Non-Profit Cleaning Veterans' Headstones In Tulsa Cemetery

With Veteran's Day approaching, one organization is on a mission to take care of a Tulsa cemetery.

Keeping headstones clean can be a challenge throughout the year, but this Veterans Day week, some headstones are getting additional attention.

"This one was in the U.S. Army, so this one needs to be super clean," said David Tygart with the Shining Honor Project.

Tygart spent his Thursday morning with heroes who are no longer with us at Memorial Park Cemetery. He was scrubbing away the dirt that settles on the headstones of veterans who served our country.

"My dad's a veteran. He served in the army for about 18 years, so it's good to serve other veterans that died and served for us," he said.

Tygart is a part of the Shining Honor Project - a non-profit that offers job opportunities for adults with special needs.

The goal is to honor the service men and women who risked their lives for our country, and Executive Director Erin Wambald said they have accomplished that.

“It's very meaningful, especially for the families that are still left. They're always coming back and saying how much they appreciate that we have taken the time to clean and restore their headstones," she said.

The group cleans about 200 headstones a day, preserving the final resting places and American history.

"We're doing the things that God wants us to do, and try and help the people that died," said Tony Little John with the Shining Honor Project.

Tygart said, "It just feels great to honor them. That's what the president wants, to honor those that died and served. So that's what we're coming out here to do."

Since April, the group has cleaned well over 3,500 headstones for veterans and their spouses and will continue to do so throughout the year.