NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — While many families visited loved ones at cemeteries on Veterans Day, one Nashville man has made it his mission to ensure veterans who might otherwise go unrecognized receive the same care and attention.
Mickey Baltz has spent nearly five years cleaning veterans' graves at Calvary Cemetery off Lebanon Pike in Nashville. He estimates there are between 600 and 650 veterans' gravesites at the cemetery — and he's already worked his way through 340 of them.
"I walked this whole place and I counted what I thought was a good count on how many there are here," Baltz said.
It started simply enough. Baltz began by cleaning his grandparents' graves on the other side of the cemetery, then turned to YouTube to learn the proper technique for cleaning veterans' headstones.
The work is painstaking. Each grave can take 45 minutes to an hour to clean properly, and some require multiple cleanings.
"Sometimes I clean it maybe three times," Baltz said.
Along the way, Baltz has also placed flags at the gravesites. Because flags need to be replaced periodically, he has put out between 800 and 900 flags in total across the 600 to 650 gravesites.
"Can't be enough flags out here, if you ask me," he said.
For Baltz, the work is about more than just maintenance — it's about gratitude.
"Being thankful for the veterans — I mean, you think about what they gave up to serve the country. It's nothing to come out here for a couple hours, even if it's hot or cold or whatever. It's something I enjoy doing," Baltz said. "It's just powerful, cleaning those and knowing what they did for us."
He has no plans to stop until the job is done.
"I'm gonna get all these done in this cemetery," Baltz said.
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