Glenn praises man who meticulously restores veterans' gravestones: 'You've started something really amazing'

May 27, 2019

WRITER

Andrew Lumish is known as the “The Good Cemeterian” for meticulously cleaning and restoring the gravestones of veterans. He joined Glenn on radio Friday to share his story.

A photographer in his spare time, Lumish came across headstones dating as far back as the Civil War, and was astonished to see the beautiful old gravestones were covered with dirt, mold and other grime.

“It kind of infuriated me,” he said. “I was really upset by it.”

He decided to learn how to clean gravestones properly, and his labor of love took off. He has since been honored by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

John Newton Dugger was born more than 141 years ago on June 2nd 1876 when Ulysses S Grant's occupied the Oval Office as the 18th President of the United States... ▪▪▪ Interesting events that occurred during Mr. Duggers birth year included... •• On March 7th 1876... Alexander Graham Bell is granted a patent for his new invention... He calls it the "Telephone" •• On June 25th... The Battle of Little Bighorn takes place... 300 men of the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment led by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer are wiped out by 5000 Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes lead by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse... •• On August 1st 1876 Colorado is admitted as the 38th state in the Union... John and his Mother Martha lived with Martha's Brother Newton Dugger in Hillsborough County, Florida…John’s uncle served with the Confederate States Army in Company 57 Georgia Infantry during the Civil War… On August 1st 1883, Uncle Newton was granted 159 acres of land in return for his military service which he utilized for general farming as a source of income… John Newton Dugger passed away on August 23rd 1895... He was just 19 years old... John Newton Dugger... Before & After... #veteran #army #military #tampa #tampabay #bayarea #florida #history #historic #picture:#confederatestatesarmy #civilwar #soldier #military #cemetery #monument #tombstone #gravestone #graveyard_life #photography #picture #before&after

A post shared by The Good Cemeterian (@thegoodcemeterian) on Jul 17, 2017 at 3:33pm PDT

With each restoration, Lumish has uncovered the story behind headstone --- which is the reason Glenn wanted to talk to him.

"You said one phrase that just sounded like it was twice as loud as anything else. You said, 'I'm uncovering history.'" Glenn said

Initially cautious about telling these personal stories, Lumish ultimately decided it was the right thing to do.

“Nothing's a flat road. Nothing goes in a straight line. So early on I decided we're going to tell their story, but tell it in their entirety, ” Lumish said.

For now, Lumish's work can be seen on social media, but Glenn had a gut feeling that might change soon.

"I just have this feeling that what you're doing is way beyond anything that you might even understand at this point. You've started something really, really amazing," Glenn said.

GLENN: I saw a story about a guy named Andrew Lumish. He was featured on NBC news. A 46-year-old guy from Tampa, Florida, who happened to see the grave stones in a Tampa cemetery of these heroes.

And they were all falling part. I mean, you could imagine, you know, the mildew and the mold and the stains and everything else just from, you know, the weather in Tampa for all of those years. So he went out by himself and just started cleaning these monuments and cleaning these, you know, cemetery markers. He's now cleaned over 500 monuments. And he's a guy who's never served in the military.

And what I liked about this, it wasn't some guy going out and doing something that I promise you at some point they're going to shut him down because of some environmental reason or some stupid thing like that. But what I liked about him was the fact that he understood and was connecting with history because of this. And I think there's something really cool about this.

We wanted to get him on the phone. Andrew Lumish from Tampa, Florida, welcome to the program, sir. How are you?

ANDREW: I'm well. Glenn, thank you so much for having me this morning. I really appreciate the opportunity to speak to you.

GLENN: I'm thrilled. I saw your story a couple of days ago when it came out. First of all, explain how you got into it, and what you're doing, and what you've discovered.

ANDREW: Okay. Well, it's kind of multifaceted. Initially, there's obvious reasons and there's some reasons that are personal.

