We are cleaning up and old cemetery, and many old these stones are from the Civil War era. As you can imagine, the stones are moss covered, and faded badly. Can anyone suggest a proper way to clean these stones and to read the faded text??? Thank you...

I thought this was appropriate for today. May 28, 2001 If I were king Hey, remember me? Some people call me Old Glory, some call me the Star Spangled Banner and some call me the Stars and Stripes. Doesn't matter - whatever you call me, I am the flag of the United States of America. You'll be seeing a lot of me in the next six weeks - memorial day, Flag Day, the Fourth of July - these are my busiest days of the year. Many flags had flown over this country - the Spanish flag, the flag of France and the British Union Jack just to name a few - before my great grandfather, the 13 Stars and Stripes banner, was officially adopted on June 14, 1777. Our founding fathers spent considerable time and effort in choosing my colors and design. The red represents hardiness and courage. The white is for the purity and innocence of a new nation and the blue signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice. As more states were added to the Union, more stripes and stars were added until, in 1818, Congress passed a law freezing the number of stripes at 13 (for the 13 original colonies) and allowed for one new star to be added for each new state. But I'm not here today to speak to you about history. The real reason I am speaking with you is that something is bothering me - in fact, it is bothering me so much that I thought I might talk it over with you. I remember back some years ago when people would line up five deep on both sides of main street to watch a parade. I was at the very front - leading everyone - proudly waving in the breeze. When your daddy or grandaddy saw me coming, they would immediately remove their hat and place it against their left shoulder so their hand was directly over their heart - do you remember that? And you, I remember, were standing there straight as a little soldier. You didn't have a hat, but that didn't stop you from saluting smartly as I passed. And so did your sister. In fact, everyone did- including your friends and their daddies and grandaddies - do you remember? What happened? I am still the same old flag, but you have somehow changed. Oh, i've added a few more stars since those days and more blood has been shed in my name since those parades of long ago, but somehow I don't feel as proud as I once did. When I come down the street these days, you just stand there with your hands in your pockets. You give me a brief glance and then you look away. The small children that I used to love so much don't even seem to know who or what I am - it's like their daddies never told them. I saw one man remove his hat and place his hand over his heart, but then he looked around self-consciously and quickly put it back on again. When they sing the National Anthem to me at sporting events, most of the crowd acts as if they don't care - they shuffle their feet in impatience - as if they resent this brief delay to the onset of their entertainment. My question to you is this - when did it become out of fashion to be patriotic? Have you forgotten what I stand for - have you forgotten where I've been? Have you forgotten that your daddies, granddaddies, uncles, brothers, and sons shed their blood for me in faraway lands like Normandy, Iwo Jima, Germany, Guadalcanal, Korea and Vietnam! Take a look at any war memorial or the Vietnam Wall and you can see the names of the thousands of patriotic Americans who gave their lives for me - for us - to keep our nation free from those who would oppress us. When you pay respect to me you are paying respect to them. When you salute me you are actually saluting them - and that's what's important. The next time you see me, why not stand a little straighter. Why not show me some respect with a moment of silence. View me not as a piece of brightly colored fabric, but as what I really am - the symbol of the greatest, most powerful, most respected country on the planet. Place your hand over your heart, like in the old days, and I'll know that you do remember and respect me. Or, better yet, salute me - I'll salute you back by waving. That's a promise. http://www.tctimes.com/opinions/king.html Researching Wood, Whitehead, Taylor, Guest, Adkison, Hutchison

I have heard to use vinegar water & I have heard to use baking soda water I have never tried that yet but it sounds to reason ----- Original Message ----- From: <USPatriotism@aol.com> To: <MO-CEMETERIES-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, May 28, 2001 11:12 AM Subject: [MO-CEM] how to clean headstones... > We are cleaning up and old cemetery, and many old these stones are from the > Civil War era. > > As you can imagine, the stones are moss covered, and faded badly. > > Can anyone suggest a proper way to clean these stones and to read the faded > text??? > > Thank you... > > > ==== MO-CEMETERIES Mailing List ==== > Checkout the other lists being watched over by your List Mom; > http://mailing_lists.homestead.com/lists.html > To learn more about my world visit http://dwp.bigplanet.com/kburnett > Vist the Mo-Cemeteries Volunteer and Cemetery List http://www.rootsweb.com/~mocemete/mocem.htm > > ============================== > Search over 1 Billion names at Ancestry.com! > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp > > >