RON HENGGELER

May 31, 2007
138,031 memories

The vast Golden Gate National Cemetery is situated 12 miles south of San Francisco. The 161.5 acre cemetery is wedged between the El Camino Real and the fast moving traffic of Interstate 280. This U.S. National Cemetery, because of the name and location, is frequently confused with the San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio of San Francisco ( which dates to the 19th century and is in view of the Golden Gate). Around 1937, San Francisco residents voted to no longer build cemeteries within the city proper and, as a result, the site for this new national cemetery was selected south of the city limits. Congress authorized construction of the facility in 1937, with the first interments in 1941. The cemetery was officially dedicated on Memorial Day, May 30, 1942. The keynote speaker at that ceremony was Attorney General Earl Warren who later became Chief Justice of the United States. At present, the cemetery holds 138,031 internments. A few of the notable burials:
......Private Mosheim Feaster (Indian War Campaigns), Company E, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Wounded Knee Creek, S.D., December 29, 1890
.......44 German and Italian prisoners-of-war who were captured in North Africa after the collapse of the German Afrika Korps under the command of Lt. Gen. Erwin Rommel in 1943.
.......Boatswain’s Mate First Class Reinhardt J. Keppler (World War II), U.S. Navy. On board the USS San Francisco (CA-38), November 12–13, 1942
......One of America's most valiant naval officers—Adm. Chester W. Nimitz. At his suggestion, a number of distinguished officers who served under him are also buried here: Admirals Raymond A. Spruance, Richmond K. Turner, and fellow submariner Charles A. Lockwood as well as Captain Edward L. Beach, Sr.
......Leo Ryan, the first member of U.S. Congress to have been killed in the line of duty (in Jonestown) while serving as a member of that body.
......Dan White, a paratrooper in the Vietnam War and a former San Francisco City Supervisor. He assassinated San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone on November 27, 1978
Every year on Memorial Day, a flag is placed on each grave.

 

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