Part of it was, I love photography. And I photograph everything. I ended up stumbling upon a very old cemetery that is opened in 1850 in downtown Tampa, oldest cemetery in the area, and it was beautiful so I began to photograph it. And we went to a second cemetery, and I noticed the pure beauty of it, but something caught my eye, and it was the incredibly poor condition of monuments of heroes that served in every conflict from the Mexican wars to the Civil War to the Spanish-American War and up until World War II and Vietnam.

And I saw how terrible they were, and immediately it kind of infuriated me.

I was really upset by it. And so what I did, I began to research how to properly restore the monuments that are marble and granite and sandstone and every type of material, and I learned how to restore the monuments properly in the same way that they are restored in our national cemeteries, including Arlington. So I began to, on my day off, go to some of the historic cemeteries and restore some monuments, and that's how it began.

GLENN: Okay. So Andrew, a couple of things. First, I'm ashamed to say this but my first thought, when I saw this, was: How come he hasn't been stopped yet? And I don't mean because you're doing something wrong. There's got to be somebody out there in the government who can find something wrong with what you're doing.

Have you gotten any pushback at all?

ANDREW: None whatsoever.

GLENN: That's amazing.

ANDREW: I've been honored by the Department of veterans affairs because my story has gone viral several times, and they kind of piggybacked a little bit, because they share my story and what I do.

I've been honored by Governor Rick Scott at the state capital. I was invited, and my assistant and I, we had dinner at the Governor's mansion after receiving a wonderful volunteer award from Governor Scott and the Florida cabinet. And this week I was actually honored by all the Hillsboro County commissioners and the ceremony in downtown Tampa as well. So no pushback at all.

GLENN: So the thing that really drove me to get you on the phone was one -- do you listen to my program at all? Or do you know who am I call?

ANDREW: Yes.

GLENN: I don't mean "do you know who I am," I mean have you followed at all -- I'm really into history. And you said --

ANDREW: Yes, I do know that.

GLENN: You said one phrase that just sounded like it was twice as loud as anything else. You said, "I'm uncovering history."

ANDREW: Well, initially, I told you earlier, initially it became just the restorations themselves. But it has evolved, and what I decided to do was, I have a wonderful assistant who helps me with research because I'm very busy. She helps me fill in the blanks.

What we do now, we've used different resources, online, genealogy resources, libraries, and we are able to go back in time. It's 2017, so when we really fortunate that we can do the things that we do. So we're able to look at entire person's life. So not only will you see the before, what it looked like before, the terrible condition that the monuments were in before, but you'll see the after picture of the monument, but we tell their entire life story from the day they're born until their final day here on earth. We talked about all their achievement, accomplishments. I will say, I was somewhat torn, because sometimes you uncover some things that may not be particularly flattering.

But I was torn as to whether or not when we're telling these stories about these heroes whether we should talk about it, and we all have bumpy roads.

GLENN: Yeah.

ANDREW: Nothing's a flat road. Nothing goes in a straight line. So early on I decided we're going to tell their story but tell it in their entirety. We will talk about the nature --

GLENN: Good for you.

ANDREW: We put it in perspective.

GLENN: What was the thing that made you -- what did you stumble on -- I don't have to tell me the name of the person but what did you stumble across you were like, oh, man. What was it?

ANDREW: Well, there's a catalyst to all this as well. I did serve. However, I have friends who have served.

I also have a wonderful assistant, and he was 12 years in the military, and I was his confidante in a lot of ways, and unbeknownst to me, I really don't talk about this much. But I'm beginning to open up about it a little bit more.

He was a great guy. Super social. Wonderful guy. 12 years, he was still a reservist, he worked with me, on my team, and one day he just told me what he was going to do his entire weekend, and he went -- he told me everything, and then I texted him on a Sunday to let him know what his schedule was for Monday.

Well, a long story short, he had PTSD, and he took his life.

And when I do these restorations, and I had no idea. It was a complete and utter shock to me. When I do these restorations, I think of him. Not only do I tell the stories and complete these restorations, but he is always, always by my side. Because I don't want him to be forgotten either. It's very important.

