andrews, Tail Gunner: Joe Sujowski (8KIA); Navigator: Ed Wodicka, Radio Operator: Fred Buckingham (2POW); Enemy aircraft, crashed Roedenbeck Barnstorf, due W of Aldorf, seven miles NE of Diepholz, Germany. MACR 3343. SUPERSTITUOUS ALOYSIUS.
What a wonderful gift to these veterans and their families! I myself am a veteran as was my late husband and my late brother. My brother, husband and brother in law are buried in our family cemetery along with other relatives who served. I wish I could be able to do this for my loved ones but I live 6 hours away and am a disabled senior veteran. Thank you so much for what you are doing for our fallen comrades.
This is an All Hands on Deck team effort, so a Volunteer in the area of where your loved ones are buried will eventually clean their veteran headstones if that hasn't already happened. Be sure to visit ByMemorialDay.com. If you aren't able to clean a veteran's grave marker in your local cemetery, then please consider making a donation to support a Volunteer who can't afford to purchase cleaning supplies. Thank you!
Thank you for your service !
From the bottom of my heart Thank you! I'm not physically able to do the cleaning but I am happy to help with the funding My heartfelt thanks for his service!
My Dad is a Vietnam Veteran and my husband is also a Desert Storm Veteran. I participate in flag placement and Wreaths Across America at the cemetery where Dad is laid to rest. I’m very serious about helping fund the tools to help get all the headstones clean. 💕
Thank you dear sir for the respect you show our military personal that has passed.
Cleaning a veteran's headstone is a high honor. I hope all freedom loving Americans will become aware of this video, watch it, and join our mission to clean every veteran headstone by Memorial Day.
You have got to respect this man he takes time out of his own day to clean people who gave up there own life for the cause to protect there country and clean there gravestone as a sine of respect when this man could not do it but he dose it because he cares we need most people what this man dose
Thank you flipbbook art. If we don't show respect, then who will?
The Dutch Adopt, American graves. (See:American Cemetary in Margraten)They treat each one like family. I have seen it myself, it's a beautiful, but a super sad thing. 8000+ American soldiers lay here on gifted American soil..local Families come out with buckets and cleaning supplies. There is so much pride in doing so, that 80+ years later there is still a waiting list of 300 families to participate. Freedom is not free, and its beautiful to see that there are participants who appreciate the United States efforts in maintaining that Freedom.
Whoever decided to dislike this video is now an enemy
Hello from the UK what an honorable job you are doing how clean and beautiful these grave stones look now.
A lady who lives down the street from me, her husband went MIA during Vietnam…his body still hasn’t been recovered. I can’t imagine how she’s gone this long not knowing what happened to him all those years ago.
The vast majority of Americans have no concept of what it must be like to lose a loved one in a war, never get their loved ones' body back, and never know what exactly happened to them. My grandmother spent a lot of time and effort researching her brother who was Killed In Action in the Battle of the Atlantic. He went down with his ship. She was eventually able to track down a man still living who was on her brother's ship when it was torpedoed. He explained to my grandmother what he witnessed. I think that gave her some bit of closure, but the pain never goes away.
@@honoryourdna8897 that’s so terrible. With my neighbor, her husband and one other guy (both pilots) were out on a night mission over Laos and the plane went down. The plane has never been found either and they were declared dead in 1978, 6 years after the incident. She still to this day participated in various Veteran functions in town.
@@honoryourdna8897 Thank you for sharing your grandmother's story. I've learnt history through battles and wars but the syllabus never touches on stories like these that truly reflect how war is like. It's crazy how I've never realised that their family members might never know what happened to them once they are sent out in war
@@WhitneyReacts We just don't know who around us lost a loved one in service to our country. Examples include my neighbor whose oldest brother was Killed In Action in the Philippines during WWII, or my customer whose father was Killed In Action during the Battle of the Bulge, or my roofer whose dad was killed in a plane crash while serving in the Air Force. Each of us knows someone who is a member of a Gold Star family, but we've not yet heard their story.
