So Minnesota: Cleaning headstones at Fort Snelling National Cemetery
Fort Snelling National Cemetery is hallowed ground.
Every day, Christian Schwamberger, the cemetery’s grounds and monuments supervisor, takes care of those who served our nation one stone at a time.
“I wanted a way to honor them and be able to give back to them,” Schwamberger said.
Schwamberger is in charge of cleaning nearly 200,000 headstones.
“The goal is to get every headstone cleaned once a year,” Schwamberger said.
Some headstones are power washed and volunteer groups clean others by hand.
“Some are out here a few hours, some others are out here all day,” Schwamberger said.
Schwamberger is a veteran himself, who with his job found a purpose.
“This job really does give my life meaning and I hope that my brothers that I did lose, I hope they see from up above what I’m doing for them,” he said.