GLENN: What was his name, Andrew?

ANDREW: Christopher Scott.

GLENN: Tell me about the World War I veteran who died on the USS Tampa. A German submarine attack.

ANDREW: Incredible story. 18 years old. Lewis Franklin Vaughn, at the age of 18, he ended up being, you know, in the Navy, essentially. And he served on the USS Tampa. By 1918, the war was coming to a close. And Germany was getting desperate. So all they had left, essentially, were submarine forces. And they were not going by rules of engagement, and they were submarining all ships going into England and London. They were torpedoing just supply ships that would be able to supply the United Kingdom.

So the USS Tampa, what their job was at the time was escort these supply ships to London and all open the UK to make sure that they were safe. On September 26, 1988, the German torpedo killed everyone on board. So Lewis Franklin Vaughn died on that day, but the interesting thing, and the personal thing on Mr. Vaughn, or young Mr. Vaughn was that before he chose to join the military to serve his country, he had three sisters. None of them lived to be beyond 14 months old. And I can imagine the conversation he had with his parents sitting at the table in his home, and they already lost all of their children. He's the only one who survived, and then he was killed by the Germans near the end, near the close of the first world war in September of 1918.

GLENN: Is there anything -- have you thought about -- do you, A, do the research on the person prior to, or after, or while you're cleaning the headstone?

ANDREW: It's a combination of all of the above. It all depends on the circumstances. It's a combination. You know, it depends on the circumstances. Every situation has its own set of circumstances.

Occasionally I will take students with me, high school students who love to go and I'll have them step back in the footsteps. And it's always good to know the history of the person and the events of that.

So I'll have them stand in the -- descendants who would have stood there at the funeral, and we talk about what the world was like, what the United States was when they were alive and when they die.

And what's great, you get the bad raps on the Millennials. The attention and love that these high school kids have, from different backgrounds -- you know what it's like in Tampa. It's muddy. It's wet. And they don't mind. They sweat. They get out there, and they have a great time and they learn a history lesson.

So the negativity about Millennials. But my experience, my own son, about to turn 21, it's been fantastic. It's been a great experience. And not just for them. It's therapeutic for me as well.

GLENN: Andrew, do you have a website? What's your website?

ANDREW: Well, we're working on it. We're building a website right now. It's going to be the goodcemeterian.com and the goodcemeterian.org, but right now we do most of everything on social media. The Facebook page is called the Good Cemeterian. It's a very interactive Facebook page. We have wonderful interaction from all over the world.

But the websites will be up and running in the next month or so. We also have a nonprofit, and we help organizations all across the -- locally for the most part now, but we vet military organizations that do good, especially for those who came home, and then they need that help. I always think of Chris in these moments.

So what we do is we -- we help support different organizations, so that they can achieve the goals that they want so they can make the lives of those who served our country much more pleasant and much more adaptable once getting home.

GLENN: Andrew Lumish, a guy who was a photographer, who started something that is now becoming a life passion, and I think Andrew is -- I just have this feeling that what you're doing is way beyond anything that you might even understand at this point.

You've started something really, really amazing. Thank you so much, Andrew. Appreciate it.

ANDREW: Thank you for having me this morning, Glenn. I do appreciate it, and thank you again, and thank you to all the men and women who serve our country. You are not forgotten. You are so important to the fabric of our society today, and we will continue doing what we do to support you.

GLENN: God bless you, Andrew, thank you very much. I hope so actually shake your hand sometime.

PAT: Great.

GLENN: Andrew Lumish.

STU: Fantastic. Just doing something outside in Tampa this time of year is a service to your country.

GLENN: Oh, yeah. Just walking from your front door to your car. I'm pretty brave and heroic. I went to work once this week.

STU: Just the once.

GLENN: I left my house, got into the car. I made it to the parking lot and I thought, I have we get out of the car and walk in, and we don't have, you know, air conditioned parking.

