How to Set and Reset a Government-Issued Veteran's Headstone

Photo: Jason Church, NPS.

Why it matters

The headstones on the graves of America's service members are among the most important memorials we can preserve. The National Cemetery Administration (Department of Veterans Affairs) provides them free to eligible veterans. This guide covers setting, resetting and caring for upright headstones in private cemeteries.

Two rules

1. Get permission first. Always ask the cemetery before working on any grave or memorial. There is no "Good Samaritan" rule in preservation.
2. Never use concrete. Government headstones are meant to be ground-supported. Setting them in concrete ("puddling") or pouring a concrete collar around them doesn't keep them upright. Stones shift with flooding, poor drainage, shifting soil, decaying coffins, burrowing animals, vandalism and freeze–thaw; a ground-supported stone is easy to reset, while one in concrete is more likely to snap at the base, is heavier to move, and can't be freed from its collar without damage.

A stone wrongly set in concrete. Jason Church, NPS.

Two types of headstone

Before April 1941, all were marble; since then, marble or granite. The two types are set at different heights.

Tools of the job. Jason Church, NPS.

Equipment

• tarp
• gloves
• shovel
• tamping iron
• a wooden 2×4 for tamping
• level, post level and line level
• mason's string
• stakes

Safety

• Work with at least two people — for the workers' sake and the stone's; lifting equipment may be needed.
• Wear gloves — cemeteries often hide broken glass.
• Steel-toe boots are recommended when moving stones.

Put removed soil and sod on a tarp. Jason Church, NPS.

Preparing the hole

• 18″ of the headstone goes in the ground; dig a hole a little larger than needed.
• Lay a tarp first for the dirt and sod: it's easier to refill and keeps the cemetery clean.
• Good soil and drainage: add nothing.
• Poor drainage: dig 3″–4″ deeper, add a mix of sand and small sharp gravel, and tamp it, leaving the hole 18″ deep.

Adding sand and sharp gravel where drainage is poor. Jason Church, NPS.

Setting the stone

Double-check:

• the inscription faces the same way as its neighbors, and the face is plumb with them;
• a General headstone stands 24″ above ground, from grade to the top of the arch; Civil War and Spanish-American War stones vary with their length, but 18″ still goes in the ground;
• it's straight both ways — a post level works well.

Post levels make it easy to watch the stones while working. Jason Church, NPS.

A whole row: drive a pipe or stake at each end, pull mason's string tight at 24″ above grade, and check it with a line level, so every stone ends up the same height and evenly spaced.

Backfilling: return the dirt a few inches at a time, tamping it tight. Use only a short wooden 2×4 — never metal near the stone, which will damage it. Check the level every few inches, then replace the sod.

Tamping with wood, so as not to harm the stone. Jason Church, NPS.

Checking the level before backfilling. Jason Church, NPS.

Resetting a stone

• Dig it out first, with great care — never closer than 2″ to the stone; one strike of the shovel can damage it.
• For a badly leaning stone, dig deep enough to tilt it back the opposite way. A sunken stone may need a deep hole.
• Keep digging until the stone moves easily by hand. Forcing it upright while soil or roots still hold it can break it.
• Then set it as above.

Finishing

Clean the stone with a soft, natural-bristle brush, water and D/2 Biological Solution or a similar cleaner.

A Union Civil War to Spanish-American War style stone. Jason Church, NPS.

More examples are in the guide's PDF. Background: the VA's history of government-furnished headstones and markers.

Sources

Based on "Preservation Matters: Cemeteries — Resetting Upright Government-Issued Veteran's Headstones," by Jason Church, Chief of Technical Services, National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT), series editor Kirk A. Cordell, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain. NCPTT is the Park Service's research, technology and training center; its Preservation Matters series gives practical guidance on caring for cultural materials.