Donate to Clean Every Veteran Headstone By Memorial Day

Millions of veteran headstones located outside National Cemeteries look like this all across America. Each marks hallowed ground, and it’s embarrassing that we’ve allowed these sacred stones to be soiled on our watch. I hope you’re willing to help make this right.
I can’t clean 6 million veteran headstones by myself.
I can’t keep flags flying at every veteran’s grave by myself.
I can’t organize millions of Volunteers by myself.
I can’t tell the stories of 6 million American heroes by myself.
So I’m asking you to make a donation to oversee the perpetual care of all veteran graves located outside National Cemeteries.
Run your fingers over this filth and you can feel “Company H,” “25th Indiana Infantry.”
From the condition of this iconic white marble veteran headstone, you’d never know this man determined the outcome of the Civil War along the banks of the Tennessee at a place called Shiloh. If the 25th Indiana doesn’t hold on at all hazards on April 6, 1862:
• Grant loses the Battle of Shiloh
• Grant never becomes Commander of all Union Forces
• And Abraham Lincoln loses re-election in 1864
If the headstone of a Union Soldier from the Civil War looks like this in Warrick County, Indiana where Abraham Lincoln learned the law, you can bet veteran headstones in your local cemeteries look just as bad.
To support this mission to clean every veteran headstone by Memorial Day:
• Visit ByMemorialDay.com to learn how.
• Make a donation by mailing a check payable to By Memorial Day.
• Make a donation to By Memorial Day at GoFundMe.com.
• Subscribe to Trae Zipperer’s KZbin Channel: Honor Your DNA.
• And Register as a Volunteer at VeteranGraves.com
By Memorial Day, my vision is to assign a Volunteer to each and every veteran grave. That Volunteer will care for their veteran’s grave as if it were sacred ground, because it is.

[@jeffkuipers1030]

today i went and cleaned my dads headstone because he is a veteran LCPL OF THE US MARINE CORPS and i am proud to be his son.

[@mysterj1]

Ooh rah! Outstanding. Semper Fidelis.

[@Tennessee968]

Thank you to you and your family. I appreciate his service.

[@andrewevans1658]

I sprayed all the Veterans headstones (and spouses headstones) in my Hometown cemetery this year. I scrubbed all the KIA stones by hand with D2 and the rest of the stones were sprayed with wet-n-forget. I have a few stones I need to repair and a few I need to do the paperwork process to have them replaced. Before next year I will also do another local cemetery. Thank you for what you do and the motivation you inspire!

[@theyfaceeast]

Andrew Evans you are my hero! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. As you know, Americans have been asleep at the switch, complacent with our patriotism. People like you, all over the world, are answering the call to clean veteran headstones. There is much to learn from getting on our knees in front of those stones marking the sacred ground of beautiful men and women who gave us so much. An idea another Volunteer gave me is placing Gold Star flags at the graves of our finest who gave their lives for us. Gold Star flags would be a beautiful finishing touch to all the work you have done. If you haven't Registered as a Volunteer at VeteranGraves.com please do so. I've been so busy getting ready for Memorial Day I haven't reviewed all the names of newly Registered Volunteers.

[@andrewevans1658]

@@theyfaceeast I have wanted to clean headstones for several years but I didn't know what was safe until I found your videos! In my hometown cemetery Gold Star Mother's headstones have flag holders that say Gold Star Mother. They are the same as all the bronze-ish flag holders just different wording.

[@andrewevans1658]

@@theyfaceeastonly a small percentage of the stones I cleaned were actual VA headstones. More recent ones just have the bronze plaque on the back of the privately purchased headstones. Others have no military service indications other than a bronze flag holder and being names that I remember. Gold Star flags would be easy for me to do, only 6 of them. But fot most people it would require extensive research to sort that all out.

[@patrickbates2342]

Still cleaning headstones for this very worthy cause. When I do some simple research into some of the names and units on the headstones I have cleaned I am amazed at the bravery and sacrifices so many families have made in the history of out country. Too many politicians in recent memory have a loud voice when in front of the camera, but were silent when called by their country.