@@pinkribbon1007 Good comment. I built my family tree to determine if one of my grandfathers fought at the Battle of Gettysburg. The process of discovering my roots opened the pages of America's history wide for me. I visit their places and try to comprehend what it must have been like to have experienced what they saw, what they did, what they endured.
The narrated opening of the new tv series 1883 is worth listening to. An 18 year old female is on the ground beneath a burning Conestoga wagon. She is witnessing pioneer settlers being butchered by Indian warriors. The brutality is difficult to comprehend. Her following words summarize the why so many Americans have no clue, no appreciation, for price our ancestors paid to create the perception of ease today. She says, "those places were invented by professors at universities, surrounded by the illusion of order, and the fantasy of right and wrong."
Armchair quarterbacks best describes how the majority today understand the past. If only they could comprehend a thimble's worth of what those men buried beneath veteran headstones had to do, and why they had to do it.
God bless you for taking the time to do this for these heroes, without them we wouldn't have a country and every single one of them that lie in private family graveyards or national military graveyards are all equally important. They were someone's son, brother, husband, father and family they left behind that loved them and we should do better to honor all of them. Thank you!
Thank you for performing a wonderful and respectful service to our veterans.
Thank you for doing this!
My grandfather was killed on August 1, 1943 during Operation Tidal Wave, he was a top turret gunner, buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, Belgium.
Operation Tidal Wave was a battle to take out Hitler's fuel supply at Ploesti Romania. His crew flew out of Benghazi, Libya.
Of the crew on the B-24 Liberator all other crew members were able to bail out and parachute into enemy territory where they were quickly taken as prisoners of war, they ultimately survived the war.
The Liberator continued 6 more miles crashing into a cornfield at Visina, my Grandfather was 33.
My grandfather was a Tankdriver and he was also in Belgium Ardennes 1943. But .. he was driven a german Panzerkampfwagen 4.
Thank you Trae.. love to hear your stories while you're restoring these Veteran headstones.
Thank you Steven. These men are giants to me.
My family is a military family and this makes my day, when I’m old enough I’ll be going to the military.
My great grandfather was in World War II and he is in his early to mid nineties
I strongly encourage you to interview him on camera as soon as possible. All three of my WWII grandfathers have passed away. I am grateful to have a taped interview from the one who landed at Normandy and fought his way across Europe into Germany. Priceless.
@@honoryourdna8897 That is very priceless! I’ll see if I can do the interview with him!
I thank him for his service !
@@dannygaliszewski1269 Indeed
With tears in my eyes again. Thank you.
Bless you.
Im a young marine and all we do for memorial day id place flags (im 14) im gonna definitely start doing this where i live. I honor people like you who do stuff like this
Is Young Marines an organization? Or, are you young with plans to become a Marine? Placing flags is certainly honorable, but I'm glad you now see that placing a flag at a CLEAN veteran headstone is one step better. I appreciate you taking action in your local community to clean veteran headstones. If you get it started, others will follow.
I admire your dedication, and respect your desire to honour our veterans. In the UK I work for probation services and we attend cemeteries etc on a weekly basis. I have found a military grave restoration expert that is willing to teach us how to give these neglected memorials the respect that they properly deserve. My boss is totally on board and she has been instrumental in taking this forward and making this happen. It's long overdue. A lot of these people were younger than the folks I work with and they gave up everything for our freedom..RESPECT.
"The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old." Winston Churchill.
Will defend to the death their native soil.
We shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be.
They answered the call to defend their native soil whatever the cost and today their veteran headstones should not be covered in filth.
@@honoryourdna8897 Well quoted! They gave all. They sacrificed their future for ours.
This is amazing...no matter what country we are from...we should take take honor of our veterans...from 🇨🇦. Thank u!!!
What a good and charitable Man you are. More people need to step up, take notice and help out. Thank you for your wonderful help and caring. God Bless you!
This actually made me cry listening to describing his bravery following orders. My son is a year older than this lad was and it’s just such a horrible waste of life because humans can’t live at peace and young men had to defend their country :-(
I love the brief biography you provide!
Thank you! I enjoy researching the veterans buried beneath the veteran headstones I clean. Each had an incredible life story if we take the time to discover it. I created VeteranGraves.com to enable us to document every veteran's service in fine military detail.
