You may have heard about a 94-year-old gentleman in Georgia who took his late wife’s photo to lunch. A cell phone snapshot of Clarence Purvis with his “date” went viral last fall. What you don’t know about him, though, is what he does when he visits his wife’s gravesite in Glennville, Georgia.
Clarence noticed that some tombstones and markers looked dingy and untended. Many of the neglected sites seemed to belong to World War II veterans.
“I know by the dates on the markers,” Clarence told me. You see, Clarence can’t read. He dropped out of first grade to work on the family farm. It didn’t stop him from becoming a successful mechanic, but it did keep him from joining the military—something he’d always wanted to do.
Clarence decided to take care of the gravesites of the World War II vets. He takes a spray bottle with a mixture of water and peroxide and a long-handled scrub brush. He sprays the slabs, lets the solution soak in, then scrubs until the markers are shiny once again. He places small American flags next to the graves.
Honoring those who served is his way to serve our country.
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