Tuesday, May 11, 2021
www.the-papers.com
Serving Elkhart County and parts of Noble, LaGrange & Marshall Counties
Goshen (574) 534-2591
Vol. 49 No. 5
134 S. Main, Goshen, Indiana 46526
+2125,1* 7+( )$//(1 ³ Since early spring members of the Elkhart Area Marines — Marine Corps League 1397 have been spending Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, when weather permits, cleaning veterans tombstones in Rice Cemetery. Once the stones in Rice have been cleaned, the group plans to move onto other Elkhart City cemeteries and clean those veterans tombstones. Photo provided.
%()25( ³ Shown is a tombstone before it was cleaned. Veterans families may request a tombstone like this from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Photo provided.
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%\ /$85(1 =(8*1(5 $VVRFLDWH (GLWRU Brad Ulick, a member of Elkhart Area Marine Corps League No. 1397, was serving as a part of a color guard for a veteran when he noticed the other veteran tombstones nearby. Neglected, they were in need of some serious cleaning. The Department of Veterans Affairs furnishes upon request, at no charge to the applicant, a gravestone that remains the property of the government. There have been changes in appearance over the years. The etching and descriptions look the same in style regardless of service branch. These stones are similar to those used at Arlington and other national cemeteries around the country. Seeing the stones in such condition, Ulick decided he’d take on cleaning the stones as a summer project and began researching what methods and cleaning solutions the VA approved for cleaning its tombstones. The tombstones at Arlington and those for veterans in Elkhart City cem-
eteries are made from marble, which is much more porous than granite. Because the stones are a bit more delicate than granite, cleaning the stones takes some care and patience. The federal government allows two types of solutions to be used to clean its headstones, D2 Biological solution and Wet it and Forget it. Ulick chose to use the D2 solution. Cleaning the stone requires wetting it down with water, taking a plastic scraper and scraping off all the moss, mold and algae on it, then spraying the D2 solution and allowing it to sit for about 10 minutes while it gets into the stones pores. After letting the solution sit for 10 minutes, the stone is scrubbed with a nylon bristled brush and tooth brushes and finally rinsed. As the stone dries and as the days go by the stone returns to its bright white appearance. “It takes about 20-30 minutes per stone,” Ulick said. “A lot of these guys and gals haven’t had anyone say their name in decades. I say their name (while cleaning the stone) and thank them for their service.” After cleaning a few stones, Ulick
contacted Dannell Brown, the Elkhart cemetery director, to show him the results and ask permission to clean the veterans tombstones. After seeing the results, Brown asked Ulick if he could clean the veterans tombstones in front of Rice Cemetery in time for Memorial Day. At a Marine Corps League meeting, Ulick mentioned what he had been doing. Once fellow members heard of his plan, the Elkhart Area Marines wanted to assist with efforts to clean as many as possible one or two days a week. The weather conditions determine if they need to reschedule the planned workday. Temperatures need to be above 45 degrees for the cleaning solution to be effective. Members of the Marine Corps League, along with friends and family members, have been out at Rice Cemetery, which has three veterans sections, cleaning stones Wednesdays and Saturday afternoons as weather permits. About 10 people have shown up regularly since late March, early April when the project started. Each person can probably do about
$)7(5 ³ After using methods approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which legally owns the tombstone, the cleaned tombstone looks like this. It takes volunteers from the Elkhart Marine Corps League about 30 minutes to clean one tombstone. Photo provided.
10 stones within the two to three hours they work on them. “It’s not hard, but it is physical,” Ulick said about cleaning the stones. If a stone is really dirty, it may take two applications to get it clean. Ulick said the group has about another 400 to 500 tombstones in the cemetery to clean before moving on to veterans sections in other city cemeteries. “The ones in the back (of Rice Cemetery) haven’t been touched in several years,” Ulick said. For stones that are damaged and need replacing, Ulick said the procedure is to take a photo and fill out a form requesting a new stone be issued from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Anyone interested in assisting the Elkhart Marine Corps League can join them in the cemetery. Volunteers are asked to bring a nylon scrub brush or a lawn sprayer to fill with water with them. The group can provide other cleaning materials. For more information contact Joe Reed at the Marine Corps League at usmc7477@aol.com.