Orderly rows of glistening white tombstones present a somber sight for those visiting Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego’s Point Loma neighborhood. Service members have final resting places in the cemetery overlooking San Diego Bay. Tombstones tell of U.S. military history from the nation’s infancy to this century’s Iraq War. Read inscriptions to learn when and where military personnel gave their lives for the United States.
Remains of 112,000 people with military attachments rest here. The oldest gravesites hold men killed during the 1846 Battle of San Pasqual after the U.S. declared war on Mexico.
The body of Brigadier Stephen Watts Kearny lies in the cemetery. He was in charge of conquering Mexico’s northern areas, which are now New Mexico and California. In California he met resistance from Mexican Californios that cost him and others in his unit their lives. In 1882, their remains were laid to rest in the cemetery. Look for a large boulder brought to the site from the battlefield in 1922. It bears the names of those who died in the conflict.
Victims of the USS Bennington explosion are also entombed here. This event happened in 1905 in San Diego Harbor, triggered by the ship’s malfunctioning boiler. Locate the tall granite obelisk serving as a memorial for the ship’s crew.
You’ll also find monuments for the crews of the USS Wasp CV-7, who lost their lives in the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942. Other monuments honor those who died during the 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf while on active duty aboard the USS Gambier Bay, USS Hoel, USS Johnston, USS Samuel B. Roberts and USS St. Lo.
The cemetery was given national military status on October 5, 1934, after the San Francisco National Cemetery had reached its capacity. Fort Rosecrans, named after Major General William Rosecrans who fought in the American Civil War, has subsequently closed to new burials.
Find Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery a 9-mile (14-kilometer) drive west of San Diego on Cabrillo Memorial Drive. It is open during daytime hours except weekends and certain holidays.
