Band of Brothers. Killed In Action. Filthy Grave. Forgotten.

PFC Robert L. Reid was a member of the Band of Brothers 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. The docuseries Band of Brothers follows Easy Company of the 506th. Robert Reid was a member of Item Company of the 506th.
He was a Toccoa Man and ran Currahee.
Rather than retell the story of Robert Reid, just watch Band of Brothers from beginning until the Battle for Foy.
One of the most famous scenes in Band of Brothers takes place the day PFC Robert L. Reid was Killed In Action. On 13 Jan 1945 at 0900, Easy Company led by Lt. Dike attacked the city of Foy. Lt Dike froze in combat, so Lt Speirs was ordered by Major Winters to relieve Lt Dike.
On the other side of Foy, Item Company including PFC Robert L. Reid attacked at 1015. The battle plan was for Easy Company and Item Company to link up during the attack on the German forces occupying Foy.
In Band of Brothers, you will see Lt Speirs run through the German Soldiers to the other side of Foy and climb over a stone wall to link up with Item Company. Lt Speirs then climbs back over the stone wall and runs back through the German Soldiers to lead his men of Easy Company.
Sometime within minutes before Lt Speirs' run, or minutes after Lt Speirs' run, PFC Robert L. Reid gave the last full measure of devotion to your freedom as an American citizen.
He rested in a battlefield grave for four-years until 1949 when his body was dug up, shipped across the Atlantic Ocean, and transported to Red Bay, AL for burial in Red Bay Cemetery.
Seventy-four years later Trae Zipperer found this American hero's veteran marble grave market covered in disgraceful biological filth and his burial plot concrete borders overgrown by sod. It was truly an honor to police his grave and properly clean his veteran grave marker.
Visit ByMemorialDay.com to learn how you can help.
If you would like to read the prequel to cleaning all veteran headstones by Memorial Day, read "They Face East" by Trae Zipperer at TheyFaceEast.com

[@Cowboy_Jim]

He was only 23 years old when he was killed. God bless Robert Reid and thank you for your ultimate sacrifice.

[@theyfaceeast]

They're all so young.

[@russpaulson232]

Bless you as a man who understands the enormous sacrifice of those young men so many years ago. US Army Veteran

[@Ashmo-y3h]

An Aussie here. Thankyou. You have inspired me. About to retire so have time on my hands to give back to our veterans. Lest We Forget. 🇦🇺🇺🇲

[@jameslouis8282]

Thank You Sir. RESPECT.

[@bbinger8343]

My sister saw your videos and shared them with me. We are very encouraged by your service to our heroes and the encouragement to do the same in our areas. She (and I when able) has gone through the local cemetery on Memorial day and honored them by putting a stone on their headstone, saying their names and having a silent prayer. Cleaning their headstone is a wonderful way to remember and honor their service to us! Thank you for your instructional videos and product recommendations! ❤️

[@theyfaceeast]

I appreciate your kind words. I can assure you they hear your prayers. Eventually the word will spread to enough patriotic people to where we have a volunteer assigned to each veteran's grave. It will happen, in God's time.

[@bbinger8343]

@@theyfaceeast I agree, there are so many good people who want to do what's right. Thank you for leading this charge!

[@Ackdaddy100]

I am not even American I am an Australian veteran and even I am disappointed at how this brave hero’s grave has been neglected over time we have the same thing happening here in Australia as well unfortunately. Keep up the good work you are doing an amazing thing by helping to honour the memory and sacrifices of men like him who gave their all so we could have a good life.

[@theyfaceeast]

I receive a lot of Comments from Australia! Thank you for watching and taking the time to share your thoughts. If you don't mind my asking, what is the dominant religious belief there in Australia? The United States was 99% Protestant Christian back in 1776 when the Patriots freed themselves from the king of England. The vast majority were from the British Isles, but England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland have a long history of warfare, some of which was based on religious beliefs. I know Australia was colonized by England similar to North America, so I'm curious to know the role religion played in Australia. Some day I will travel outside the U.S. and Australia will be the top of my list! But, I'll probably travel to France, Belgium, and England first to film the World War cemeteries there.

