ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. — Every year for Memorial Day, the Rock Island National Cemetery honors veterans buried in its hallowed grounds by placing an American flag at their headstones. Part of the Memorial Day preparations include cleaning each headstone too.
"We'll do them before Memorial Day and Labor Day," Tony Nelson, the district project manager, said. "Takes awhile. I couldn't give you an actual number on how long it takes, but it takes a while."
There are around 28,000 veterans and their loved ones buried in the national cemetery. Nelson and his team walk through with a power washer, going over each headstone multiple times to knock off any dirt or tree and bird droppings. Some stones are washed at 500 PSI, while the older ones, like the Confederate soldier section, get sprayed at 200 PSI.
"They're older stones, easier to etch the stone with the power washer," Nelson said.
After they've dried, they're sprayed with a D/2 Biological Solution and two to three weeks later, Nelson explained the headstones are a nice, bright white. If there's any sort of discoloration on the stone, they'll use a brush to try and scrub it off and then re-rinse it and spray with D/2.
"If you don't, we have so many trees, the elements, you know, stuff falls on the headstones," Cemetery Director Matt Tomes said. "Over time, they'll start to turn black or moldy. And that's just, that's not acceptable and that's not respectable. That's not a good way to honor these guys."
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has specific guidelines for cleaning government-furnished headstones and markers too. For example, only cleaning headstones when temperatures are above 40°F. The department also doesn't recommend even gentle cleaning on headstones with severe surface erosions or cracks.
"We keep it looking really nice out here. We get visitors all the time telling us how nice it looks," Nelson said. "People are here who served our country. The best thing we can do is keep it looking nice for them."
However, it's not just about honoring those who served.
"Most of us are veterans, so it's important to us to keep those headstones clean," Tomes said. "We also get graded on it basically by the NCA, the National Cemetery Administration. Every year we have to do a self-assessment of how our cemetery looks and there are certain criteria we have to meet and clean headstones is one of them."
Every five years, the NCA visits to complete its own assessment too. The Rock Island National Cemetery is due for a visit in fiscal year '26.