Would Vets Volunteer to Maintain Cemetery?

Money’s tight. Are volunteers ready to help? Public concern is growing over the condition of the Cape May County Veterans’ Cemetery on Crest Haven Road. Some comment surfaced after the Aug. 1 front-page story in the Herald about the county seeking bids for interment services at the cemetery.
While there has not been a wave of inquiries about the story, there have been some valid concerns voiced by widows about conditions there. To be sure, maintenance has slipped in some areas. Asphalt walkways have, in places, become weed filled. In other spots, trees, which were not to be planted for obvious reasons, have roots which make the walkways uneven.
There is a plan to do away with, at least some walkways to enable better placement of grave markers. But that, according to Charles Adelizzi, county interment officer, would place many aging widows and widowers at a severe disadvantage. That’s because some in wheelchairs might not easily get to graves of loved ones. Others, on shaky legs, might find even level earth troublesome with walkers or canes.
Pathways, he told me, were placed for a reason, and those were the reasons.
A dear widow called to tell me that, at 80, she has sown grass seed over her beloved’s grave, which, prior to that time, had been bare earth. And, she said, she’d spoken to county officials and freeholders without result.
Another widow, whose husband was a naval officer, weighed burial in Arlington National Cemetery. The couple opted for burial here, since she could more easily visit the gravesite. She, too, has been appalled at the overall condition of the hallowed site.
This may all be academic, if the county takes a new approach to rules and regulations at the cemetery. But the thing most lacking is manpower.
Across the field, behind barbed wire, is the Cape May County Correctional Center. In fact, there has been comment in Spout Off asking that trees be planted to shelter mourners, widows and widowers going to the graves of loved ones from the very sight of the place. While that may seem beneficial to families, consider the security concerns at the jail should a prison escape and those trees afford a screen.
Let’s leave that on the table for a moment.
At the jail are, on daily average, about 260 fairly able-boded souls sitting around waiting for their moment of freedom to arrive. Not all are killers, rapists and altogether bad folks. I would bet a copy of this week’s Herald that a few might even be military veterans.
Here’s a proposal: Determine which inmates are not likely to take flight, (those nearing the end of their sentences). Then, (so as not to tread upon their legal rights), ask them to volunteer to spend their day(s) over at the cemetery doing maintenance work, weeding, trimming. If they refuse, they sit in their cell. If they agree, they get out in the fresh air and provide useful work that really needs to be done.
Veterans, incarcerated or not, remain a band of brothers. I would think at least of few would be willing to serve their fallen comrades by helping keep their graves in splendid military condition.
Carried a step further, perhaps a local veterans’ organization might offer those folks who volunteer to work at the cemetery a free bag lunch and a little comradeship. Who knows, it could be a useful part of an inmate’s rehabilitation.
I asked Sheriff Gary Schaffer about this earlier this year, and he said there are members of the SLAP program who do work at the cemetery. There are considerations how long they can work etc., which is why I offer the work proposal.
Given an ample supply of free labor, under the guidance of a county overseer, a corrections officer perhaps, and a supervisor from Facilities and Services to initiate the direction the work would take, concerns of those widows could be put to rest.
If we cannot use prisoners, although I cannot understand why not especially if they volunteer, are there not other willing veteran volunteers to help maintain the cemetery?
There are surely vets with free time who would look at continued service to their departed brothers and sisters graves as part of their patriotic duty. No special training is needed to maintain grass, pull weeds and other simple chores that would help maintain this final resting place of nearly 5,000 Cape May County veterans.
There are volunteers in the zoo, at the Wetlands Institute and with Literacy Volunteers who teach reading to adults. In places where money might be lacking and assistance is needed, volunteers seem willing to step in and step up.
The county Veterans’ Cemetery is not a problem for one person to solve. To be sure, there is a problem that needs to be addressed, and it will be. I am sure that. If opened to suggestions from families of those with loved ones interred at the cemetery and to veterans themselves, a solution will be found.
The community will unite and a heritage will be proudly kept.
The Veterans’ Cemetery ought to be maintained in the fashion of a national veterans’ cemetery. It becomes the focal point of county attention on Veterans Day and Memorial Day. A freshly placed flag decorates each grave, the overall appearance of them is awe-inspiring. It ought to be so when every widow or widower visits the grave of a loved one.
Given potential manpower that exists in this county, that does not seem an unreasonable goal to seek.