[@notwocdivad]

There are several bands of volunteers here in the UK doing the same thing but as there are graves stretching back 100's of years it is a mammoth task and so they to are always looking for more volunteers for what is a most noble and worthwhile endeavour! I thank you and them for your dedication on behalf of those who cannot!

[@mickmorrissey16]

What a fantastic effort in honouring this hero of WW2. May these veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice , never be forgotten.

[@sniperplays6616]

I’m glad someone has remembered him, may he rest in peace

[@mikakarki7989]

Thank You Sir, for your selfless, respectful work to commemorate the fallen and way too often forgotten brave ones, who gave their young lives for the democratic world. Hat off and a right palm over the heart. Greetings from 🇫🇮.

[@theyfaceeast]

I love international Comments! Thank you.

[@steveoconnor7069]

Thank you for doing what you do.

[@stevendraper2613]

EXCELLENT.. OUTSTANDING!!! I'm so inspired and glad there are people like You.. out there doing the right thing.. respect and kindness to and for Our Veterans Alive and Dead.. with all the crap going on in the world and you take time to pay homage and respect to a "Greatest Generation" Fallen Vet.. evidently forgotten by so many.. thank you Sir.. this video and your actions or like a boost of pride.. YOU SIR ARE SIMPLY A GOOD MAN/PERSON.. I will be telling my fellow veterans about this inspiring video.. THANK YOU.. SEMPER FIDELIS/SEMPER FORTIS

[@patrickwhitney1974]

We spoke a few hours ago about you putting this up... THANK YOU! I even took the time to look his spot up on Google Maps and I found it! Your work is appreciated, and God Bless you!

[@Hotdog1863]

Every time I go back to my hometown I clean the grave marker of my uncle/godfather (I was raised Catholic), who served in WWII and Korea because the cemetery just mows over it. As a veteran myself I just started doing it a couple years back when I saw how covered over it was.

[@sartainja]

You are a prince and a scholar for performing your actions on this veterans graves. G-d bless you.

[@bswins9648]

After watching, I really went down the rabbit hole searching for all things related to cleaning veteran headstones/markers. I read a lot of articles from the Veteran's Administration (VA) and the National Park Service (NPS). Finally, I had to make myself stop for the time being. I know you have videos with tutorials on cleaning marble, bronze, etc., and your VeteranGraves community vid is an important first step for those who are able to volunteer. Thank you not only for the physical cleaning, but also for the additional efforts to create and upload videos to inform the public. As your videos become more popular...and start showing up in viewer's recommendations listings...the volunteer ranks will start to swell. At least, I hope this happens. I suspect there are more graves in need of your services than I imagine.

[@MsVictory1945]

Just remember that you need permission from family or the cemetery to clean headstones! I tried to clean some civil war headstones and could not get permission to do it. Thanks for your work!

[@saltdog7585]

Watching this video made me want to look into his background and where he was from after you mentioned these veterans mamas and wives are no longer around to take care of their graves. Looks like his mother lived to be 97, and I'm sure that pain of losing her boy in combat never left her until the end. Happy to see people stepping up for these guys and makes me want to do the same. Great video 👍

[@theyfaceeast]

As Americans, as a people, we have a sacred obligation to go to the far reaches of the world to retrieve our Soldier Dead. We will literally spend more than $1,000,000 to find, identify, and repatriate one fallen member of our Armed Forces. But somehow, the issue of reverent perpetual care for our veteran graves fell through the cracks. We spend untold billions of dollars for all kinds of nonsensical activities, so we have no excuse for our veteran headstones covered in filth. I am making it an issue. Eventually, all Americans will recognize this as a top priority issue.

[@NAWPS]

They may be gone, but they will never be completely forgotten.. Thank you sir..

[@philliprollo1646]

Thank God there are people still thinking about our fallen hero's. Most don't give a crap these days. Thank you.

[@michaeldaly9984]

When wars are won and wrongs are righted, the soldiers forgotten and often slighted 👍🇮🇪

[@87mini]

When you were a kid, did your family go to the cemetery and clean soldiers' headstones?

[@philliprollo1646]

@@87mini As far as I can remember all the military headstones were well kept and maintained.

[@bret9741]

Thank you sir. It means so much. These young men bought us 80 years of relative peace in Europe and N America. They were so very young.

