6 days ago
- General
- San Francisco Chronicle
On Memorial Day, America's oldest western military cemetery honors the fallen
As the nation paused to honor the sacrifices of America's veterans, Bay Area groups laid wreaths and gathered in cemeteries for solemn ceremonies.
At the Benicia Arsenal Post Cemetery, the oldest military cemetery on the West Coast, veterans, families and community members honored the fallen at a Memorial Day service that drew over 150 people.
Members of Scouting America raised American flags before the program. The Diablo Regional Concert Band played. Small flags standing sentry by headstones flapped in the breeze.
The site was the cemetery for the Benicia Barracks, which served as the headquarters for the U.S. Army's Pacific Division from 1849 to 1857.
Over 200 people — including U.S. military personnel as well as some civilians and personnel from abroad — were buried at the site, which accepted new interments until the late 1950s.
