HIBBING — This summer in Hibbing’s Maple Hill Cemetery, the headstones of hundreds and hundreds of veterans will be painstakingly cleaned by volunteers with soft brushes and clean cloths.
"Mainly, you just have to really be careful that they're like natural hair bristles on your brushes," said Chris Magnusson. "They have special toothbrushes and, you know, bigger scrub brushes. But they've got to have very specific types of brushes on there, so that you don't damage the headstone."
Magnusson leads the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Committee for Hibbing and Chisholm. Minnesota’s Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program started to connect community resources with service members and military families as part of the Minnesota National Guard. The yellow ribbon is a military tradition that symbolizes support for the troops.
Magnusson and other volunteers — along with members of the National Guard’s 1st Squadron 94th Cavalry — recently spent time in Maple Hill before Memorial Day, learning the proper techniques for cleaning headstones based on National Cemetery guidelines.
She said Beyond the Yellow Ribbon took on the project under the initial suggestion and guidance of Perpetual Care of Minnesota, a Hibbing company that offers services to keep graves well attended.
Magnusson is a Marine Corps veteran herself, and she said ensuring those who gave their lives in service of the country aren’t lost to history is an ongoing effort. This summer’s volunteer headstone cleaning project is another way to give back.
'It's so much a part of our history and our country's history and our community history," she said. " ... And they just gave so much, you know, they paid the ultimate price to ensure that we have the freedoms we have today."
Perpetual Care also recently led efforts to replace a headstone in the cemetery in honor of a World War I soldier killed in action at the age of 22. Cpl. Norman Kenneth Bawks’ grave was marked with a simple and neglected footstone they accidentally stumbled upon.
"It was covered up. It was dirty. It was scratched up," Magnusson said. "And they had immediately recognized — they're both World War history buffs, so they were familiar with the dates that he died and the unit he belonged to.
So they just got interested and started digging more to find out more about his history and his ties to the region here."
Perpetual Care learned that Norman was born in Ontario, Canada, and his family emigrated to the United States between 1895 and 1900. By 1905 when he was 10 years old, they lived in St. Louis County, according to Census records. He married Alphosine Gosselin on April 23, 1918, and shipped out to France by June.
His unit, the 359th Infantry Regiment, went on to participate in the Battle of San-Mee-el and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. On Nov. 6, Norman Bawks was killed in action, one day shy of his 23rd birthday. The Armistice was signed five days later, ending the war.
His body was interred twice before coming to its final resting place in Maple Hill. His wife Alphosine remarried and upon her own death, was laid to rest by Norman’s side.
Perpetual Care was able to acquire a government-furnished veteran headstone for Bawks, who is one of 40 soldiers buried in Maple Hill who were killed in action. And Magnusson and others organized a recent Honor Guard ceremony to commemorate his service, attended by descendants of his widow, with whom Bawks was never able to have children of his own.
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon of Hibbing and Chisholm will be looking for volunteers this summer to join them at the cemetery.
"We're going to set some dates and we're going to work with the United Way here, [which] has a volunteer portal," Magnusson said, "so we can set up some volunteer sign-up and people can come out and, you know, get their toothbrushes out there and help us scrub down some of the stones."
While Memorial Day weekend is thought of as the kickoff to summer and often features barbecues or picnics, Magnusson reminded Americans to set aside time for reflection.
"It is a good time to honor and remember those we've lost, she said. " ... All gave some, and some gave all."
