Troy couple goes on mission, cleaning veterans' graves

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A couple in Troy is helping to keep the legacy of local veterans alive at a nearby cemetery. The two have dedicated hours to upkeep the gravestones of veterans' that were otherwise becoming hidden by overgrown grass.

Gina and Richard Beaudoin first discovered this group of veterans' graves when they were looking for Gina's grandfather this past spring. They found a group of around 20 veteran graves, that Gina said were barely visible from the main cemetery road.

“They were covered in grass, and almost unreadable and you couldn't see a lot of the dates," said Gina. “We decided you know you cant have the rest of these look like this, these are veterans they need to honored you know kind of the gone not forgotten.” 

The veterans at this site fought in wars such as World War 1, World War 2 and the Vietnam War. Some of the gravestones even dated back to the 1800s.

“There's one fella in here, he was like 20 or 21 years old and he died in the 1880s, so a lot of these graves here are World War 1, World War 2," Gina said.  

Gina and Richard come about once a month to upkeep the graves. They mow the grass, pull away weeds, brush off dirt and even add American Flags to each one.

““Now you can because we put flags up we make sure its visible and can be seen. And hopefully people will come back here," said Gina.

"We want to make sure that the people that are buried back here in the corner away from everybody aren’t forgotten about,” said Richard.

The couple plans to keep coming back to this site once a month to check in. The work takes a few hours, but Gina said it's nothing compared to the sacrifices these veterans made.