Florida Man Cleans Veterans' Headstones On His Days Off
JACKSONVILLE (CBSMiami/AP) — Mail isn't delivered on Sundays, but a north Florida mailman keeps himself busy on his days off by cleaning veterans' gravestones at worn-down cemeteries.
Sixty-year-old Clarence Hollowell is spending Memorial Day weekend at the Old City Cemetery in Springfield near Jacksonville.
That's where he is cleaning the headstones of Capt. S. L. Tibbitts and 1st Lt. Joseph H. Huau. When he finishes, he writes their names on a sheet of paper and does some detective work to learn about them.
Hollowell tells The Florida Times-Union he comes from a military family and served in the U.S. Army. He says cleaning veterans' graves helps the community and gives him a project.
It takes about two to three weeks to clean the headstones.
Hollowell says he has cleaned some 600 graves, using a plastic scraper, a soft bristled brush and a special solution he orders online.
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