[@angelalaforest8631]

My great great grandfather served in the Civil War...his headstone is granite....still looks good Thank you for all you do! You are amazing ❤️

[@catherineengle4196]

I wanted so desperately to have some stones ready by this memorial day. Its breaking my heart I have not been able to do so. Due to my health issues I am having to stay off my feet and use a cane when I do get up. I want so desperately to be apart of what you are trying to accomplish. Lord willing I get over this health battle I will be cleaning veteran stones in my area. It is the least I can do for their sacrifice. They deserve so much and we all have given so little. Its not fair...every memorial day I cry thinking about the boys who graduated Parris Island with my son who went to Iraq and Afghanistan and never saw America again. These boys no these young men some who I gave rides home after graduation and listened to their laughter...their family stories and I gave hugs to died...it breaks my heart every year. God bless you for all you do.

[@catherineengle4196]

@WinGate Mose thank you so much for your kind words and telling your story. I heard many first count stories of nam. I had family and momma had many friends who served or had family who served. The gut wrenching stories of kids being sent into the G.I. Joe bars with coffee cans full of explosives haunts me to this day. I will tell my son ty when he gets back home. He is a gov contractor in the Indian ocean and on assignment right now. God bless you

[@Harpdashian]

I am a 19 year old from England. I recently found out that one of my 5x Great Grandfathers moved to Wisconsin in the 1860s and was involved in the Civil War with the Union Army. I plan on one day visiting his grave and paying my respects, as well as visiting ancestors who were killed in France/Belgium in the Great War. Your channel inspired me to do this.

[@theyfaceeast]

Thank you for your comment. It warms my heart to know I'm reaching some young people. Most of the men buried beneath our veteran headstones were young.

[@Tennessee968]

Thank you for what you do. My Grandfather has a bronze headstone. I will make sure it stays clean. He died in a helicopter crash training for Vietnam. 27 years old with 4 children. God bless you sir. Thanks again.

[@vickiledbetter5435]

We have cleaned several family members Civil War and other stones. They look great. Thanks for what you do!

[@theyfaceeast]

@WinGate Mose Decoration Day sounds like a wonderful tradition that needs to come back into fashion. My neighbors are from Alabama and she tells me about how her family would every year clean headstones at their church cemetery on Decoration Day. The challenge is now that people no longer live in the home towns where they grew up. Once the living family members move away, the living are no longer connected to the locally buried dead. The problem is MUCH bigger than veteran headstones, but I believe a good starting point is to inspire people to clean every veteran headstone by Memorial Day. The scope of the mission can grow from there.

[@theyfaceeast]

I appreciate you joining our cause to clean every veteran headstone by Memorial Day. One veteran grave at a time, we will get there.

[@SerperiorGaming]

Very eager to come back home from active duty and adopt the veteran graves by my area. God bless you and your efforts.

[@theyfaceeast]

Thank you for standing on the front line of our freedom. And you can count on all of us veterans as backup if necessary. You've got a strong bench standing by! In this video I focus on this member of the 25th Indiana Infantry and his service at the Battle of Shiloh. Last night at dark, I visited another old cemetery just down the road. There I found an old privately purchased headstone, half a stone actually, name part broken off and nowhere to be seen. The stone was flat on the ground. The etchings were: of Co. H. 25th Regmt. Ind. Vol. Died June 22, 1862, Wounds Rec'd in the Bat. At Shiloh Tenn., Age 31 Yrs."

[@missymarzipan]

I had a desire to start cleaning headstones some years ago. Without knowledge for proper techniques, I had used some grabbed branch to scrape off remnants and water with some rough pad. I was depressed at the time and was seeking solace. Ten years have passed and I'm in a better place mentally. I want to make the sadness I felt sitting in a graveyard into a happiness for anyone visiting. My grandmother left flowers at a lone grave far away from her father, because she saw it was excluded. I do too, now, 50 years later. If I can help the dead be remembered, I will. Thank you for teaching me proper ways to treat them.

[@angelalaforest8631]

I also enjoy the history lessons I was a history major with a minor in military history

[@forgottencemeteriesofthepn6031]

Awesome video sir. Thank you for posting. I started my youtube channel a few months ago and was shocked to find civil war headstones all the way out here in Oregon. Some in good state, some not so much.

[@Headstoneman]

I try to get out and clean as many veteran stones as I can every week…. Sometimes I can’t get out, but I love how it makes me feel! Thanks for doing this Trae!

[@jakealizer99]

I just found your channel and honestly this is an inspiration, I hope to see you come back soon.

[@glasjanus]

It kind of stuns me to see those graves been forgotten?! I like to tell you that all allies fallen for our freedom in the Netherlands are still been taken care for by the young and old at least twice a year.

