Most of us can’t wait for the days off to come. Of course, it involves relaxing, resting, and to refill our batteries . We may visit relatives, go on a cruise and enjoy our free time. But, this mailman does something very different but beautiful with his days off. He spends them cleaning the headstones of fallen soldiers. If a grave has problems, gets dirty because of the weather or just from time passing, he starts cleaning and repairing it.
Clarence Hollowell is a mailman in Florida. He works six days a week and spends his one day off helping out his community. But, whatever the weather, whatever the time of year, he’ll get to work on a grave. Every Sunday and every holiday, he puts in the incredible effort cleaning headstones.
You can find the 60-year-old veteran at the cemetery in his neighborhood every week to do his cleaning. He looks for soldiers who were 18-20 but didn’t return to their families. However, his next step is quite unusual. He investigates the soldier on Ancestry.com, to find out more about them. In this way he establishes a closer connection.
Every headstone takes about two or three weeks to clean and it take a lot of work. Clarence is meticulous, and cares for every detail. He buys a special cleaning solution online and has a vast selection of tools, each with their own job. He says that he uses “a plastic scraper to remove growth, a soft bristled brush, a toothbrush for small areas, and water.”
AWESOME – KUDOS to this guy !!
‘Readers Digest’ version and info is condensed but if anyone has an interest in doing this
GET PERMISSION FIRST, attend a cleaning course to learn the proper way, do no harm – the wrong cleaner and practices will cause permanent damage. No bleach and no power washers!
Most of the time a soft bristle brush and water will work and then you will need a cleaner called ‘D/2’ .
Research the National Park Service National Center for Preservation Technology and Training
https://www.ncptt.nps.gov/