This is a story from the WQAD News 8 archives from May 2003 by reporter Jim Mertens.
ARSENAL ISLAND, Illinois – It's the contrast between the hardened white granite and the soft green grass and trees.
The National Cemetery on Arsenal Island is 140 years old this year (2003). But it's military precision is timeless... even in the afterlife.
"That'll work."
Navy veteran John Canterbury is a caretaker at the National Cemetery. Part of his job is to team up with fellow Navy veteran Scott Lamb to make sure the tombstones on Arsenal Island are absolutely straight.
"When a family member wants to look down here, it's all level on the sides, all the way down," says Canterbury.
These men take their jobs seriously, you can even see it in their eyes.
"This is an honor," says Canterbury. "This is paid tribute to a male or female or a spouse."
There are 2300 tombstones at the National Cemetery.
And each day crews like John and Scott's gently muscle the headstones so they line up straighter, they stand level, they remain at the same height.
"These stones don't have any concrete around them because they still would heave eventually," says supervisor Lester White.
So John and Scott go stone by stone with a plank of wood to get the dimensions right. And the tombstones that are badly out of alignment get pulled, the hole re-dug, and the stone replaced to look like every stone around it.
Well, you've got your 18 which is the depth of your hole, the stone is 18 inches in the ground and the 24 is the height, the finished height of the stone after it's placed in the ground," says Scott Lamb as he works on the next stone.
"We do it every day, every week, over and over and over," says Canterbury.
It's work you would think is sheer drudgery. Not to these veterans who say their job as cemetery caretakers is yet another call to duty. Another chance to complete a job well done.
"It's an honor to continue to help and serve your country in a way," says Lamb.
"I've had family members come up to me and tell me how great this place looks. I mean, that's all it takes to make you feel good about what you're doing."