2500 6th Ave., Unit 803, San Diego, CA 92103
1-619-239-3328

Miramar National Cemetery Support Foundation

A final tribute to the Veterans of our Armed Services who gave their all.

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WWII POW Ralph F. Kling Has Died, Age 95; Led Effort for POW Monument at Miramar National Cemetery

Ralph Kling, center, celebrates dedication of the POW Monument in September 2011 with Frank Burger, right, commander of the AXPOW San Diego chapter; and Sculptor Richard Becker of Poway, left, who created the statue.

Ralph F. Kling, a
fighter pilot who was shot down and captured by the Germans during World War
II, died at his home 28 March 2020, at age 95. 
Kling, vice commander of American Ex-Prisoners of War San Diego Chapter
1, led the effort to place the POW Monument at Miramar National Cemetery.

Entitled
“Liberation”, the 12-foot bronze statue of an emaciated man in rags surrounded
by barbed wire, represents the moment a POW [Continue Reading]

https://miramarcemetery.org/news/ralph-kling/

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COVID-19 Measures: A message from Jared Howard, Director Fort Rosecrans and Miramar National Cemeteries:

You are all an important part of what we do at VA National Cemeteries to ensure proper tribute to Veterans being laid to eternal rest. These are unprecedented times and we are doing our best to navigate them.  Recently, a family that has a scheduled interment at Miramar National Cemetery was affected by inaccurate information regarding the current service options available at the national cemeteries. This was truly unfortunate and can be avoided with your help as we are all working towards the same goal.

Below are our current burial options available at national cemeteries. Please take the time to familiarize yourself with them and please disseminate this [Continue Reading]

https://miramarcemetery.org/news/special-message/

DFC Society Memorial

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Support Foundation President and CEO Charlie Inot, dedication master of ceremonies, said DFC recipients “represent a diversity of backgrounds, ethnicity, military rank, and gender.”

Distinguished Flying Cross Society Memorial

A commemoration and a celebration

It
was a commemoration and a celebration. 
The dedication at Miramar National Cemetery, March 7, of a memorial to
recipients of The Distinguished Flying Cross, and a celebration of the 100th
birthday of one of its oldest living recipients, retired Air Force Brig. Gen.
Robert L. Cardenas.

Keynote
speaker Dennis A. Schoville, who was awarded the DFC and two Silver Stars,
among many other awards for his service as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam,
paused his remarks while some 75 veterans of the San Diego Lindbergh Chapter of
The Distinguished Flying Cross Society, active duty officers, and family
members [Continue Reading]

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Galen Seal, Original Foundation Board Member,

Laid to Rest at Miramar National Cemetery

Pallbearers move Colonel Seal’s casket into the memorial shelter.

(Dec. 10, 2019)  Galen E. Seal, Jr., an original member of the
Miramar National Cemetery Support Foundation, was laid to rest, today,
following a family interment service at Miramar National Cemetery.  Seal, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, is
buried in Section 15, Grave 74, adjacent to the Flag Assembly area. 

Seal served as chairman of
the Support Foundations’ Memorials Committee, coordinating with four veteran’s
organizations – the Special Forces Association, Jewish War Veterans, Navy Nurse
Corps Association, and the Chosin Few – to place the first commemorative
monuments on the cemetery’s Memorial Walk in 2013.  

A U.S. Air Force honor guard fires a rifle salute [Continue Reading]

https://miramarcemetery.org/news/galen-seal-obituary/

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Support Foundation Chairman Dennis Schoville, former Army scout helicopter pilot, introduces former Army Pfc. Steve Brown, a helo air crewman who was instrumental in saving Schoville’s life when he was shot down and wounded during combat in Vietnam on Veterans Day 1969.

Veterans Day Service
Reunites Two Vietnam Veterans;

Pilot Shot Down
November 11, 1969, Rescued by Comrade

(Nov. 11, 2019) Two old soldiers were reunited on Veterans Day at Miramar National Cemetery. Vietnam veterans Dennis Schoville and Steve Brown are linked by a near tragedy that could have killed them both.  The date: Nov. 11, 1969 – 50 years ago to the day.

Vietnam veterans Steve Brown and Dennis Schoville.