[@firstcitytraveler]

Thank You

[@susanbond6336]

I live in Toccoa, Georgia, where Easy Company trained and lived. We have a wonderful military museum that is very much worth visiting. Camo Toccoa is being restored, and we celebrate our veterans the first weekend in October with Military Weekend. Thank you so much for taking such great care with the graves of our dear service members who gave the ultimate sacrifice!❤

[@Farbar1955]

There is a book by Michael Sledge called "Soldier Dead: How We Recover, Identify, Bury, & Honor Our Military Fallen" where the process of recovery and returning of remains is covered in great detail. It's only available in Kindle at this time but there may be hard cover and paperback versions out there. BTW, I know Michael and he did a tremendous amount of research into the subject which included travel to Iraq during the war.

[@theyfaceeast]

I will purchase it on my new Kindle!

[@rxw5520]

To think they gave their lives so the people could give it all away.

[@theyfaceeast]

While I would like to say these men would have done things differently had they known Americans today would not remember their sacrifices, I truly believe they would have gone into harm's way regardless.

[@hans6500]

Thanks from the Netherlands. Lest we forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

[@texassportsman5880]

I regularly make make a trip out to the grave yard to visit my Dad's resting place. His VA marker is made of granite so it easily cleans up. The other reason I make regular trips is due to the marker sinking in the dirt. When I notice that is sinking I call the office and they'll pull the marker add fill. reset the marker and level it out. If this isn't done regularly the maker will sink, get overgrown with grass and hard to find. Never forget family members that are buried nearby. Give them a visit and clean their markers. Show you care.

[@rgsnr8702]

most admirable ,bless you ,even the speaking of his name bring his memory to the world again

[@mariadavies8006]

Excellent job Bless you .

[@anthonybush607]

Thank you for doing this. Our veterans should never be forgotten.

[@theyfaceeast]

Oh you're welcome. It seems crazy to me that I have to be the spokesperson for veteran headstone cleaning, but it needs to be done, so I'll do it.

[@dagored4077]

Well played Sir, well played. From a British army veteran.

[@MrJoker2112]

Thank you sir for your respect of veterans. God bless you and yours.

[@everette7570]

With deepest gratitude for all who liberated us during that dark time; could this soldier not be re buried in a military cemetery, and receive the care and memory he deserves? And thank you for caring about this veteran liberator🇳🇱

[@brianbickle7395]

“ Tell them for your tomorrow’s we gave our today”.

[@TerrBrigha]

Very noble!!

[@mbrawthen]

Excellent work, you did a fantastic job on that Headstone! I am thinking you have done this many times before! Thanks, that is really meaningful work and honors the sacrifices these men who gave All deserve‼️🙏🏽❤

[@theyfaceeast]

Thank you. I have cleaned quite a few veteran headstones myself, but my job in this mission to clean all veteran headstones in perpetuity is to remove any and all barriers preventing Volunteers from getting their hands on these grave markers. I produce these videos for various reasons. Some are how-to training videos, while others are simply to raise awareness.

[@davidmc1489]

The parents of the greatest generation have been gone a long time. Those that would have cared for that grave..😢

[@XCarfaxAbbeyX]

Too young for his own children...💗

[@87mini]

Could be an only child - the mother applied for the headstone, and her writing looks elderly.

[@TheMischief9]

..................... thank you , your a good man .

[@theyfaceeast]

I'm trying. And people are taking up this cause. Our veterans of the past are worth it.

[@Nowaaay-2]

Beautiful Job thank you and Thank you sir for your ultimate sacrifice to our country

[@runwayray]

Amen, Brother, Amen 🇺🇸

[@sondrabowers4837]

Thank you 🙏

[@rionlandrum9560]

I'm a Navy veteran. God bless, sir.

[@michaelmcclafferty3346]

You are a good guy. Well done to you for doing this and raising awareness of this matter. Best wishes from north east Scotland.

[@dougke8qjq430]

Thank You For Your Service. Rest in Peace!

[@morpheus3190]

Thank you so much for honoring those who died defending our freedoms!

[@ritamedina-molina8550]

Thank you for caring

[@thecincinnatikid6227]

Thank you for taking care of these graves, God Bless You

[@appnzllr]

Thank You.

