Editorial	Back to  Press Releases

June 16, 2006

Miramar Cemetery Annex is Good News for Veterans By Congresswoman Susan A. Davis San Diego is more than a duty station for thousands of sailors and Marines.  It is also home to hundreds of thousands of veterans who settle here after their service to our nation is complete.  This settlement of a large number of veterans and their families has been a blessing to our community.  These outstanding citizens have joined their civilian neighbors to build America’s Finest City. Located atop the peninsula in Point Loma, Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, is the final resting place for nearly 90,000 veterans.  This national shrine for America’s heroes has been closed to full casketed remains since 1966 when the supply of burial plots was exhausted.  The cemetery continues to inter thousands of cremated remains of local veterans in newly created columbaria space throughout the cemetery.  In fact, despite its impacted status, Fort Rosecrans remains the tenth busiest national cemetery in the United States.  Because Fort Rosecrans can no longer accommodate full casketed remains, those San Diego families who would like the VA to provide such services to their veteran must travel to the Riverside National Cemetery.  This is a 200 mile roundtrip and often a challenge for many elderly survivors of deceased veterans.  Acknowledging the sizeable veteran population in San Diego and enormous demand for burial space, the VA, the Navy, local veterans, and San Diego’s Congressional Delegation have worked together to find a solution to the need for burial space closer to our community.  In February 2003, these stakeholders announced an agreement to expand Fort Rosecrans at MCAS Miramar.  Under this plan, the Navy would provide land that is presently a part of the Marine Corps’s base to the VA for the purpose of providing burial space to local veterans.  The proposed site is located near the junction of Interstate 805 and Nobel Drive on the west side of the base approximately 12 miles from Fort Rosecrans. The Navy and the VA are currently conducting environmental reviews of the site.  Once construction begins, it will take about two years to complete.  The project is anticipated to cost approximately $21-$24 million and will contain 60,000 gravesites and 40,000 cremation sites. Sensitive to the urgent need for burial space for San Diego’s veterans, the VA will provide plots for interments as quickly as possible.  Under current projections, construction could begin as early as 2007. Since the announcement, many veterans and their families have expressed their interest in the Miramar Annex to me, the VA and other veteran serving organizations.  In these conversations, some veterans have shared that they have been approached by organizations offering to reserve space at the Miramar Annex for their remains.  It is very important to note that the VA does not allow veterans or family members to reserve plots at national cemeteries; burial space is provided at the time of need.  Offers to reserve burial space in a VA national cemetery are never made with the VA’s consent or participation.  Any offers to reserve space at Miramar should be reported to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery staff immediately. It has been my great honor to have had a small role in helping to create the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery Miramar Annex.  I believe that when completed it will become a national shrine worthy of our local veterans and a place of inspiration for those of us who enjoy the freedom that these men and women have made possible for our nation.