So I was at work technically, kind of.

STU: And here's your Purple Heart.

GLENN: What an amazing story.

Breaking point: Will America stand up to the mob?

Jeff J Mitchell / Staff | Getty Images

The mob rises where men of courage fall silent. The lesson from Portland, Chicago, and other blue cities is simple: Appeasing radicals doesn’t buy peace — it only rents humiliation.

Parts of America, like Portland and Chicago, now resemble occupied territory. Progressive city governments have surrendered control to street militias, leaving citizens, journalists, and even federal officers to face violent anarchists without protection.

Take Portland, where Antifa has terrorized the city for more than 100 consecutive nights. Federal officers trying to keep order face nightly assaults while local officials do nothing. Independent journalists, such as Nick Sortor, have even been arrested for documenting the chaos. Sortor and Blaze News reporter Julio Rosas later testified at the White House about Antifa’s violence — testimony that corporate media outlets buried.

Antifa is organized, funded, and emboldened.

Chicago offers the same grim picture. Federal agents have been stalked, ambushed, and denied backup from local police while under siege from mobs. Calls for help went unanswered, putting lives in danger. This is more than disorder; it is open defiance of federal authority and a violation of the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

A history of violence

For years, the legacy media and left-wing think tanks have portrayed Antifa as “decentralized” and “leaderless.” The opposite is true. Antifa is organized, disciplined, and well-funded. Groups like Rose City Antifa in Oregon, the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club in Texas, and Jane’s Revenge operate as coordinated street militias. Legal fronts such as the National Lawyers Guild provide protection, while crowdfunding networks and international supporters funnel money directly to the movement.

The claim that Antifa lacks structure is a convenient myth — one that’s cost Americans dearly.

History reminds us what happens when mobs go unchecked. The French Revolution, Weimar Germany, Mao’s Red Guards — every one began with chaos on the streets. But it wasn’t random. Today’s radicals follow the same playbook: Exploit disorder, intimidate opponents, and seize moral power while the state looks away.

Dismember the dragon

The Trump administration’s decision to designate Antifa a domestic terrorist organization was long overdue. The label finally acknowledged what citizens already knew: Antifa functions as a militant enterprise, recruiting and radicalizing youth for coordinated violence nationwide.

But naming the threat isn’t enough. The movement’s financiers, organizers, and enablers must also face justice. Every dollar that funds Antifa’s destruction should be traced, seized, and exposed.

AFP Contributor / Contributor | Getty Images

This fight transcends party lines. It’s not about left versus right; it’s about civilization versus anarchy. When politicians and judges excuse or ignore mob violence, they imperil the republic itself. Americans must reject silence and cowardice while street militias operate with impunity.

Antifa is organized, funded, and emboldened. The violence in Portland and Chicago is deliberate, not spontaneous. If America fails to confront it decisively, the price won’t just be broken cities — it will be the erosion of the republic itself.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

URGENT: Supreme Court case could redefine religious liberty

Drew Angerer / Staff | Getty Images

The state is effectively silencing professionals who dare speak truths about gender and sexuality, redefining faith-guided speech as illegal.

This week, free speech is once again on the line before the U.S. Supreme Court. At stake is whether Americans still have the right to talk about faith, morality, and truth in their private practice without the government’s permission.

The case comes out of Colorado, where lawmakers in 2019 passed a ban on what they call “conversion therapy.” The law prohibits licensed counselors from trying to change a minor’s gender identity or sexual orientation, including their behaviors or gender expression. The law specifically targets Christian counselors who serve clients attempting to overcome gender dysphoria and not fall prey to the transgender ideology.

The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The law does include one convenient exception. Counselors are free to “assist” a person who wants to transition genders but not someone who wants to affirm their biological sex. In other words, you can help a child move in one direction — one that is in line with the state’s progressive ideology — but not the other.

Think about that for a moment. The state is saying that a counselor can’t even discuss changing behavior with a client. Isn’t that the whole point of counseling?

