Baltimore community honors lives lost in 9/11 attacks by cleaning headstones

On Thursday, as the U.S. marked 24 years since the September 11, 2021, terror attacks, Baltimore neighbors remembered the lives lost by doing good for the community. 

Janice Damon was at the Baltimore National Cemetery Thursday with one person on her mind. 

"My husband was a veteran," she told WJZ. "He passed away 14 years ago from complications from Agent Orange in Vietnam." 

Damon was one of nearly 70 volunteers who spent the day cleaning headstones of fallen veterans in honor of the 24th remembrance of the 9/11 attacks. 

"After 9/11, I think there was a big call to serve or call to honor those who protect us," she said. "So that's why I'm here." 

Damon was joined by Joseph Ashburn, who is a Marine veteran. 

Ashburn was deployed in Turkey when the attacks happened, and said 9/11 helped shape him into the man he is today. 

"If you don't know where you come from, you don't know where you're going," Ashburn said. "All these people out here, they gave it all up for regular American life."

Thursday's volunteer work is a part of the annual Carry the Load event, which brings volunteers to more than 70 national cemeteries to help clean and straighten headstones and beautify the grounds. 

Marine veteran Allen Dudley said it serves as a chance to remember the hardships of war by honoring and remembering those who fought in it. 

"I've been calling their names out to myself, every one, I do," Dudley said. "And the way we're working out here, no tombstone will be left behind. So, that's why I say we have to keep going and no person being left behind out here, it's important that we do it." 

The Baltimore National Cemetery holds similar events throughout the year as a chance to honor veterans, not just on notable days, but every day.