[@dingusbingus7463]

I live in a town in southern california, we have a long history as one of the first towns thats still around, people first settled here in the 1800s, but our cemetary has been in the same place since then, many unused spots have turned up bodies in unmarked graves, and they try their best to identify who it couldve been with historians etc and give a proper burial. What i see here is sad, wheras our cemetery does its utmost to respect the dead who might not have ever fought for our country, that one doesnt take care of someones who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

[@AmericaFirstAFonX]

That’s cool mission

[@charlesharrington9116]

Thank you. SFC, U.S. Army (Retired)

[@rangercwgbear6352]

Thanks for taking care of a brother before way before my time rest in piece brother

[@TC-qd1zw]

First class job.

[@LAT-qk3vj]

Thank you 🙏

[@synchro9]

My dads grave was so overgrown the headstone was no longer visible. A Vietnam Vet who deserves better. Lasted only 8 years after he returned from Vietnam. 👍 great channel

[@Nyllsor]

Respect!

[@davidboese6276]

As a fellow paratrooper I appreciate what you have gone for this fallen soldier. I have been to foy and bastogne and stood where these great men have fought. Very humbling.

[@adammacmillan1681]

I cleaned a KIA 506th troopers grave here in my hometown a few years ago. Franklin Ely, KIA 1/15/45, he was only 19.

[@Mtlmshr]

God bless you and your team for doing this to keep the memories alive!

[@josephpuchel6497]

Awesome work Looks great Thank you

[@beeenn649]

My God blees you!

[@kilcar]

My friend Rexford Hanson was with the 3rd Armored Division ( ?) and was severely wounded in Belgium in WW2 He was in the Mayo clinic for over a year. He passed in 1988, still bearing the severe scaring from a German 88mm artillery round that wounded him, and killed all others in his half track vehicle.

[@badgerattoadhall]

Rexford Hanson; he is not on findagrave.

[@jamesvanloan7832]

You do God’s work. Thank you.

[@theyfaceeast]

It really is God's work. The United States is God's country, established and maintained by well documented Divine intervention.

[@RonRussell-sj1zf]

@@theyfaceeast Yep, it's even part of Daniel's prophecy in the Bible. Read Daniel 2: 31-45. The U.S. is represented by the feet and toes of the image and this prophecy confirms it will still be around when God's Kingdom crushes it and all other human governments, SOON.

[@jeffhensley9988]

God Bless you

[@theyfaceeast]

I pray that God will continue to bless the United States of America. But His patience must be wearing thin based on how people are behaving badly today.

[@michaeldaly9984]

Meant to say, some people think that because a grave is old that its OK to be stupid and careless when mowing around the graves, well it's not OK and it's not OK to walk on them either. If they don't respect the dead what way are they with the living?

[@87mini]

Not everyone is taught that it's disrespectful to walk on graves. If they don't know, then they're not being disrespectful. Go volunteer at a local rural cemetery and get a taste of reality before you go on about "some people" mowing. The maintenance budgets for these little cemeteries is small, and it's often done by volunteers or county parks will run a blade over it once a month when they have an opening. The chip I saw was from an single incident, not repeated damage, so I think you using this as evidence to support your belief that "people aren't any good today" on something that might have happened in 1964 when a drunk old city worker slipped his mower too far down the slope. You keep looking at everything as evidence of decay, and everything will look like decay. Try imagining second reasons that are just as possible but not as negative. Life is just fine if you stop following social media and the news. And find a town of 3,000 like this near to where you live, and check out there cemetery. If they have any vet graves, go to the coffee shop and ask the regulars if it's ok to clear vet headstones. You might make some friends and start something good in the world!

[@michaeldaly9984]

@87mini I do work in cemeteries and know what I see so keep your shirt 👕 on

[@willmears1111]

Thank you. A Vietnam Veteran

[@theyfaceeast]

Just so you know, you Vietnam Veterans were our heroes when I was a teenager.

[@michaellindon5688]

Thank you

[@JL-yg8gl]

Lest we forget.

[@ThirdDegreeWitchExplores]

Respect to you Sir , disgraceful that that grave has been allowed to grow over like that . The town should adopt such graves .

