WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike and his wife, Karen, joined several dozen volunteers to give the Vietnam Veterans Memorial a holiday cleaning.

Carrying orange buckets with the message “Let’s Do This,” the Pences spent about 40 minutes Saturday wiping down the face of the famous wall on the National Mall engraved with the names of fallen soldiers.

The vice president shook hands and posed for photos with the volunteers in subfreezing temperatures just after dawn, declaring: “This is a great way to start Veterans Day!”

The cleanup was sponsored by the New Day USA, a mortgage companies specializing in loans to veterans.

The group was joined by James Pierce, a National Park Service ranger who lost a leg while serving with the North Carolina Army National Guard in Afghanistan.