2500 6th Ave., Unit 803, San Diego, CA 92103

Miramar National Cemetery Support Foundation

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

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Retired Navy captain and trailblazer for women’s equality in the service dies at 76

Retired Capt. Kathy Bruyere, a trailblazing Navy sailor, died Sept. 3. She is seen here as a commander. (Courtesy Trent Bruyere)

Editor’s Note: Retired Navy Captain Kathy Bruyere, one of the original volunteer staff members at Miramar National Cemetery, died Sept. 3, in San Diego. Highly respected by all associated with the cemetery, she was a friend and ally of the Miramar National Cemetery Support Foundation.

(The following article was published Sept. 10, 2020, in Navy Times.)

By Diana Stancy Correll

Retired Navy Capt. Kathy Bruyere, a pioneer for women’s equality in the Navy, died Sept. 3 in San Diego following a battle with cancer, [Continue Reading]

https://miramarcemetery.org/news/bruyere/

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Contributions Rolling in for Proposed Amphitheater at Miramar National Cemetery

Contributions toward construction of the Armed Forces Memorial Amphitheater at Miramar National Cemetery are rolling in. The Miramar National Cemetery Support Foundation has received more than $14,000 to date for the project.

The Amphitheater project is estimated to cost between $450,000 and $500,000, including the perpetual maintenance fund required by the Veterans Administration. The project is being coordinated with the VA’s National Cemetery Administration. No federal funds will be used for the project.

Click Here to see more details on the Amphitheater proposal

To contribute, go to the Virtual Gala at https://gala.miramarcemetery.org/,

click on “Donate Now” and follow the prompts, or send a check to: Amphitheater Fund, c/o 2500 6th Ave., [Continue Reading]

https://miramarcemetery.org/news/donations/

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Armed Forces Memorial Amphitheater Planned for Miramar National Cemetery

Support Foundation Launches ‘Virtual Gala’ Fund Drive for Amphitheater

https://gala.miramarcemetery.org/

In normal times,
Miramar National Cemetery hosts commemorative services on Memorial Day weekend,
Veterans Day, and at other times during the year. Held in the Flag Assembly
Area, the services draw hundreds. Hampering enjoyment of these patriotic
events: a lack of permanent guest seating.

The Miramar
National Cemetery Support Foundation, sponsor of the Avenue of Flags, the
Veterans Tribute Tower & Carillon, and the annual veterans services, has
launched a project to build the Armed Forces Memorial Amphitheater with
permanent seating in the Flag Assembly Area. The Support Foundation is working
closely with cemetery leadership and with the VA’s National Cemetery
Administration on the design of the Amphitheater.

Constructing the
Amphitheater and funding [Continue Reading]

https://miramarcemetery.org/news/gala-2020/

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Committal Services with Military Honors Resume

At Fort Rosecrans, Miramar National Cemeteries

 

Committal services with military honors resumed June 9 at Fort Rosecrans and Miramar National Cemeteries. The cemetery staff is contacting families who were unable to hold a committal service between March 23 and June 8 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is assisting them in arranging memorial services for their loved ones beginning in July.

“During the weeks of restricted operations, we continued to inter veterans and eligible family members,” said Jared Howard, director of San Diego’s veterans’ cemeteries. “We can now conduct committal and memorial services with robust measures in place to protect the health and safety of veterans, [Continue Reading]

https://miramarcemetery.org/news/services-resume/

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San Diegans Mark Memorial Day 2020 in Virtual Tribute

Marine Cpl. James Dawson (foreground) and Lance Cpl. Elizabeth Follman of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band played “Echo Taps” to end the Memorial Day virtual service.

Program highlights Fort Rosecrans, Miramar, Mt. Soledad and USS Midway Museum

As Marine Corps
buglers Cpl. James Dawson and Lance Cpl. Elizabeth Follman played “Echo Taps”,
family members visiting the graves of their loved ones at Miramar National
Cemetery on Memorial Day 2020 rose and stood at attention. The haunting melody
was a tribute to the men and women who had served their country as members of the
United States Armed Forces.

Beyond that
moment, no other service was held at Miramar on this annual day of
commemoration. Instead, the Miramar National Cemetery Support [Continue Reading]

https://miramarcemetery.org/news/memorialday2020-recap/

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2020 Memorial Day Services Going On-Line

Fort Rosecrans, Miramar, Mt.
Soledad, USS Midway

Live-Streaming Simulcast Tribute
to Veterans, Front-Line Heroes

Memorial Day commemorations in San
Diego are going virtual in 2020.  With
COVID-19 preventing large gatherings, four of San Diego’s most iconic locations
are collaborating to hold the first online live-streaming tribute, May 25, to
honor fallen military heroes and salute today’s frontline heroes.

The Fort Rosecrans and Miramar
National Cemetery Support Foundations, the Mt. Soledad National Veterans
Memoria, and the USS Midway will each hold approximately 15-minute tributes
that will be seamlessly streamed live on Memorial Day from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at
www.sandiegomemorialdaylive.com. 

“We
recognized that we would not be able to conduct our normal Memorial Day
commemorations this year, so we built a partnership with four iconic San [Continue Reading]

https://miramarcemetery.org/news/memorial-day-2020/

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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/