JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A firefighter is asking for a community’s support to help preserve the grave sites of local veterans.
News4Jax.com reported that firefighter-paramedic Brian Bausch, with the St. Johns County Fire Rescue, has been restoring headstones and graves at Lee Kirkland Cemetery and H. Warren Smith Cemetery in Jacksonville Beach. He said he noticed the disarray of the graves in March.
“The fact that there was dirt covering the face plates and name plates of the veterans and there were no American flags on them, that really bothered me, Bausch said. “It makes me sad, because I think, ‘What if this was my family?’”
Bausch asked officials at the cemetery for permission to work on the graves, and they agreed to let him help. He has restored more than 70 grave sites of fallen soldiers.
“I consider it an honor to come out here and be able to make their final resting place as nice as I possibly can,” Bausch said. “If it wasn’t for gentlemen like this man and all the men out here and the women who stayed home to raise their families, I would not only have nothing, I’d have none of the rights I have right now.”
Bausch said the restoration work also gives him some peace from the hectic experiences of his job.
“If these family members are still in the area, (I hope) that they find some joy in knowing somebody cares enough to come out here and take care of their family’s sites,” he said.
Bausch plans to meet with city leaders to get more help with funding and participation.