One‑sided freedom

Kaley Chiles, a licensed professional counselor in Colorado Springs, has been one of the victims of this blatant attack on the First Amendment. Chiles has dedicated her practice to helping clients dealing with addiction, trauma, sexuality struggles, and gender dysphoria. She’s also a Christian who serves patients seeking guidance rooted in biblical teaching.

Before 2019, she could counsel minors according to her faith. She could talk about biblical morality, identity, and the path to wholeness. When the state outlawed that speech, she stopped. She followed the law — and then she sued.

Her case, Chiles v. Salazar, is now before the Supreme Court. Justices heard oral arguments on Tuesday. The question: Is counseling a form of speech or merely a government‑regulated service?

If the court rules the wrong way, it won’t just silence therapists. It could muzzle pastors, teachers, parents — anyone who believes in truth grounded in something higher than the state.

Censored belief

I believe marriage between a man and a woman is ordained by God. I believe that family — mother, father, child — is central to His design for humanity.

I believe that men and women are created in God’s image, with divine purpose and eternal worth. Gender isn’t an accessory; it’s part of who we are.

I believe the command to “be fruitful and multiply” still stands, that the power to create life is sacred, and that it belongs within marriage between a man and a woman.

And I believe that when we abandon these principles — when we treat sex as recreation, when we dissolve families, when we forget our vows — society fractures.

Are those statements controversial now? Maybe. But if this case goes against Chiles, those statements and others could soon be illegal to say aloud in public.

Faith on trial

In Colorado today, a counselor cannot sit down with a 15‑year‑old who’s struggling with gender identity and say, “You were made in God’s image, and He does not make mistakes.” That is now considered hate speech.

That’s the “freedom” the modern left is offering — freedom to affirm, but never to question. Freedom to comply, but never to dissent. The same movement that claims to champion tolerance now demands silence from anyone who disagrees. The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The real test

No matter what happens at the Supreme Court, we cannot stop speaking the truth. These beliefs aren’t political slogans. For me, they are the product of years of wrestling, searching, and learning through pain and grace what actually leads to peace. For us, they are the fundamental principles that lead to a flourishing life. We cannot balk at standing for truth.

Maybe that’s why God allows these moments — moments when believers are pushed to the wall. They force us to ask hard questions: What is true? What is worth standing for? What is worth dying for — and living for?

If we answer those questions honestly, we’ll find not just truth, but freedom.

The state doesn’t grant real freedom — and it certainly isn’t defined by Colorado legislators. Real freedom comes from God. And the day we forget that, the First Amendment will mean nothing at all.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck joins Megyn Kelly LIVE — One night ONLY in Fort Worth!

Get ready for sparks to fly. For the first time in years, Glenn will come face-to-face with Megyn Kelly — and this time, he’s the one in the hot seat. On October 25, 2025, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, Glenn joins Megyn on her “Megyn Kelly Live Tour” for a no-holds-barred conversation that promises laughs, surprises, and maybe even a few uncomfortable questions.

What will happen when two of America’s sharpest voices collide under the spotlight? Will Glenn finally reveal the major announcement he’s been teasing on the radio for weeks? You’ll have to be there to find out.

This promises to be more than just an interview — it’s a live showdown packed with wit, honesty, and the kind of energy you can only feel if you are in the room. Tickets are selling fast, so don’t miss your chance to see Glenn like you’ve never seen him before.

Get your tickets NOW at www.MegynKelly.com before they’re gone!

What our response to Israel reveals about us

JOSEPH PREZIOSO / Contributor | Getty Images

I have been honored to receive the Defender of Israel Award from Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The Jerusalem Post recently named me one of the strongest Christian voices in support of Israel.

And yet, my support is not blind loyalty. It’s not a rubber stamp for any government or policy. I support Israel because I believe it is my duty — first as a Christian, but even if I weren’t a believer, I would still support her as a man of reason, morality, and common sense.

