THOSE PLACES THURSDAY ~ Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery–San Diego, California

San Diego is a Navy town.  Many military men and women have been stationed here throughout the 20th century and continue to be so today.  Navy ships come and go from our harbor on a regular basis.  We are the home of Miramar Naval Air Base.  Not far up the coast (between here and Los Angeles) we have Camp Pendleton, the Marine base.  Not to mention Coast Guard stations in the area.  Seeing men & women in uniform or military vehicles on our roads is not an unusual sight.

I am honored to live in a city with so much military presence.

One of the places here in San Diego, that honors our military veterans, is Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery.  The location of this cemetery is breathtaking.  A panoramic view of downtown San Diego and the coast line.  The serenity and the awe I have when we visit, are amazing.

 

Why the need for National Cemeteries?  Three words….The Civil War.  Read all about how they began in my post THE CIVIL WAR–HOW OUR COUNTRY DEALT WITH THE AFTERMATH

You can visit the FindAGrave page for Ft. Rosecrans here.

My husband, Ron, has several family members buried at Ft. Rosecrans.

Gordon Charles Hall 1917-1966, his father

Dorothy Beatrice Fink Hall 1913-1993, his mother

Robert Walton Hall 1907-1987, his Uncle

Cornelia K. Cory Hall 1914-1988, his Uncle Bob’s wife

Kenneth Joy Long 1945-2006, his first cousin

Marion Nelson “Bud” Long 1914-2005, his Aunt Honey’s husband

Delphine Irene “Honey” Fink Long 1919-2011, his Aunt

Gordon C. Hall FindAGrave #31821936

Dorothy F. Hall FindAGrave #31822089

Marion N. Long FindAGrave #11857107 and Delphine F. Long FindAGrave #81829475

Kenneth Joy Long FindAGrave #72471018

Robert W. Hall FindAGrave #3404241 and Cornelia K. Hall FindAGrave #3404139

 Ron’s Aunt Honey & Uncle Bud (headstone shown above) have two great grandsons, Jimmy and Sam, who are in the cub/boy scouts.  Each year they go to Ft. Rosecrans with their respective troops and place flags or wreaths on the headstones of those interred there.  Not just family members, but anyone who is buried there. It’s a beautiful site to see all those headstones decorated.
 
There was an article online about the wreaths being placed at Ft. Rosecrans and little Sam’s photo was featured.  Here is a link to that article Wreaths and Respect for Warriors 14 Dec 2010

Here are the boys doing their duty.  Sam isn’t in uniform as I think at the time he was helping his older brother, Jimmy.

Do you have family members who are buried at any of our National Cemeteries.  If so, I’d love to read about them in comments or in your own blog post.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2017   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

CIVIL WAR DEAD AND OUR NATIONAL CEMETERIES

May is a month where we honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice fighting for our rights and freedom.

I wanted to share the information about this documentary with you.  I just watched it this morning, as I had recorded it several days ago.  Here is a link to the site:

The American Experience - Death and the Civil War

This was such an interesting study of how we came to have National Cemeteries in America.  So many of our citizens died on our own soil during this epic struggle that there was chaos over what to do with all the bodies. 

• How do you identify the dead?  There were no dog tags on soldiers back then.
• Do you return them home?
• How do you notify the loved ones?
• What about all those men who cannot be identified?  Where do you bury them?
• Do you just have bodies buried where they lie with no identifier?
• If so, then you have bodies in fields, backyards, alongside roads etc.

These were just some of the questions raised during this long and bloody battle.

How many soldiers did we lose in the Civil War?

Here is a comparison chart I found online with numbers from all the wars since our country began.  None of these numbers are 100% exact as new casualties are always being discovered.  However, you’ll notice that there were approximately 620,000 deaths during the Civil War.  And, all the other wars combined total approximately 644,000.  So, almost as many during the one conflict as all the others combined.

(Click on any image to enlarge it)


 
Our first National cemeteries were established in 1862, as a direct result of the deaths during the Civil War.  Here is a link to a site that gives the dates of the establishment & first burial of all our National cemeteries.

Dept. of Veterans Affairs - National Cemetery Administration

Here is the first page from that website.


 
My husband has many family members who are buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery here in San Diego, California.  Among them are his Mom, Dad, Uncles, Aunt and Cousin.

Here are some photos, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

We’ve gone from this:



To this:
















 










And finally, to this:



Do you have family members buried in our National cemeteries?  I can’t imagine that there is anyone reading this who doesn’t. 

Watching this documentary was very educational for me.  Thanks again to PBS for their wonderful programming.

And, no words can thank any of our military men and women and their families enough for their service and sacrifices. 

OTHER POSTS THAT YOU MAY ENJOY
Cemetery Records - What can they tell you?  How do you use them?
Surprise - A Birth Record Where it Wasn't Supposed to Be


Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION