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.…

Brig. Gen. Cardenas Honored at Unveiling of Statue at Veterans Museum and Memorial Center, Balboa Park

Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert Cardenas, shown at right, was honored June 6, 2015, at the unveiling and dedication of a statue of his likeness at the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center in Balboa Park. Cardenas is chairman emeritus of the Miramar National Cemetery Support Foundation.

Dennis Schoville, Foundation President & CEO, was master of ceremonies at the event, which was attended by some 100 veterans, members of the public, and members of the Cardenas family.

Artist Richard Becker sculpted the bust, which depicts …