When 1st Lt. Schoville, pilot
of an Army scout helicopter, was shot down [Continue Reading]

https://miramarcemetery.org/news/vet-day-ceremony-2019/

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DISABLED VETERAN AND RACE CAR DRIVER DUANE NORMANTO SPEAK AT VETERANS’ DAY SERVICE, NOVEMBER 11

Service will pay special tribute to
Vietnam Era veterans

Duane Norman

Retired Air Force Reservist Duane
Norman of Ramona, a disabled veteran and race car driver, will be the featured
speaker at the Veterans’ Day Service scheduled at 3:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 11,
at Miramar National Cemetery. 

The Miramar National Cemetery Support
Foundation will sponsor the fourth annual Veterans’ Day Service, which will pay
special tribute to Vietnam Era veterans. 
The service will be held in the cemetery’s Flag Assembly Area at the
eastern end of the Avenue of Flags.  Veterans,
active-duty, their family members, and the public are invited.  Parking will be available along cemetery
streets.

Norman,
68, is a quadriplegic, having fractured his neck in [Continue Reading]

https://miramarcemetery.org/news/duane-norman/

New Director for Fort Rosecrans, Miramar National Cemeteries

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Jared D. Howard

Santa Fe National Cemetery Director Jared D. Howard Named Director of Fort Rosecrans, Miramar National Cemeteries 

 

Jared D. Howard, former director of Santa Fe National Cemetery, has been named director of the Fort Rosecrans and Miramar National Cemeteries, effective Sept. 29, 2019.  He will be responsible for all burial, maintenance, and administrative operations at both facilities.

Howard served as director of the Santa Fe cemetery from August 2017, and as the assistant director of that facility from August 2016.  He also oversaw all operations at Fort Bayard National Cemetery in Silver City, N.M.

Howard is a graduate of the National Cemetery Administration’s yearlong Cemetery Director Intern Program.  He joined NCA in November 2010 as a cemetery caretaker at the [Continue Reading]

Virtual Gala 2019

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Foundation Kicks Off 2019 Virtual Gala to benefit Miramar National Cemetery

Click Image to go to Gala website

(July 1, 2019)  With the success of fund drives for the
unique Avenue of Flags, the Veterans Tribute Tower & Carillon, and other
projects, the Miramar National Cemetery Support Foundation is dedicating its
2019 Virtual Gala – launched July 1 –
toward donations for construction of a large amphitheater at Miramar National
Cemetery.

The amphitheater,
planned for the Flag Circle – the focal point of the cemetery – will include
permanent seating for audiences attending the Veterans Memorial Service,
Veterans’ Day ceremony, Wreaths Across America, and other events.

“The amphitheater
will be the largest, and most costly, undertaking the Foundation has made to
enhance the cemetery,” says Sallay Kim, Foundation Vice-President and chair of
the fourth annual [Continue Reading]

Memorial Day Service 2019

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Miramar Memorial Service Marks 75th Anniversary of D-Day, Pacific Battles

‘Determination, fighting spirit of American soldiers’

Corporal James Dawson plays “Taps” at the conclusion of the Veterans Memorial Service, May 26, at Miramar National Cemetery.

(May 26, 2019) With the 75th Anniversary of the World War II invasion of Normandy to be observed in June, the Veterans Memorial Service at Miramar National Cemetery was dedicated to remembrance of D-Day veterans, as well as to veterans of battles fought during June 1944 in the Pacific.

On June 6, 1944, said Sallay Kim, Vice-President of the Miramar National Cemetery Support Foundation, which sponsors the annual service, 132,000 Allied soldiers landed on the beaches of Northern France. It was the largest invasion in [Continue Reading]

Memorial Day Service 2019

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VETERANS MEMORIAL SERVICE SET FOR 1 P.M., MAY 26

MIRAMAR NATIONAL CEMETERY

MCAS Commander, VA Executive, San Diego Veteran of the Year

Are Featured Speakers

Colonel Charles B. Dockery, USMC
Commanding Officer
Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar

Colonel Charles B. Dockery, Commanding Officer of Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, will be the featured speaker at the Veterans Memorial Service scheduled at 1 p.m., Sunday, May 26, at Miramar National Cemetery.

Joining Dockery on the podium will be Brian Alvin, Chief of Operations, Pacific District, National Cemetery Administration; and the San Diego County Veteran of the Year, Master Sergeant Matthew Foster, USMC Retired.

The Miramar National Cemetery Support Foundation will sponsor the eighth annual Veterans Memorial Service. The 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band will perform. Singing [Continue Reading]