As a native Floridian it gives me a lot of hope knowing you’re not far and are doing this. I’ve been wanting to try to clean headstones for a while but I live in the city and wasn’t sure where to start.
Findagrave volunteer here. Just wanted to say you are awesome. Thank you for the work you do. I plan to follow your example. 👍
Thank you for all that you do, Trae. Always enjoy your videos and your advice regarding the correct way to clean these headstones.
You're welcome Satyam Rao. I have at least three more videos to edit from footage I shot last week if I can find time to edit them in between work and life.
@@honoryourdna8897 Looking forward to watching them, but no pressure of course. :)
Great job! You honor our fallen heroes greatly by doing this sir! Kudos!
There aren’t many of people like you left with a heart of gold
I also lost my wife who isn’t a veteran but is buried next to me and the rest of my family members and she is a wonderful person and she has always told me that she respect my family members who served
This man is gonna have himself a good spot in heaven.
Thank you sir for your service. It's a Great idea what you're doing. I believe I' going to do that. I used to live about half a mile from a Revolutonary war Veteran.
Hod bless your efforts I salute you.
Thank you for what you’re doing.
Stumbled on to your Videos purely by chance and ended up watching several in a row. Headstones arent something we think about alot with our day to day lives going on but u have inspired me to take the initiative to go clean my grandpa's marker before memorial day. He was a navy man and did make it home. He died in 98.
God bless you Terry Miller. I am grateful for your grandpa. Please let him know that when you visit his grave and clean his headstone. Also, be sure to Register as a Volunteer at VeteranGraves.com, add your grandpa's Cemetery, and add your grandpa's Grave. Watch the video I posted at VeteranGraves.com. There you can document your grandpa's service to our country in fine military detail.
Thank you so much for caring about our veterans. Salute!
I see you just registered as a Volunteer at VeteranGraves.com. Be sure to watch the video on the home page for instructions. Message me via VeteranGraves.com if you have any questions.
Thank you so much for continuing to update as you learn! I have horses and I have tons of those brushes! I also, as a scout leader wondered about the flag placement! I appreciate your updates! God Bless you!
God bless you for what you do! In my minds eye, I see when you pass there will be hundreds of Veterans and others standing in line to shake your hand and welcome you home.
I have discovered your channel today, and on Tuesday when my local cemetery is open I'll be contacting them to ask to do what you are doing. I do not have any affiliation with the military here in the states, but I recognize their sacrifices and wish to honor them one on one.
Thank you for honoring a veteran by cleaning their headstone. Visit ByMemorialDay.com. Watch those videos and print a copy of the protocol issued by the National Cemetery Administration. Show the protocol to the cemetery steward, so they'll know what you'll be doing. Be sure to Register as a Volunteer at VeteranGraves.com where you can add Cemeteries and add veteran Graves.
@@honoryourdna8897 thank you!
This man deserves my respect and everyone's respects thank you my man very MANLEY that is the definition of manley
They were just so young. My heart aches for the families, the mothers of these young men. I have seen other videos and they are 20 and 22
A Gold Star Mom posted a comment a few days ago. I want her to know we are working hard to make sure her son's veteran headstone is cared for with the highest level of respect and honor after she's gone.
Thank you so much for your work and your testimony! Came here from a Breibart B-Inspired News email.
Thank you for letting me know how you heard about our mission to clean every veteran headstone by Memorial Day. We didn't get to this despicable situation overnight, and can't expect for Americans to change their mindsets about veteran graves overnight. But we are making steady progress. Any press and media coverage is welcomed and greatly appreciated.
Respect to this Dude. Man you really are a true American
The former Ponce de Leon High School is now a middle school located across from the University of Miami in Coral Gables. Thanks for doing this!
Love the information you share about the veterans. Speaking of brushes any brush using Tampico bristles is recommended. We are very active with our town's support to clean and repair as many as we can each year.
I was a child when my grandfather died....noone told me where he or his son (my father) is buried.....but i will visit my sister the next days and look for a some messy places....
Trey, THANK YOU SO MUCH 🙏 ❤️ GOD BLESS YOU SIR!!! Judy
Thanks!
