Americans show respect by volunteering to wash and clean the marble, bronze and stone at the Vietnam and Korean War Veterans Memorials. To SFC Jose Rodriguez, cleaning the memorials connects wars past and present.
“My Dad was a Vietnam Veteran, and I am a Veteran of the war in Afghanistan.”
From Freedom Team Salute - News...
Volunteers Honor Memorials
They rise before dawn to pay a special tribute to the fallen. Men and women, some Veterans and their families, gather at the Vietnam and Korean War Veterans Memorials to show their respect by washing and cleaning the marble, bronze and stone. It is a labor of love and remembrance.
“This is an honor without exception,” explained William DeBlander of Rolling Thunder, the men and women who publicize POW-MIA issues. DeBlander has been cleaning the memorials for eight years. He also organizes the cleaning among his fellow Rolling Thunder members.
Nine different groups take turns showing up at the memorials before sunrise. The cleaning goes on from April through October, from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Sundays. A U.S. Park Ranger rolls up in a golf cart to whichever memorial is scheduled for cleaning and hands out hoses, brushes and soap. At both memorials, volunteers safely move artifacts, such as letters, flowers and pictures, before cleaning the walls and statues.
As the sun breaks over the U.S. Capitol, the volunteers toil away. The scrubbing of the wall seems like a seamless coordinated movement and the hoses sometimes catch a rainbow in their spray. Early-rising tourists take pictures of the endeavor. At the Vietnam Veterans Memorial one morning, a volunteer brought the Park Ranger the ashes of a Vietnam Veteran that had been left at the wall. At the Korean War Veterans Memorial, a Korean man stopped taking pictures of the cleaners and picked up a brush to help.
Volunteers scrub the wall at the Korean War Veterans Memorial despite a rainstorm.
The Three Soldiers statue at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial gets scrubbed down.
“I just got off work and this means a lot to me,” said SFC Jose Rodriguez as he worked a brush in his Army Combat Uniform at the Vietnam Memorial. To Rodriguez, who is stationed at the Pentagon, cleaning the memorials connects wars past and present. “My Dad was a Vietnam Veteran, and I am a Veteran of the war in Afghanistan.”
At the Korean War Memorial, Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Ed Bredbenner walked around with a cup, picking up cigarette butts and other small pieces of debris.
“It’s the least you can do,” he explained about his cleaning duties. “It’s what’s right.”
The volunteers are dedicated to their cause. One dark morning at the Korean War Memorial, nine people showed up despite a rainstorm. At the Vietnam Memorial, the National Anthem was sung nearby to start a local triathlon. Everyone stopped and put their hands over their hearts, caps were removed. No one moved until the anthem was finished. And then it was back to work.
Volunteers Honor Memorials
They rise before dawn to pay a special tribute to the fallen. Men and women, some Veterans and their families, gather at the Vietnam and Korean War Veterans Memorials to show their respect by washing and cleaning the marble, bronze and stone. It is a labor of love and remembrance.
“This is an honor without exception,” explained William DeBlander of Rolling Thunder, the men and women who publicize POW-MIA issues. DeBlander has been cleaning the memorials for eight years. He also organizes the cleaning among his fellow Rolling Thunder members.
Nine different groups take turns showing up at the memorials before sunrise. The cleaning goes on from April through October, from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Sundays. A U.S. Park Ranger rolls up in a golf cart to whichever memorial is scheduled for cleaning and hands out hoses, brushes and soap. At both memorials, volunteers safely move artifacts, such as letters, flowers and pictures, before cleaning the walls and statues.
As the sun breaks over the U.S. Capitol, the volunteers toil away. The scrubbing of the wall seems like a seamless coordinated movement and the hoses sometimes catch a rainbow in their spray. Early-rising tourists take pictures of the endeavor. At the Vietnam Veterans Memorial one morning, a volunteer brought the Park Ranger the ashes of a Vietnam Veteran that had been left at the wall. At the Korean War Veterans Memorial, a Korean man stopped taking pictures of the cleaners and picked up a brush to help.
Volunteers scrub the wall at the Korean War Veterans Memorial despite a rainstorm.
The Three Soldiers statue at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial gets scrubbed down.
“I just got off work and this means a lot to me,” said SFC Jose Rodriguez as he worked a brush in his Army Combat Uniform at the Vietnam Memorial. To Rodriguez, who is stationed at the Pentagon, cleaning the memorials connects wars past and present. “My Dad was a Vietnam Veteran, and I am a Veteran of the war in Afghanistan.” At the Korean War Memorial, Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Ed Bredbenner walked around with a cup, picking up cigarette butts and other small pieces of debris.
“It’s the least you can do,” he explained about his cleaning duties. “It’s what’s right.”
The volunteers are dedicated to their cause. One dark morning at the Korean War Memorial, nine people showed up despite a rainstorm. At the Vietnam Memorial, the National Anthem was sung nearby to start a local triathlon. Everyone stopped and put their hands over their hearts, caps were removed. No one moved until the anthem was finished. And then it was back to work.