[@87mini]

Which of the 3,000 people in this poor little Alabama town should adopt it? And why is it more important than any other KIA from any war that didn't have a TV series about it?

[@mr.wonderful5573]

We will all be forgotten.

[@arnaudnilwik]

Respect!

[@tah2606]

Thank you sir 🙏

[@maryannallen9885]

Sad and shameful 😢

[@theyfaceeast]

It is sad and shameful, but I can tell you from experience there are a great number of people who have Volunteered to clean a veteran's headstone in response to my videos. Patriotic people just aren't aware of what's happened to our veterans' grave sites in our local cemeteries. For example, I didn't know until about 5.5 years ago. Based on my observations, the cause of this problem is our adoption of cremation in lieu of burials. People 60 years ago visited cemeteries on a somewhat regular basis for funerals, so there were eyes on the condition of the grounds and grave markers. But people rarely go into cemeteries anymore, so out of sight out of mind. I am hopeful enough people will watch my videos and take up this cause in their local cemeteries.

[@maryannallen9885]

@@theyfaceeast Well thank you for the work you do for our deceased veterans.❤️ Your video has inspired me to take a closer look at our local cemeteries. Again, thank you. 🙏❤️

[@TheNorthenerSwede]

Not to nitpick, but I-company was not "Band of brothers", only E-company of the 506'th P.I.R are the "Band of Brothers" from the book and mini series. With that said, I really appriciate what you have done here for this veteran of the 101'st ABD.

[@robinc6324]

He referenced BoB to help identify when and where PFC Reid was killed. I Co was part of the 506 PIR

[@only1dutchgirl]

If they had left him to be buried in Europe, his white marble cross would be clean, his grave adopted by a caring family and he would not be forgotten.

[@kevinprzy4539]

doubt it, the only soldiers graves that were clean when I went to visit (France and Belgium) were the ones left there and cared for by the government as a memorial to fallen American soldiers. The US gov't does the same thing with Arlington Cemetery and a few other national cemeteries.

[@only1dutchgirl]

@@kevinprzy4539 if you go to the american cemeteries they're all clean. Almost all American soldiers that are KIA in Europe are burried in those cemeteries. All graves in the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, The Netherlands are adopted by Dutch Families.

[@kevinprzy4539]

@@only1dutchgirl I'm not talking about the Dutch I'm talking about France and Belgium which I have visited, some of them look like they haven't been cleaned since the 50's the only clean ones I saw were the ones under the responsibility of the French and Belgian governments.

[@robstark6899]

​@kevinprzy4539 I would look again. I have friends in both countries who have graves that they have adopted and most cemeteries have waiting lists to be caretakers of graves in the cemeteries. I was just there for 10 days at the beginning of this month and not one grave was unkempt, just like when I was there in 2012 and 2014.

[@87mini]

@@kevinprzy4539 So small war cemeteries in villages and towns? Did they allow their own dead's headstones to weather? Sounds like a good opportunity to educate the local tourist board to get some resources dedicated to that. Once the witnesses of heroism die off, it's easy for the memories to fade. Even today when I say "Before the War" to young people (35 and younger) they'll look curious and ask "which war?" European communities have changed as much as ours have, with the families moving to follow jobs and local history becoming muted and buried by the crap ton of information that falls on us all every day. Unvisited graves have settled back in to their mother earth for millennia - it's the nature of time, not of disrespect. It takes someone with the influence of Spielberg and Hanks to lift history into legend, so the 506 will live longer, but the physical is all fading. That's nature. The important thing is to keep the stories of heroism alive in the minds of the young - my 30-something kids remember my dad's, uncles and best friends stories that I heard from them only one battle story in the many, and my Uncles POW stories. I can only hope that they will pass them on to their kids - I know that I will when the kids are old enough to understand.

[@jasonjones9210]

Hello Trey, Dean Zipperer’s son Jason here. I believe we are family. Love what you do and thank you. My brother “Bucko” was veteran and is buried in Abington VA. If your ever up this way I’d love to do this with you in honor of him.

[@theyfaceeast]

Hi Jason! Good to hear from you 2nd Cousin. Your dad told me about Bucko. The 22 per day doesn't seem possible until you consider we have Bucko and my cousin's son Tyler Zipperer. Where do you live? You can contact me via ByMemorialDay.com where we can swap phone and email.

