Almost 80 volunteers cleaned 1,000 headstones Saturday afternoon at the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery, in the second installment of an ongoing effort that began in September.

Members of Boy Scout Troop 99, and Cub Scout Packs 99 and 139 were a big help, said Jim Small, operations manager for the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, which includes the cemetery.

"We're very, very thrilled and touched that so many people came to help," said Lizzie Watts, the site superintendent. Watts, in civilian clothes rather than her customary ranger uniform, also worked.

Six members of the Exchange Club of Greeneville also helped, said John Duggins, the club's president. "Americanism is one of our service project areas," Duggins said, "and next week is Veterans Day."

Marilyn Grigsby, a Greeneville resident, said, "Helping maintain the headstones, some of which date back to the Civil War and even earlier, is a great thing to do, and something to be proud of."

Sally and Merrill Frank drove from Baileyton to help. The Franks said they have become old hands at volunteering since they retired from their hospital jobs in Colorado 10 years ago.

"We volunteer all over the U.S.," said Sally. The couple said they found out about the headstone cleanup on the Internet.

Being able to travel and volunteer at wildlife refuges and National Parks was their retirement dream, she said.

They have volunteered in Hawaii and Alaska, and spent much of the summer at Sawtooth National Park in Idaho, near Sun Valley. Merrill said they earned a small stipend for maintaining a base camp for young people who were working on trails there.

He said National Park stipends vary, from $5 per day to a free pad for their camper trailer.

The Franks said they try to stay where the weather is pleasant. So after visiting their eight children, who are scattered around New England, "We had to get out of the north before it snowed, and we like Tennessee," said Sally Frank.

Several people who helped on National Service Day in September came back Saturday.

Gene Sentelle, a retired U.S. Marine Corps first sergeant who served in the Vietnam and Desert Storm conflicts, told Small he came back for his second cleanup to show his respect for fellow U.S. military service personnel.

Mary Hite, a retired Tusculum College faculty member, said the late Everett Chandler, who was her "wonderful history teacher" at Chuckey-Doak High School and later an interpreter at the Andew Johnson Visitors Center, "is where my patriotism started."

Hite said that helping maintain headstones is "the least I can do" for those buried in the national cemetery.

Small said a biological agent called D-2, which the volunteers used, is supposed to continue to have an effect for a year, and its brightening effect is said to be enhanced by sunlight.

Though most of the headstones are light gray or even white, they are also porous, and can stain, Small said. Acids and sap from trees are a problem. So is the growth of moss, and many of the stones cleaned on Saturday showed moss, often on one side, but also in spots.

Scrubbing with the bacterial agent removed the dirt and growth.

Volunteers first wetted the stones with a hose, then used a spray bottle to apply the D-2.

Everyone involved was provided with gloves and safety glasses, because the agent is a mild irritant to skin and eyes. The workers used large brushes to scrub the stones until they were clean, and then rinsed the stones again with the hose.

It took five to 10 minutes to clean a typical headstone, though some were much cleaner looking to start with than others, and took little time.