Posted on 06/14/2014 7:29:27 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
Garrett McKay dipped his brush in a bucket of water and began scrubbing the dirt from another bright white headstone, this one from a second lieutenant who served in World War I, dying in 1963.
“I know in the winter the headstones do get very weathered,” he said, as the bristles removed grime caked into the engraved letters. “The ones under the trees are really pretty dirty.”
Despite the Saturday morning drizzle, McKay and 20 friends and family members spent the morning at Fort Snelling National Cemetery cleaning the limestone graves of hundreds of soldiers, their wives and the occasional child.
For McKay, who’s from Lakeville but will be a junior at Eastview High School in Apple Valley, organizing and completing a community service project is a requirement to earn his Eagle Scout rank, the highest honor a Boy Scout can achieve.
But it was also personal, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
God bless these folks
Here Here.
Patriots are not a dying Breed!!
This young man will go far...
Good job. One of our troop’s Eagle Scouts a few years ago did a cemetery-restoration project, too.
More of these stories need to make headlines. What a true patriot!
And it wasn’t just a drizzle this morning. More like a downpour.
Umbrella and all that. Heavy rain helps with cleaning up!
Despite the Saturday morning drizzle, McKay and 20 friends and family members spent the morning at Fort Snelling National Cemetery cleaning the limestone graves of hundreds of soldiers, their wives and the occasional child.
A very noble sentiment but he may be doing damage to the grave stones.
Lime stone is a very soft stone and the bristles of a scrub brush will be removing stone as well as dirt. Depending on the chemical composition of the cleaner used the damage may be multiplied.
To minimize the wear and tear on the stones he should probably consult a chemist.
Fort Snelling is tightly regulated. I’m certain that this young man enquired as to what was permitted for cleaning headstones before he began his project.
Young men like him give us hope. Whether or not he is damaging the stones (probably not) his heart is in the right place...
But today when it comes to government operated cemeteries I don’t trust that the people in charge know or care about the graves the monuments or the soldiers buried there.
I have read way too much about soldiers buried in the wrong graves and administrators lying to cover up their misdeeds to trust the managers of these national cemeteries.
I have no doubt that the national cemeteries are just a mismanaged as the VA.
Thank God there are some parents who remain steadfast and raise their children as true citizens of America. It can still be done, but we don’t see it much these days. And what will Eric the Red contribute or say about this? Those aren’t ‘my people’?
Thank you Garrett.
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