Man honors veterans by cleaning their headstones

(NewsNation) — As millions of Americans honor the men and women who sacrificed their lives to serve the country, one man is on a mission to make sure their gravesites remain hallowed ground.

Trae Zipperer is the founder of the nonprofit By Memorial Day, and the hope is for every veteran’s final resting place to be properly cared for.

Zipperer goes around the country to help properly maintain and clean thousands of veterans’ headstones that may have been damaged from weather, landscaping or simply time.

He says it’s heartbreaking to look at the names on some of the markers knowing they did so much for their country, so this is his way of giving back.

“When you find these headstones that are covered in filth and you see those dates of 1942, 1943, 44, 45, 51, 67, and you look up these these names online and you find out that they were killed in action in service to our country, it just makes it that much more meaningful to get the filth off of them and show them the respect that they deserve as someone who gave their lives for our country,” Zipperer told NewsNation in an interview that aired Monday on “Morning in America.”

Encouraging others to aid the effort

The Navy veteran specifically focuses on the stones and markers of veterans who are laid to rest in local cemeteries, where the maintenance of the stones may not be as robust as it is at a national, state or tribal cemetery.

“We believe every veteran headstone should be maintained in a clean and respectable condition as if it belongs in Arlington,” By Memorial Day states on its website, referencing Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Zipperer has produced instructional videos showing and viewers how to correctly clean headstones themselves.

“We serve to inspire patriotic Americans in every town, in every corner of our great land, to organize a group of local volunteers to visit each cemetery nearby for the purpose of identifying veteran headstones in need of cleaning,” the website states.

According to the National Cemetery Administration, more than 15 million headstones and markers for veterans have been given out nationwide since 1973. The latest data shows in 2022, close to 350,000 were produced and about 140,000 of those went to burials in private cemeteries.