[@jasonjones9210]

@@theyfaceeast I can’t fill the contact fields in. They disappear when I scroll down?

[@h4ll4m1s]

Good on you mate. You’re doing something very important and meaningful. Keep up the good work.

[@troystaunton254]

If he was KIA in France this is very surprising. Because the commonwealth war graves commission looks after all the British commonwealth graves and my great uncles 1 who died in France in 1917 and the other who died at El Alamein in 1942 both have immaculately presented and maintained graves. So I’m stunned that America isn’t doing this.

[@jstrahan2]

He died in Belgium and was brought home to Alabama. "The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is an independent agency of the United States government that administers, operates, and maintains permanent U.S. military cemeteries, memorials and monuments primarily outside the United States." If the body was brought home to the United States, and not buried in a national cemetery, it is up to the family or individual cemetery to maintain the grave.

[@horsthumbug1612]

Your government prefers to take care of new wars that devour billions of dollars somewhere in the world instead of taking care of its history and the fallen.

[@OverlordGrizzaka]

He was killed in the attack on Foy at the edge of the Boisjaques, close to Bastogne.

[@panzerlieb]

@@horsthumbug1612your comment is woefully disingenuous and bespeaks profoundly of your ignorance of the subject.

[@gjh997]

What a wonderful gesture. I couldn’t see the youth these days doing this. We need more people like you my friend.

[@midwestern_jeepguy]

At least someone is doing this, but this is a disgrace. This never would’ve happened in France. This kind of thing should be taught in schools were children and young people can volunteer.

[@kevinprzy4539]

Literally happens in France, (when I went to visit in 2017) the government grave sites were extremely clean but the ones that were just buried and not managed by the government were dirty as hell, same in belgium as well.

[@TJN7484]

God Bless for what you do. 🫡

[@ThomasMitchell-kr8yy]

Thank you Sir

[@centermid7mb]

Was there some expectation that another burial would be placed beside his? The plot is rather of an odd size.

[@theyfaceeast]

That's a good observation, but Robert L. Reid was not married, so my assumption is that his ground level grave marker had simply been turned around and bumped to the side a bit over the years. The shape of the grave site is rectangular, but I didn't get the feeling it was wide enough for two vaults.

[@DannyRivers-fw3ie]

Have you tried D/2 Biological Solution? 10 minute soaking on really stained stuff seems to work.

[@jims512]

That’s what he used. Go to 4:43 in the video. It looks like he spray and cleaned in stages.

[@SZNVer0]

Ardennes ...

[@nickdown5025]

Thank you PFC Robert L Reid for your service and to these kind and thoughtful people who tend your graves. “Lest we Forget”

[@jonathandavis1525]

Wow Trey. 1st video I have seen in a while. Where did u take a vacation to??

[@theyfaceeast]

Lost our home and possessions in the storm surge flooding from Hurricane Ian on 28 SEP 2022. Recovering from a natural disaster takes over your life for at least 18 months. It's been 21 months. Trying to find the new normal. I released a video last week and the one yesterday. Both were shot 9 months ago!

[@lindagardenlady]

​@theyfaceeast sorry to hear of your loss! Hope all has gone well and your family is ok❤❤❤

[@jonathandavis1525]

@@theyfaceeast sorry to hear about the loss

[@Bumper776]

If you listen to "Babe" Heffron when he is telling his stories you will hear him mention James "Jim" Campbell who took a patrol for Heffron and was killed in action in October 1944. He is buried in a small-town cemetery in St. Francisville Illinois.

[@theyfaceeast]

Thank you for sharing! Maybe some viewers here will now go visit his grave to pay respects.

[@jameswallace3963]

I think...our WW Veterans should have the same gravestones, crosses, star of david etc...as those american memorials in europe. I live since 1980s, leaving the US Army in Germany post-service almost 50 years. I've visited the US Military Memorial Cemetary in Luxemburg where General George Patton is buried,...and the soldiers, so young, are buried together, and have never ever made it back home. The People of Europe have school children programs which offer them the cleaning and careing of these Memorial Cemetarys, to inhance their social studies and give them Respect to these fallen soldiers. They are not losers and suckers.

