VETERANS DAY
On Memorial Day 2023, I decided to identify all of the modern era veterans buried in the San Marcos City Cemetery (i.e., those who served from the Spanish – American War forward). Nearly twenty years before, I’d done an extensive history of my late father’s World War II Naval service so I knew the value of this effort for families and the community at-large. When I started the work, I expected to find about 350 veterans (of the roughly 8,459 burials that I’ve now helped to document in the cemetery). Much to my absolute astonishment, the current figure is 994! And research is still ongoing!
A community with a strong tradition of service
The San Marcos community should be extremely proud of the history of service represented by those 994. That number includes 25 who were either killed in action, died because of their wounds or fell victim to post war traumatic stress. Two of those casualties, Charles and Leonard Caldwell, were brothers killed a few weeks apart during the war in the Pacific.
In addition, there are three former WWII prisoners of war buried in the cemetery: Charles T. Brown, George Carruthers, and James Creekmore.
The cemetery also is the final resting place for six couples in which both parties served. Furthermore, three Royal Air Force pilots killed in training accidents in the area during the early 1950s were buried together in the cemetery. They are honored along with their San Marcos counterparts on all appropriate holidays.
Each of these individuals now has a memorial on the international genealogy website, Find A Grave, findagrave. com/cemetery/ 6713/san-marcoscemetery. Their status as a veteran is indicated on their entry by a small “V” next to their name.
Not only are these individuals recognized on FindAGrave, they also are honored through the Wreaths Across America program. In the event that you know of anyone buried in the city cemetery whose veteran’s status has not been discovered yet, please call me at (512) 757-8669 so that they may recognized as well.
I hope that the community may help me determine the burial location of the following veterans. I have not been able to confirm their burial in the San Marcos City Cemetery.
- Calvin Vernon Lynch (1937 – 1996) - Thomas Wilburn Mason (1926 – 2017) - Ira Everett Taylor (1892 – 1918)
Apply for a free veterans marker While doing the research for this project, I was surprised that so many graves did not have one of the free veterans markers provided by the federal government. In the event that you aren’t aware of this program, see va.gov/burials-memorials/ memorialitems/ headstones-markers- medallions. Don’t be deterred in applying for a marker if you don’t have information on hand about a veteran’s military service. Relatives may request copies of a service record (va.gov/records/ get-military-service- records).
Headstone for a veteran in the San Marcos City Cemetary. Photo courtesy Sharon Lawrence
