Army veteran hopes to clean every grave at Brooksville Cemetery

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. - Army veteran Isaac Bailey Jr. has a lofty goal, to clean every single grave at the Brooksville Cemetery. 

"It just brings great joy doing it," Bailey said. 

Dig deeper:

He's doing it with a 250-gallon water tank. The cemetery provides water. He pressure-washes around 15 graves at a time, spending around five minutes on a grave. Sometimes, more time is needed. 

"Some of them you cannot even read the names on it," Bailey said. 

That's because of a combination of dirt, mold, grass trimmings and simply time. 

What they're saying:

"Motivation is a lot of families not around and did not be able to get here to clean it," Bailey said. "Since they are not here, if I got an opportunity to do it, I just go ahead and do it."

Bailey has already taken care of many family and friends' graves at the cemetery. The 65-year-old says he's returning the favor for taking care of him growing up. 

"They just like family," Bailey said. "I know they would do the same for me."

The backstory:

Bailey has been volunteering his time to clean graves off and on, but in 2019, he went all in. He says he's cleaned much of Spring Hill Cemetery. 

Bailey served for 11 years in the U.S. Army. He says a bad motorcycle accident in January 2018 also helped motivate him. In addition, his grandson is buried at the cemetery. 

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What's next:

Bailey says he'll be finished cleaning graves once he completes the Brooksville Cemetery. Until then, he relishes the quiet. 

"Peace, just like going fishing, peace," Bailey said. "Nobody bothering you, you just come out here and relax, eat, whatever, and take it from there."