[@theyfaceeast]

I look forward to traveling to Europe to thank the school children and others who lovingly care for our Soldier Dead.

[@Up2_nogood]

TDS.

[@philipmayo4865]

Stop watching the fake news

[@oledahammer8393]

Even granite stones can get dirty and crud growing on them over time. Marble fares worse, but don't forget the granite stones either. My Uncle Bill was 82nd Airborne. Parachuted into Normandy on D-Day, fought all the way through the end of the war, including the Battle of the Bulge. How he made it home is nothing short of a miracle.

[@jebbroham1776]

This is beyond sad. These men gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country and lost the best part of their lives to do it just so they could be forgotten and swept under the rug of time. They say that you die twice in life: once you physically die, and the day your name is spoken for the last time.

[@paulvanderweerd7456]

Graves of veterans should be maintained by the government of the country where they are buried. Isn't it crazy that veterans have to come from America to maintain war graves in a European country? Kings and rich people lie in mausoleums with thousands of kilos of marble on top and this young man, who gave his life for our freedom at the age of 23, lies under a grass mat with a concrete tile on it. In this case, shame on us is an understatement...

[@theyfaceeast]

Amen. Well said. It doesn't seem like this could have actually happened, but it did. Now we have to address the problem. Perpetual care for all veteran grave sites.

[@TXnine7nine]

I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to have to rely on the French, Dutch, Belgian, Italian, Filipino (etc.) governments to pass budgets that may or may not cover care for American cemeteries overseas. The American Battle Monuments Commission does an incredible job of taking care of the American military cemeteries overseas. If you’ve been to Normandy, Luxembourg or Rome then you would see how immaculate those places look. They were our guys and we know how to honor them best.

[@kal.50bmg32]

What a shame for this "hometown" Red Bay. A stranger must com to clean that memorial of its veteran. No more words needed.

[@87mini]

You're a youngster who doesn't get out of town much. Red Bay has a population of 3,000 people, in Alabama, one of the poorest states in the Union. Probably had less people in 1949, when he was returned to his home. People there are probably concentrating more on keeping their families' bellies full, and don't have the leisure time that you have to sit at the computer disrespecting them, let alone take their free time to clean gravestones. I assume that you take this responsibility in the town that you live. PFC Reid's family is probably all dead or moved away. And were you old enough to experience it, in the 50's, EVERYONE had been to war, and everyone knew someone who had lost a loved one, and there were vet graves in every town who lost someone, which were many. And there were no miniseries to lionize actual individuals - Yes, the 506 were badasses, but a jewish baker's kid's death by a mine on some routine patrol in Belgium is no less a loss than a lionized special forces soldier. They're all heroes. Think before you throw disrespect.

[@kal.50bmg32]

@@87mini What a cheap try to excuse the embarrassing behavior of these inhabitants and their sdministration. They obviously must have been uninterested or just lazy for decades! Don´t tell me that bullshit of "poor people"! And - yes! I was happy to take on the responsibility for two gravestones of our family..

[@doomhippie6673]

I find it fascinating how different cultures see things differently. I believe letting a war grave rest in absolut silence and slowly grow visibly old is a very respectful way of commemorating the fallen. As old age leaves its sign on the grave so slowly the loss of a young man passes into a distant memory that allows rest and eternal peace. Looking old and overgrown reminds me of how insignificant we humans are compared to the majesty of the earth. White marble tombstones remind me of bleached bones, of a fight that is not put to rest. As I said, I find it fascinating how different my feelings are on this topic. That said, do treat old war graves with respect. Every single one is a reminder of a happy life that was not lived, a family that had to cope with tragedy and a missed chance of perhaps young people of different countries becoming friends rather than killing each other.

