intheknow
Final resting place of
209 WARRIORS By JEFF BENZIGER
A
t a spot in western Merced County where the flatness of the San Joaquin Valley gently begins lifting into the soft golden foothills of the western coastal foothills is nestled an expansive carpet of green. Miles from the din of I-5 traffic is the tranquil final resting place of warriors. Some marched on foreign soils with weapon in hand during battle, or parachuted onto European farms and rode on tanks to stop Hitler. Others braved the cold of the Korean Conflict or the intense heat in Afghanistan. Some trudged through the steamy jungles of Vietnam, sailed the high seas or served on the homeland in defense of America. Although the San Joaquin National Cemetery (32053 McCabe Road, Santa Nella) is a fairly recent addition to Central California, as of Aug. 30 it is populated with the caskets and cremains of 47,451 former military personnel or family. An average of five
The Romero Ranch Company donated over 100 acres in 1989 for the first-phase of the cemetery. new burials occur daily, some quietly and others sent off with a 21-gun salute and the playing of taps during military funerals. The cemetery doesn’t get a lot of visitations outside of family members who drop by to visit gravesites of loved ones. Director Frederick Bryant acknowledges that many folks in the 209 are unaware of the cemetery since the grounds are tucked away remotely from view of I-5. Traffic is expected to increase once the cemetery completes a $3 million concrete columbarium
209MAGAZINE.COM
IN THE KNOW - Vet Cemetery.indd 26
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burial plaza with more than 3,500 niches, walkways, and overhead trellis to shield visitors from the sometimes brutal heat. The addition will also have room for 7,000 in-ground cremation spaces. San Joaquin became the ninth national cemetery in California as the next closest one, the San Francisco National Cemetery, filled to capacity. Other national cemeteries in California are Bakersfield, Benicia Arsenal, Fort Rosecrans and Miramar, both in San Diego, Golden Gate in San Bruno, Los Angeles, Riverside and Sacramento. A new national cemetery is opening soon in Alameda at the 624-acre former naval base. The Romero Ranch Company donated over 100 acres in 1989 for the first-phase of the cemetery. To keep the park green, a water pumping station was constructed to tap into the nearby California Aqueduct in 1992. Today the cemetery occupies 300 acres
OC TOBER/NOVEMBER 2021
9/29/2021 11:25:43 AM
