If you see an old military grave marker that looks new, chances are it’s because of Tom Pawlak. He’s doing his part to educate others with how to restore grave markers and actively travels the country gathering volunteers to continue the mission. He currently has volunteers in 44 states! His non-profit organization is Mission Restore Bronze.
What’s best about this organization – it’s something anyone can do and implement in their hometown. Check out the YouTube video below or click on the image below if you you’d like to do your part to honor those veterans who served our great nation.
Tom is currently raising funds to restore 1,000 grave markers by Veterans Day. If you’d like to donate funds to help Tom in his journey, you can send money through PayPal to tom.pawlak@yahoo.com or if you can mail a donation to:
Tom Pawlak
Mission Restore Bronze
2978 N. 155th Drive
Goodyear, Arizona 85395
Do It Yourself Instructions (click to enlarge)
How is painting a Bronze headstone with paint and sanding on the letters restoring? I call that defacing a headstone
Robert, it isn’t defacing, it is restoring. Bronze tarnishes and turns green. After the lettering is sanded to remove the green tarnish. Painting the marker simply means just that. VA grave markers have a brown background. After the tarnish is removed and the background is repainted, any paint that was on the bronze lettering is sanded again to remove the paint. Than a varnish or wax is applied to the marker. The instructions shown below the article above explains it all. I am involved with Mission Restore Bronze as a volunteer. I am also a U.S. Army veteran. I have personally restored over 50 markers so far.