Spring cleaning starts early for a South Plainfield man who is on a mission to pay tribute to some of New Jersey's bravest.

Dennis Scalera is cleaning up his local cemetery - plot by plot.

"If we lose these, we'll never get them back in the future," Scalera says.

Little by little, Scalera is cleaning up the Holy Redeemer cemetery in South Plainfield, where he has dozens of family members buried, including his father and five uncles - all World War II veterans.

While tending to his uncle's grave last fall, he noticed other veterans' plots were overrun with weeds and barely visible.

"Some of them you'll see the outside perimeters, with just maybe a little bit of their names showing," Scalera says.

Scalera, who says he has tended to hundreds of plots, believes it's a way to honor his loved ones - and all those who fight for our country. In addition, he started to keep a detailed log of which headstones still needed proper medallions.

"They've done us a favor protecting our lives, our loved ones and our country. And something we can never forget is them," he says.