SANTA FE, N.M. — The ground lies bare and once-green grass has yellowed — seemingly telltale signs of decay. But they actually mark a period of rejuvenation for the Santa Fe National Cemetery.
With more than 50,000 veterans and their significant others buried in the 80-acre plot of land, ongoing respectful renovation is everyday work, according to Cliff Shields, the cemetery's director.
Shields, who served in the army from 1967 to 1970 including in Vietnam, said that last year's renovation focused on the cemetery's northwest section, and this year it's time for the northeast side. He said the goal is to keep the cemetery on par with National Shrine standards, a protocol established by the National Cemetery Administration, a subset of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"It's got everything to do with the honor and dignity of the nation's heroes," Shields said.
Right now the place remains in flux. Huge swathes of yellowing grass stand in stark contrast to green, almost carpet-like sections. Farther down, sections of brown dirt clash with greenery.
But Shields said it's all part of a multipart plan that involves cutting off water to the turf to be replaced, killing it with a chemical agent, and then manually removing it. Afterward, workers roll out huge sections of sod onto the newly fertilized dirt, cutting it in around the gravestones by hand. The crew then adds water and waits for the grass to take.
It's a lengthy process, but Shields said he only has about from April to September to get everything done. He tries to ensure the grass gets a full month's worth of watering before potential October frost causes him to shut down the irrigation system.
The grass came courtesy of a Millennium Grant, money provided by the VA for upkeep of cemeteries across the nation that falls outside of the normal budget. Shields said representatives from the VA verify that the work is needed, and then hire an outside contractor to do the job.
Two separate outside contractors, one being paid through a 2011 grant for $707,000, and the other through a $182,000 grant made this year, are replacing the turf — a constant necessity, Shields said, because of the heat.
"I am so proud of this cemetery because it's by far the most challenging to upkeep," he said, referring to the nation's 130 other national cemeteries. "Though we're probably the greenest spot in all of Santa Fe."
Groundskeeper Joseph Lovato estimated that about 900,000 gallons of well water a week go into keeping the grass alive and green — though extreme heat, as was the case in June, does stress the grass.
Lovato, like Shields, served in the military from 1970 through 1972. He has worked at the cemetery for 30 years. During that time, the sun has tanned his skin a dark brown save for a white strip where his glasses rest.
A lot, he said, has changed since he started work in the 1980s. They used to do more things by hand, instead of using tractors like they do now. He also said that standards as well as equipment have changed.
Now, groundskeepers use digital levels to ensure gravestones stand angled 89 to 90 degrees to the ground. If a stone falls outside this range, a worker puts it back in place with a giant stick known as the "bump stick."
If a stone sinks, however, they pull it out, pour more filler into the hole, or "socket," and then check the level again. All the stones must line up with one another both horizontally and vertically, and if they don't, the bump stick comes back into play.
The process involves lots of measurements, strings and manual labor, but the final product is uncanny. All the stones stand perfectly in line, as though physically held in place by an invisible giant. Lovato said the groundskeepers can straighten up to 500 stones in an hour.
He and his crew also replace old stones, dig new graves and mow grass, though even that's more complex than it seems. The mowing has to meet standards, too — a three-and-a-half inch standard, to be precise.
The list of protocols goes on and on, but every employee learns the skills from the National Cemetery Administration Training Center located in St. Louis. Lovato said he's been to the center, and that all of his workers have been, too. Shields spent a year there.
On Thursday, they worked right through pouring rain. Lovato said they would only go inside if he spotted any lightning.
While summer requires turf renovation and brings rain, Lovato said the hardest season is the winter. The men work outside every day, and during the winter they need jackhammers to break the ground for new graves.
But extreme weather doesn't seem to faze them. The only time they seem to shy away from anything is when visitors come to the cemetery. Lovato told one man who was trimming the grass around headstones to go work another area because family members were around an open grave site.
Even Shields, who lives on the premises, refrains from using his backyard during visitor hours. Lovato said the whole point is to be close to invisible.
"(With) all the work," he said, "we want to look like we weren't even there."
Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.sfnewmexican.com