Troop Service Chair Carrie Bauer shows the group how to clean a headstone. (Submitted by T. Koski Photography)

A group of young kids shed tears as did some of the adults supervising them.

The American Heritage Girls and Trail Life Boys Troop Or4629 were preparing for their latest service project, cleaning the headstones of military veterans at Juniper Haven Cemetery and placing flags on the graves. They had just listened to a sobering lesson on the significance of military service and were given a poignant reminder that each veteran headstone represented a life lived and a family full of children, grandchildren and beyond.

“Every single headstone here has a life and a story that goes along with it,” Carrie Bauer, Troop Service Chair, told them. “They all deserve to be honored and respected.”

Bauer is the daughter of a local military veteran, Don Tuter, who passed away in 2021, and serves as activities director for the Prineville Band of Brothers. So, veterans are very near and dear to her heart.

The Christ-based, Christ-centered program performs service projects every month and the local troop was discussing potential projects for the month of May. That was when Bauer had an idea, one that would teach the kids about the meaning behind Memorial Day and how to clean headstones.

“We could talk about what it means to be a veteran, why we take care of the headstones, then say a prayer and thank God for the veterans’ service for our country and also pray for the family and put a flag on their headstone,” Bauer said. “Through the process of making that decision and making the connection, it turned into more than that.”

Bauer joined six other adults and 11 kids on May 10 to complete the brainstormed project. The group first met at The Church on Main Street where the kids lawerned about the meaning behind Memorial Day and what it means to be a volunteer to a veteran.

“I shared with them that all these men and women have gone into service to protect my rights, my freedoms,” she said, adding that the freedoms of her children were protected as well as her children’s children and beyond – “and they don’t even know my name.”

“That was a very emotional moment with the whole group,” she said.

Bauer then stopped at a special headstone. She gave his life history, his military service history and then showed them a picture of the veteran with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The headstone was for her father.

“It was a moving day,” she said.

Each kid teamed up with two adults who taught them how to properly clean headstones. Then, during a four-hour timeframe, the kids cleaned a total of 21 headstones. They also ate MREs to show them what the veterans ate, whether it was a normal day or a special occasion like Thanksgiving or Christmas.

The service project left a strong impression on the group.

“Before we left, the kids were asking when they could come back again,” Bauer said. “We are looking to doing it again.”