[@Voron6ify]

It's pretty simple to explain. The fallen's family may have died already or emigrated. The fallen could have no family to look after his grave. There are memorial graveyards where keepers do look after the gravestones but those are not many. Not talking about regular graveyards where many gravestones not just for some soldiers but also regular people are forgotten.

[@flyinsquirrel48]

Some years I have put the flags on the graves myself. We are a small rural cemetery without many volunteers. We don’t have enough flag holders. I’ve been searching online for metal ones because the dirt here is rock hard. Thank you for your dedication Sir.

[@theyfaceeast]

Have you tried the pvc pipe flag holder idea? I understand hard ground. I dig holes to put up my real estate sales signs and sometimes the ground is simply too hard. In those cases, I carry a metal spike and drive it into the ground with a small sledge hammer, wiggling it every few inches to avoid it getting stuck in the ground. Call it a pilot hole. Or maybe you could use a large enough drill bit to create a pilot hole. Metal flag holder are quite a bit more expensive as compared to pvc, but they do certainly look nicer.

[@flyinsquirrel48]

@@theyfaceeast - Our cemetery is out in the steep hilly woods. It’s difficult to walk without falling. I will see if I can get some help and try your PVC idea. I’ll send you a link to our cemetery FB page.

[@stephenridenour6812]

I am organizing my Masonic Lodge to find and clean some stones as a monthly Lodge project.

[@theyfaceeast]

Outstanding idea Stephen! Once you get a Volunteer to learn how to clean a veteran headstone, gather the necessary supplies for a headstone cleaning kit, and clean one stone, they will want to clean another, and then another. If you haven't already done so, please Register as a Volunteer at VeteranGraves.com

[@Rickster2791]

I just located my grandfather's bronze flat grave marker. He was a Sgt. in WWI. The marker is completely green. Is this a different kind of metal ? And can you suggest a safe way to clean it? Thank you for your advice and for all you do.

[@theyfaceeast]

It's probably the old style of bronze marker issued by the V.A. The green color is the natural patina. I personally wouldn't try to remove the patina. I would just give it a bath with water and a soft scrub brush. You can pay to have it restored to a new shiny look, but it will eventually patina back to the green you're seeing now.

[@Rickster2791]

@@theyfaceeast Thank you. I will try that.

[@matthewodom1957]

Had recently come across your channel and I respect what you are doing. As a veteran myself I agree that this is disgraceful to allow the hero’s that have sacrificed their time/lives for this country to be forgotten like this. I plan to start in my community but wanted to ask since you have been doing this for a while. Would a soft nylon bristle drill brush work for this application? Thanks in advance sir.

[@matthewodom1957]

@Brain Smith so what was your pathetic excuse for not joining then? Instead of complaining and whining you join up and do your due diligence.

[@kaycure8629]

Should not use any power tools of any kind on the gravestones.

[@Someone-ee3ny]

So I went out to my local cemetery to plant flags on veterans tombstones for boyscouts and what I found was disturbing. Older Tombstones in ruin and were Covered in dirty so my team made it a mission to cleans up some tombstones sadly we could only use are hands for tools but that was all we would need for the moment so we clean out the dirt with are hands but I noticed a weird pattern starting to arise places where tombstones should be were missing I dug up one of these places that was cover in a layer of grass and dirt and 2 inches later I found a tombstone so we unburied it wasn’t a veteran but still was horrible than I thought maybe there was more graves buried above inch’s of dirt and shame

[@Someone-ee3ny]

@Brain Smith Nah they didn’t care about any of the old tombstones

[@joeywhite9308]

Hey trey zipper you should come to Gravel Hill cemetery In Palmyra Pennsylvania. It’s A big cemetery and I bet there are at least a couple vets in there.

[@theyfaceeast]

I plan to be in Gettysburg PA the end of October. You should sound the alarm in your local community and schedule a veteran headstone cleaning event to coincide with Veterans Day 11/11/2021.

[@voton.w.b.8584]

Really appreciate what you do...

[@billlink7116]

The flag rules at our local veterans cemetery: Flags and flag holders are not permitted on graves at any time. Flags will be placed at gravesites by the cemetery staff on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. (Floral arrangements are not allowed on gravesites on these days-only flags.)

