The Detachment of Delaware commander has carried on the project of veteran headstone cleaning and restoration in his hometown and nearby.
Rick Wheatley is the Sons of The American Legion Detachment of Delaware commander, and a project of his is headstone cleaning and restoration. He combined his community service project with the Legion’s USA 250 Challenge and made it his goal to clean 250 veteran headstones.
Since last October, Wheatley has cleaned over 300 veteran headstones in his hometown of Harrington and nearby.
“We don't just clean, we rebuild, we reset and we fix cracked headstones,” said Wheatley, commander of Squadron 7 in Harrington. “I really enjoy it. And the gratification that you get is unbelievable.”
Wheatley has been caring for the headstones of his late parents, which include his father Cyrus, a World War II Purple Heart recipient, along with his dear friend Donald Jenkins, who got him involved in Squadron 7.
“My father has always been my hero,” Wheatley said. “Every time I go to his grave, I say a little prayer, and I just tell him I hope I'm making you proud. I'm doing the best I can.”
The veteran headstone cleaning project is a continuation of immediate past Detachment Commander Chris Reachard. “I've taken what Chris started and tried to make it grow,” Wheatley said, adding that he created a Headstone Cleaning and Restoration Fund for the Detachment of Delaware to help purchase cleaning solution and supplies. And he now has a chairman of the headstone cleaning project for Kent and Sussex County.
“The project has taken on a life of its own,” he said.
Wheatley travels with a spray bottle of Endurance Gravestone & Monument Cleaner so he can make a stop at a cemetery any time. “I enjoy it. I get a lot of satisfaction out of it.” he said.
And next month, he and members of Post 2 in Dover plan to celebrate America’s 250th birthday by cleaning the headstone of Walter L. Fox, the namesake of Post 2 who died from wounds in World War I, as well as Caesar Rodney of Delaware who signed the Declaration of Independence.
When it comes to cleaning the headstones of veterans, “it doesn't matter whether the family knows that I've done it or don't know that I've done it,” Wheatley said. “They just know that it's been cleaned, it's been done.”
There is still time to register for The American Legion’s USA 250 Challenge. Learn more here and register for $30 which benefits The American Legion’s Veterans & Children Foundation. And be a part of the challenge to raise $150,000 for VCF.
- USA250 Challenge