Thank you for the inspiration and work you do. Please consider adding a link to the websites you refer to in your description for people who aren't as saavy with technology.
Me and my buddy clean veterans head stone and you inspired is to clean. Keep up the great work.
I appreciate the feedback. And while you're doing this work outside of the spotlight alone in a cemetery, know that people will be positively impacted by the results of our efforts. You may never hear about it, but someone will see that clean veteran headstone and recognize that someone like you went out of your way with no expectation of anything in return.
My grandfather was in the navy in world war 2and my great grandfather and grandmother was in the army in Spanish American war I respect veterans every day
My maternal grandfather was a German army major. He was killed in the siege of Leningrad. Shot by the Russians and buried in a mass grave. I wish he had a headstone to clean. I’ve visited St. Petersburg and it was haunting, even though he was killed before my mother was born. My paternal grandfather worked in the Navy Yard in D.C. at the bomb factory during the war. I’m 55 and have never met anyone that had relatives on both sides of the war.
My grandfather was fighting in the Leningrad area as well. He was in the InfErsBtl 366.
Chelsea Handler, the comedian, like her or not. Had relatives who where on both sides of WW2..Germany and US
Who dislikes this!? Those ten are the problem
Agreed
Agreed
Great job… and a real inspiration!
I had to watch the movie Memphis Belle after finding his headstone.
Its acid rain and fog that turns the stone black and thats also y its from the top down and the bottom are clean. The buttons get washed by the sprinklers, its pretty cool to take care of the ones that give everything for us 🇺🇸
What a fantastic TH-cam name! I love America. It really is pretty cool to take care of them. And it's something any patriotic person can do.
@@honoryourdna8897 i like yours as well and your work
I grew up with horses and some of the softest brushes in the industry are probably the face brushes. There is all kinds from Nylon to horse hair, I've even seen some yak hair brushes. They are usually a bit smaller than the body brushes, they would be good for stones like this with the skinny sides.
I personally don't follow any Catholic religion, but I like to believe there is an after life and that we should respect the dead and living. I'll definitely be doing this, or at least donating, once I get the money.
The stones are white at the bottom from the use of a weed whacker when the grass is mown. In the video the stone looks narrower at the bottom where the stone has been broken away.
Trae. What your doing is an honorable thing to do, but we should be honouring these men and women all year long not just on one day. This is a great tribute to all who didn't come home but for all the men and women who did. This man paid the highest price of all he gave his life not only for the USA but also for the freedoms of so many others in the world from oppression and tyranny and murder of millions of Jews under the mad man Hitler. The war is a terrible thing for anyone to be in as a spectator from afar but also for the loved ones of those who were sent over seas to fight in the various wars. I have to say it is an honor to watch so many You Tube videos of people cleaning these headstones but not just from the wars but also for others who no longer have anyone left to clean them. Thank you Sir for doing such a wonderful thing. You are right people tend to forget Most people whos ancestors came over to America also came from the UK, but other parts of the world too. The USA has always had our backs and also the UK has always had your backs too. I find the older that i get the more wars are prevalent, Russia and the Ukraine our thoughts are with you all. My hope is that someday we can all live together in peace but for that to happen talking and respect has to happen on both side and give and take should not be an unreasonable thing to ask. God bless all
In Australia we have some schools going into local cemeteries and doing our veterans headstones. Good work mate,
I have received numerous comments from Australia since the first video I posted for veteran headstone cleaning. My focus was on veteran headstones here in the United States. I hadn't anticipated helping to raise awareness on the other side of the planet! I have received comments from other countries with Great Britain and Australia providing the most. I have to say it makes me proud for my country to be allied with Australia where patriotism remains strong.
Do you have links to the products you use?
Is the D2 still available at a discount on your link? My cousin and I cleaned our grand parents and great, great, great, great ones too. One great x? grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. I noticed many in that cemetery were old and lots had flags and markers. I'd be willing if the church allows it to clean the soldiers stones. I'd like to do the babies too. So many passed in these old cemeteries. We are in Pennsylvania. That horse brush looks like it would really work well. This is a very rewarding thing to do I feel.
Personally, I like the black in the letters. It makes for easy reading of the headstone rather than having to get so close to read the epitaph.
Subscribed, I served overseas in the U.S. Navy as a Photojournalist in a Public Affairs office. Thank you 🙏 for what you do.
I served four years aboard USS Nimitz aircraft carrier. Thank you for subscribing!
@@honoryourdna8897 I served as a PAO for COMSIXTHFLT in Gaeta, Italy aboard the USS La Salle.
@@georgeshaw8925 I went on a Tiger Cruise with my son aboard a coastal patrol boat similar to a USS Firebolt. Heck it may have been the USS Firebolt. Anyway, the CO chose to go to sea with a Nor'easter bearing down on our route down the east coast. It was a nightmare experience. Cracked the hull. Lost all antennas. Communications room filled with saltwater fried. The seas were well beyond the maximum height that class of ship was designed to survive. Everyone on the ship, including the CO and XO were seasick casualties in their racks unable to function except for me, my son, a QM who volunteered to go simply for a free ride to Fort Lauderdale, and I guess the officer in the engine room who kept the ship powered. Sewage was throughout the ship on every surface. We limped into Jacksonville when the sun came up. Had to use a cell phone to tell the base we were coming in. I have no interest in ever being on a Navy ship again. But I will not hesitate to go if called upon to defend my country.
Gloves? Check. Glasses? Check. White shirt? Yup. Ready to clean!
Where do you source your flags from? The only flags I have found flags with the same dimensions, but the flas is usually just stapled to the stick. I like how your flags appear to be sew around the stick.
His photo is in the newspaoer clippings on Find A Grave
I would like to see the wet and forget done on these headstones at least twice as a test!
Trea where do you learn the stories of the service men’s whose headstones you clean … what website?
Hey Trae have you ever used a handheld steamer to help clean the stones? I used to detail cars and would use a steamer to get gunk off of inside cars, I’m impressed by your mission and would like to do the same on my end of town, but wasn’t sure if a steamer would cause damage.
4 unlikes🤬Keep up the hard work sir.🇨🇱
You must be trolling😂
Sir i salute. YOU. What an honourable thing to do. How i wish the younger generation had the same respect. When wars had to fought for what youth today enjoy, when ppl had little nut shared were not always good days but men were proud to lay down our lives, for us. When we had little we were not selfish we shared what little we had. But we were humble & respectful. Today kids are self entitled selfish & a greedy generatioon
They have never had to live through any kind or very little hardship. There are some who have though due to living circumstances in poverty or abusive situations. Those kids appreciate and respect any success they have and the generation under 30 right now, at least in my area, must do community service through high school. So many hours per year. Both of my kids as adults, do major fundraising for different causes. Their friends donate what they can. Some of them, even though they have graduated from college or served in the armed forces themselves, are struggling to make it on their own, waiting to move up in their jobs. Until the boomers all retire, there isn't going to be the great jobs we had at their age. So, I can't agree they are self entitled, selfish and greedy. Some are, and I can guarantee that was a learned idea from parents that are the same.
That's where "raising" comes in ....Values are caught, as well as taught..... Children can be taken to Memorial Day Services, musical memorial concerts, etc. Make time for visits to specific graves of relatives.....Great teaching moments can be derived from any Cemetery visit... Positive cultural values can be passed on to the next generation.....Such efforts are not futile or hopeless:
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 23:6)
I loved the movie about the Memphis Belle when I was a kid. I was so very lucky to get to set inside the bubble of one at a local airshow with My dad and Grandpap. Both were in the navy and my grandfather was in WWII as a gunner on the Pennsylvania. I feel so fortunate to have gotten to see that plane with them. I can't imagine having been in the bubble of that plane thousands of feet up. Just crazy.
The vast majority of Americans cannot comprehend what it was/is like to experience combat, or the risks associated with serving in uniform, which is probably a big part of why we've allowed the grave markers of our veterans of the past to become covered in biological filth.
Thank you for serving those who served us all.
Those bomber mafia guys are heros above and beyond all others. If you’ve read anything about the horrors they faced on every mission you understand. If not, you should.
