Fort Rosecrans
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San Diego Military Cemetery
Fort Rosecrans is located at the mid-point on the road leading to the Cabrillo National Monument. Access to the cemetery is on both sides of the road and each side offers a different view of San Diego. The harbor view is on the East side of the road and the ocean view is on the west side of the road.
What takes our breath away every time we visit Fort Rosecrans, is the large number of gravestones that mark the sites of fallen soliders. All the veterans' wars are represented and all are marked according to what wars they fought in. Like other military cemeteries in California, the grave stones are lined up perfectly and are uniform in size. As of this year's Memorial Day, 93,000 souls are buried at Fort Rosecrans either in the ground or in the columbariums. Of those, 22 are Medal of Honor recipients. The oldest gravestones date back to the soldiers who died in the Battle of San Pasqual in 1879. According to our local newspaper, the cemetery inters 12-15 bodies every weekday. Full honor burials (with the 21-gun salute) are performed on every hour. If you have time during your sojourn to Cabrillo National Monument, take some time to pay your respects by making a left or a right into Fort Rosecrans.
Fallen Soldier-Iraqi Freedom
Joshua Brent Showalter
(March 18, 1980-August 10, 2004)
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