[@theyfaceeast]

Veteran cemeteries are different as compared to private, municipal, and church cemeteries, because it is readily observable that ALL buried in veterans cemetery are veterans. Therefore, there's no need to mark each grave in a veterans cemetery with a flag 365 days a year to differentiate the veterans from the non-veterans. My desire to display a flag at a veteran's grave 365 days a year applies to all cemeteries except veteran cemeteries. I ran a lawn business after the Navy, so I can appreciate the nightmare scenario of having the weedeat around 180,000 grave flags EVERY WEEK.

[@MrGunner65]

@@theyfaceeast I am a former US Marine and have worked temporary "groundskeeping" at a local VA National Cemetery. It was a nightmare and then became worse with wreaths being placed on the graves each year. The Cemetery was expanded but because of COVID rules has been closed for over a year. I would like to contact you and discuss the current state of our National and local VA Cemeteries. I am also a historical researcher and would present your techniques to the local historical society.

[@nightshadekelly]

When I get my driver's license I'll be volunteering

[@cheryljohnson7195]

Greetings! I have a question about a historical monument cemetery that needs some tender loving care, but there are no funds or resources available to help. Please guide me on how to help this cemetery. Would you mind pointing me in the right direction?

[@independen4life]

Got question how do u clean the blue and reddish head stones.

[@mauiswift6391]

You are a good man

[@carolinalatour5652]

ADMIRO TU DEDICACIÓN!!!! una pena que en mi pais no se considere a los veteranos como corresponde, aqui cada familia se hace cargo de los suyos. el gobierno ni idea si aporta al mantenimiento de sus lugares de descanso.. (dudo que lo hagan) respeto en el Día de los Caídos. soy de argentina, aca es el 2 de abril (Dia de los Caidos en Malvinas y del Veterano)

[@sgt.peterson4239]

I have a question can I clean the grave marker for the spouse if she has a military grave marker along with her husband's military grave marker?

[@theyfaceeast]

I've not researched this issue, but I don't believe the federal government furnishes a free headstone to spouses of military veterans. Therefore, the matching stones we see for spouses were most likely purchase by the family. Veteran headstones remain federal property, which gives us a foot in the door to obtain permission from cemetery caretakers to clean the veteran headstones.

[@sgt.peterson4239]

@@theyfaceeast So the matching bronze marker is still Federal Property correct? For the spouse? It looks identical

[@theyfaceeast]

@@sgt.peterson4239 No, the matching bronze grave marker for the veteran's spouse would not have been provided by the federal government. The family would have purchased that matching bronze grave marker for the spouse.

[@sgt.peterson4239]

@@theyfaceeast Thanks 👍 alot I will ( not ) clean those grave markers. 🇺🇸 🇺🇸.

[@theyfaceeast]

@@sgt.peterson4239 you can clean any headstones you want to clean in a cemetery as long as you receive permission from the cemetery steward.

[@michellefrost7017]

Were do you get D2 Cleaner???

[@sgt.peterson4239]

I bought 4 gals. On the net Atlas monument company. They were running a special discount. 🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@HealhoeGaming]

do you live in indiana or were you just in indiana at this time? i also live in indiana and was just curious, i live in blackford county indiana.

[@theyfaceeast]

I was just visiting Indiana.

[@anthonyjohnwagner]

Great Initative

[@flowers_4_alger-hans]

If I were to clean veterans' headstones unsolicited, is that inappropriate? I'd like to pay respects but I'm afraid inquiring would be awkward with some of the rural cemeteries near me

[@sgt.peterson4239]

I contacted cemetery's in my area, & they were very proud that some one would take the Time to do such a honorable job for the deceased veterans. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@sgt.peterson4239]

Hello : I haven't seen any new videos from you, I hope U R doing well. 🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@theyfaceeast]

Thank you for checking on me. All is well and I just happen to be setting up for my next video shoot today! It's dreadful hot here in Florida trying to shoot videos out in the sun or shade.

[@juangerber9576]

water pressure washer would clean the stones 🪦 easy in 5min keep doing what you doing

[@tycanfield8190]

Actually it’s not good on the stone, and it’s not about doing it easy, it’s about putting in work for the work that vet put in for you 🇺🇸

[@PeachIceCreamy]

@@tycanfield8190 they say “work smarter, not harder” for a reason

[@kaycure8629]

please do not use a pressure washer on gravestones. Causes damage to the stone.

[@ibrahimli024]

U.S.A❗

[@cecilelim5962]

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