The US Federal Government operates many National Cemeteries and they are meticulously maintained both to honor and respect the veterans who are buried there, and be a source of pride for our nation.  All veterans have headstones in these cemeteries - provided by the Federal Government - and over time a protocol for their care and cleaning has been developed by the National Cemetery Association. That protocol is published on the Veteran's Administration website.  That protocol is used at the National Cemeteries to keep headstones clean and the results speak for themselves.

Sadly, the maintenance of public and private cemeteries varies by the cemetery, and more and more they are falling into disrepair as the culture of America changes and budgets are re-prioritized.  Even worse, some have been abandoned.  Falling into disrepair is seen in many ways: Overgrown weeds and bushes and trees; uncut grass; falling down fences; and dirty, stained, leaning, and broken headstones.  It is sad this would happen to any graves, but it is especially dishonoring to veterans who stood in defense of our country and now their graves are ignored.

If you are interested in participating in the effort to clean veterans headstones, your first step should be to study the protocol in order to learn what should (and should NOT) be done, as well as what tools and supplies should be used and what should NOT be used.

After you have read the protocol online, you might want to have a printed copy to keep for reference or to show to people when asking permission to clean the headstones.  I have copied the protocol text and pasted it in a MS Word document, formatted to be folded into a tri-fold pamphlet which would be convenient to carry.  Click on this link to display that document for printing.