I’ve always felt that if our government pays veterans’ funeral expenses and buys them a grave marker, we should make sure that it’s readable so everyone can see the names of these heroes. In this climate, lichens and moss quickly grow over marble headstones and they become unreadable in a few years.
Fifteen years ago, I enlisted the help of some members of VFW Post 5559 to help me power wash the lichen and moss from the veterans’ headstones surrounding the flag pole in Evergreen Cemetery. We continued to clean them about every three or four years, but sadly most of those helpers are no longer with us.
Last winter, I attended the annual dinner the Coast Guard Chief Petty Officers Association holds for Juneau seniors and asked them if they could assist me this year. They told me to call them when they were needed.
I want to thank OSCM James Armstrong and his wife Misty, SK1 Shannon Sponable and family, MKC Sylvester Sanchez and family and YN1 Annie Rector from the 17th District US Coast Guard for assisting me in power washing headstones and cleaning up the Veterans’ Circle on Saturday. They took three hours out of a beautiful sunny day for this good deed.
Dennis P. Harris,
Juneau