Because faith isn’t required to understand this: Israel’s existence is not just about one nation’s survival — it is about the survival of Western civilization itself.

It is a lone beacon of shared values in the Middle East. It is a bulwark standing against radical Islam — the same evil that seeks to dismantle our own nation from within.

And my support is not rooted in politics. It is rooted in something simpler and older than politics: a people’s moral and historical right to their homeland, and their right to live in peace.

Israel has that right — and the right to defend herself against those who openly, repeatedly vow her destruction.

Let’s make it personal: if someone told me again and again that they wanted to kill me and my entire family — and then acted on that threat — would I not defend myself? Wouldn’t you? If Hamas were Canada, and we were Israel, and they did to us what Hamas has done to them, there wouldn’t be a single building left standing north of our border. That’s not a question of morality.

That’s just the truth. All people — every people — have a God-given right to protect themselves. And Israel is doing exactly that.

My support for Israel’s right to finish the fight against Hamas comes after eighty years of rejected peace offers and failed two-state solutions. Hamas has never hidden its mission — the eradication of Israel. That’s not a political disagreement.

That’s not a land dispute. That is an annihilationist ideology. And while I do not believe this is America’s war to fight, I do believe — with every fiber of my being — that it is Israel’s right, and moral duty, to defend her people.

Criticism of military tactics is fair. That’s not antisemitism. But denying Israel’s right to exist, or excusing — even celebrating — the barbarity of Hamas? That’s something far darker.

We saw it on October 7th — the face of evil itself. Women and children slaughtered. Babies burned alive. Innocent people raped and dragged through the streets. And now, to see our own fellow citizens march in defense of that evil… that is nothing short of a moral collapse.

If the chants in our streets were, “Hamas, return the hostages — Israel, stop the bombing,” we could have a conversation.

But that’s not what we hear.

What we hear is open sympathy for genocidal hatred. And that is a chasm — not just from decency, but from humanity itself. And here lies the danger: that same hatred is taking root here — in Dearborn, in London, in Paris — not as horror, but as heroism. If we are not vigilant, the enemy Israel faces today will be the enemy the free world faces tomorrow.

This isn’t about politics. It’s about truth. It’s about the courage to call evil by its name and to say “Never again” — and mean it.

And you don’t have to open a Bible to understand this. But if you do — if you are a believer — then this issue cuts even deeper. Because the question becomes: what did God promise, and does He keep His word?

He told Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.” He promised to make Abraham the father of many nations and to give him “the whole land of Canaan.” And though Abraham had other sons, God reaffirmed that promise through Isaac. And then again through Isaac’s son, Jacob — Israel — saying: “The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I give to you and to your descendants after you.”

That’s an everlasting promise.

And from those descendants came a child — born in Bethlehem — who claimed to be the Savior of the world. Jesus never rejected His title as “son of David,” the great King of Israel.

He said plainly that He came “for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And when He returns, Scripture says He will return as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” And where do you think He will go? Back to His homeland — Israel.

Tamir Kalifa / Stringer | Getty Images

And what will He find when He gets there? His brothers — or his brothers’ enemies? Will the roads where He once walked be preserved? Or will they lie in rubble, as Gaza does today? If what He finds looks like the aftermath of October 7th, then tell me — what will be my defense as a Christian?

Some Christians argue that God’s promises to Israel have been transferred exclusively to the Church. I don’t believe that. But even if you do, then ask yourself this: if we’ve inherited the promises, do we not also inherit the land? Can we claim the birthright and then, like Esau, treat it as worthless when the world tries to steal it?

So, when terrorists come to slaughter Israelis simply for living in the land promised to Abraham, will we stand by? Or will we step forward — into the line of fire — and say,

“Take me instead”?

Because this is not just about Israel’s right to exist.

It’s about whether we still know the difference between good and evil.

It’s about whether we still have the courage to stand where God stands.

And if we cannot — if we will not — then maybe the question isn’t whether Israel will survive. Maybe the question is whether we will.

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