Beyond the wild blue, History of the USAF, This flying game and Masters of the air to name a few books if you care to read.
I totally loved hearing you speaking about the bible too and how God gives us strength for the day, but as humans it’s so hard to live that way. I always love when there is reference to God on gravestones as I find the atheist sounding ones far sadder. I thought a long time for the wording on my daughters headstone and went for “born straight into the arms of Jesus” and it comforts me every time I visit that she didn’t suffer the worries of this world. Thank you so much for what you do in keeping these peoples memory alive - these young kids being “triggered” by absolutely every know nothing of the real world.
Great job. Hope to do some of this myself.
Amazing well done. My Grandad flew in a Lancaster Bomber for the RAF.
Wet & Forget never worked for me. I always had to go back within a few months and spray with D2 to get the stone bright and white.
i hate when they say " the family isnt willing to do it anymore " it should be the job of those who take care of the Cemetery grounds because headstone upkeep is part of the job
The vast majority of cemeteries in America have no money, no sources of income, no financial reserves. Perpetual Care trust funds were not established until recently when state governments realized a crisis was accelerating.
For newer cemeteries, and for-profit cemeteries, your comment is applicable, but these few cemeteries that do have financial resources hide behind the "family only" unwritten rule because they don't want the liability costs of the headstones and grave markers. These cemeteries also got tired of family members showing up and complaining about something the cemetery had done to maintain the loved one's grave.
For each older cemetery that has no money and no income, there's one old person living nearby who personally maintains the cemetery grounds at their own expense. The old person only has enough money to put gas in their own lawn mower every Saturday. So the only maintenance that happens is mowing, because the one old kind person can't do any more than mow the grass.
Cemetery maintenance worked right up until 1960 when Americans began turning away from God, quit going to the church where their ancestors were buried, and adopted cremation as the cheapest way to get rid of grandma. The burial plot sales to bury grandmas in 1959 were the income sources for cemeteries to pay for the cemetery maintenance costs. No burial plot sales today equates to no income, which equates to no money, which equates to no maintenance being done.
Our cemeteries are now financial liability hot potatoes and nobody wants to pay for their care. It's a major problem, and YOUR ancestor grandparents who gave you your very DNA are buried in those cemeteries falling into disrepair.
I've tried crowd sourcing to save old historic cemeteries, but the number of people willing to contribute a dollar are miniscule. I think the answer is going to be funding for cemetery care provided by all levels of government as a small fraction of tax dollars sourced.
Our family plot is in a Catholic Cemetery and there's no funding anymore. We're lucky they even cut the grass anymore!
God bless you Trae…
I am gonna do my mom and dad's Marble stone w/ plates! Thanks for the knowledge!!!! Sumter, SC (Hill Side Memorial Park)😊
Do you come back by and remove the flags after Memorial day or do the grounds keepers remove them and then keep those safe until the following year? Do you leave the PVC tube all year? Just trying to make sure I plan accordingly and am still following protocol and being respectful.
Thanks for all you do.
I envision one day soon a world where every veteran grave has an assigned Volunteer who will check on their assigned veteran grave a few times each year to make sure the grave is kempt, the headstone is clean, and the flag is displayed in a respectful manner. This mission I've initiated with By Memorial Day is not a one-and-done program. This is forever perpetual care for EVERY veteran grave going forward. We need a few million Volunteers, or about 1% of Americans, to preserve patriotism in America by each taking care of 1, 2, or 3 veteran graves. We need to share the load! If a Volunteer can no longer tend to their assigned veteran grave(s), then I envision a strong bench of eager Volunteers chomping at the bit to get their opportunity to experience the honor of personally caring for a veteran's grave. In my opinion, a veteran deserves a flag at his/her grave at all times 24/365. The U.S. Flag Code does not address the issue of flags at veteran graves, so I have proposed an Amendment to the Flag Code. For now, do what you feel you can do without creating a burden for the cemetery staff. Thank you for taking action! Register as a Volunteer at VeteranGraves.com.
We have to remmber our love ones and its gd that they do clean up the head stones my hats is of to them