[@theyfaceeast]

Thank you for respectfully sharing your feelings about veteran grave care. I am currently reading a book "Soldier Dead" by Michael Sledge based on a recommendation from another viewer of my videos. I've only read 21% on ebook, but I think it's a fantastic explanation of what happens to the body of a member of the military who has been Killed In Action. He gives an example of asking a group of civilians to pretend they are loved ones of a fallen soldier and whether or not they would like for other members of the military to risk their lives to recover the body. Another question he asks them is how much money should be spent to recover the body. He then poses the same questions to members of the military, and one step further to members of the dead soldier's military unit. As for me, I probably feel as strongly as I do, because I come from a military family, I served in the Navy, and I watched my fellow sailors burn alive in a flight deck fire. People who haven't seen a crispy black charred arm of a dead young man who put out a fire to save his shipmates couldn't possible feel the same way. That doesn't make one person's feelings any more right or wrong as compared to another, but it helps me understand why the vast majority of Americans aren't willing to drop whatever they are doing to run out to their local cemetery to rescue these veteran headstones in distress.

[@MrsinTN]

Thank you for what you are doing, Sir. I need to check out military graves in our cemetery, but I’m unable to do that cleaning. Just finished watching Band of Brothers last night.

[@TXnine7nine]

I agree with Trae in wanting to encourage well meaning people to go out to their local cemeteries and take care of neglected gravesites, HOWEVER please do a little research and use the correct materials and methods or else you’ll just be doing more harm than good.

[@MS-xh7cw]

I think local schools should care for veterans graves. Like those families in Europe who adopt a grave, they should learn about these individuals, write about them, and care for their grave.

[@TheNorthenerSwede]

You don't think the U.S government should be in charge of taking care of their own servicemen's graves? They sent them out there to fight, and in some cases die, and it should be up to that same governing body to take care of their fallen, not some local school kids.

[@theyfaceeast]

I don't know how this problem will eventually be resolved, but local school children would be a wonderful fit for the job of cleaning veteran headstones. All the History teachers in the local area could coordinate a Veteran Headstone Cleaning Day sometime during the months leading up to Memorial Day. I've had 5 year old kids come out to clean veteran headstones and they were extremely passionate about the task. First of all, the job needs to be done. Second, there's no better classroom for American History than a cemetery, because all the details are held there. The kids will experience the segregated cemeteries, the Confederate headstones, the Christian crosses, the Jewish Star of Davids, the Killed by Indians epitaphs, and countless other truths that the next generations need to be aware of as they move the United States forward. I don't envision this mission to be a government job. I do believe the governments including federal, state, and local should provide funding, but I believe God wants the hands of the American people on these sacred stones. These veteran headstones mark hallowed ground and Americans need to personally honor their local heroes. So I see government funding, and local volunteer labor, working together to provide perpetual care for our sacred dead.

[@thebattlefieldhistorian8990]

@@TheNorthenerSwede The U.S. government is in charge of taking care of their own servicemen's graves--in official U.S. cemeteries. After World War II, the government conducted the "Return of the Dead" program, in which families were given the option to have their deceased service members' remains sent home for burial or be interred in overseas U.S. cemeteries. About two-thirds of families chose to have their loved ones sent home. (The U.S. government paid for the transportation of the remains to the families and, I believe, may have reimbursed them for burial costs as well.). Once a family voluntarily received the remains from the government, they took full possession and responsibility for those remains afterwards, which includes the upkeep and care of the graves. Those families who chose to have their loved ones buried in American Battle Monuments Commission cemeteries overseas, or official veterans cemeteries in the U.S. (such as Arlington), signed over the responsibilities of the remains, and their respective grave sites, to the U.S. government.

[@wyattcollins303]

Great job. My smmer college job was working for county mowing and taking care of cemeteries. I did my best to keep everything clean. You would be amazed how many headstones are fully covered by dort. I was weekending an area and scalped the ground and saw bronze sticking out. It turned out after cleaning it that he was a Korean war vet.

[@theyfaceeast]

Good Comment! I am not a fan of the ground level grave markers for the reason you mentioned. We need eyes on these veteran graves at least one time each year by Memorial Day to make sure they don't slip beneath the surface out of sight out of mind.

[@veramae4098]

Also needs a cement "footing" to prevent it sinking into ground.

[@daviddesmond2143]

Thank you for this video. I have recently applied D2 to my families gravestones and some had a buildup of thick black stuff. D2 barely penetrated it and scrubbing it with a plastic scraper helped. Do you find D2 is superior to Wet and Forget? D2 did clean and I left the stones with a good application. i am going back in few weeks to give it a second application this time using Wet and forget which is less espensive. Thank you for video