An Army honor guard conducts a flag-folding ceremony during the committal service for former Army Lt. George Key.

Two Notable WWII Veterans Now at Rest at Miramar National Cemetery

Fought in Key Battles in the Pacific and in Europe

(Sept. 27, 2021) Two World War II veterans with remarkable backgrounds—a Marine officer who fought on Iwo Jima, and an Army officer with an historic ancestor—were buried in September at Miramar National Cemetery, and now lie at rest among their fellow veterans.

Retired Marine Colonel Dave E. Severance, 102, was buried at Miramar on Sept. 15. As a young captain, he …

Ex-POWs, from left, Jim Kell, Tom Crosby, and Larry Strickland. USS Pueblo crewmen Kell and Strickland were held in North Korea after their ship was captured. Crosby was eight years old when he and his family were interned in a Philippines prison camp by the Japanese.

American Ex-POWs Remember the Hardships of Captivity  

10th Anniversary of POW Monument at Miramar National Cemetery

(Sept. 9, 2021) It was only a small group of ex-prisoners of war who were left to attend the 10th anniversary of the POW monument at Miramar National Cemetery. The black POW flag, flying above the statue of …

Bob Baker, San Diego Businessman, Veteran, Patriot, and Philanthropist Died Sept. 5

(Sept. 8, 2021) Bob Baker, well-known San Diego businessman, veteran, patriot and philanthropist—and major benefactor of the Support Foundation—died Sunday at his home in Rancho Santa Fe. He would have been 90 years old on October 1.

An Army veteran of the Korean War, Baker fought with the 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division at the crucial Battle of Outpost Harry in June 1953. The outpost was a strategic position on a tiny hilltop on the direct route to the South Korean capital of Seoul, some 60 miles …

“The Liberation Moment” by Richard Becker

American Ex-POWS to Mark 10th Anniversary of POW Statue

‘The Liberation Moment’ is a major feature of Miramar National Cemetery

(09/03/2021) The American Ex-Prisoners of War (AXPOW), San Diego Chapter 1, will honor America’s ex-prisoners of war and commemorate the tenth anniversary of the POW statue entitled “The Liberation Moment” during a ceremony set for 11:30 a.m., Thursday, 9 September 2021, at Miramar National Cemetery. 

The event is open to the public. Guests attending will be required to wear a mask in outdoor shared spaces when physical distancing cannot be maintained for unvaccinated individuals, …

Captain (SEAL) Todd Perry said the monument “is primarily dedicated to our active duty teammates killed in action or training.”

UDT/SEAL Monument Dedicated at Miramar National Cemetery

(Click here for KFMB, Ch. 8, report by Reporter Steve Fiorina.)

(27 August 2021) Navy Special Operations veterans and guests gathered at Miramar National Cemetery, today, to dedicate a first-in-the nation monument to the men and women who sacrificed their lives in service to their country as members of UDT/SEAL teams and support units.

Featured speaker Captain (SEAL) Todd Perry, commanding officer of the Center for SEAL and Special Warfare Combatant Craft Crew …

Visitors to Miramar National Cemetery over the next several years can expect to see further development of the grounds and facilities, Director Rex Kern told a group who gathered at the cemetery April 6, 2016, for an Open House.  Improvements also are planned at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.

Bradley Phillips, executive director, Memorial Service Network V, of the National Cemetery Administration (NCA), introduced Kern.  He said Kern had been selected for the San Diego directorship based on his excellent work as director at Port Hudson National Cemetery in Louisiana, and at Los Angeles National Cemetery.

Kern said workers soon will …

March 28, 2016
The Department of Veterans Affairs has named Rex Kern, a U.S. Navy veteran, as the new director of the Fort Rosecrans and Miramar National Cemeteries.  Kern took up his new post on March 7, 2016.  He succeeds Douglas Ledbetter, who was appointed director of Dayton National Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio.

Kern, 56, previously was director of the Los Angeles National Cemetery, where he had served since August 2014.  That cemetery is now closed to first-time burials.  In San Diego, he will lead a staff of 23, and will be responsible for burial, maintenance, and administrative operations of …

Many veterans don’t know they have VA burial benefits, says Rex Kern, the new director of Fort Rosecrans and Miramar National Cemeteries in San Diego.  Neither do many veterans’ families.

But help is only a phone call away, he says.  Staff members at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery (619-553-2084) or at Miramar National Cemetery (858-658-7360) can provide assistance.  Families can schedule the burial of their veteran by calling the VA scheduling office at 800-535-1117.  The office is open seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Central Standard Time.

Help also is available at the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) …

The Miramar National Cemetery Support Foundation has filed a request with the VA’s National Cemetery Administration (NCA) to construct a memorial to America’s veterans. The planned 30-foot tall Veterans Tribute Tower and Carillon will stand on a knoll on the north side of Miramar National Cemetery.

A prominent San Diego-area veteran has made a major contribution toward construction of the Veterans Tribute Tower, which will be unlike any other at a VA-operated cemetery. The Foundation is asking the public’s help to fund the Veterans Tribute Tower’s foundation and memorial plaza, and to finance the perpetual maintenance fund required by the …

Ashes of Medal of Honor recipient will be moved to Miramar Natl Cemetery

As a Union Army cavalryman, Pvt. Charles Schroeter went to battle in a heavy blue wool jacket with gold braid.

His weapons were a saber, a short rifle and — when the situation turned desperate — a revolver.

At least a dozen Civil War enthusiasts will be dressed in the same fashion when Schroeter is laid to rest by the Army at Miramar National Cemetery on Thursday — nearly a century after he died and his ashes were left to languish in an unmarked San Diego crypt.…