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Everyone should go to Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery to see row after row of perfectly lined tombstones, many of them marking the final resting place of those who died in combat.
It's a powerful place to reflect on freedom and the ultimate sacrifice made to defend it. The cemetery is among the most visited national cemeteries in the nation, according to the Veteran's Administration.
Visitors are required to be respectful. No visitations are allowed before sunrise or after sunset. Only fresh cut flowers or artificial flowers placed in containers provided by the cemetery are allowed. No items may be affixed to headstones and unauthorized tributes are removed by cemetery personnel.
The public may also attend a Memorial Day ceremony on Monday to pay respects. The keynote speaker will be Congressman Henry Cuellar.
Music will be provided by Fort Sam's Own 323rd Army Band and the Navy JROTC unit from Southwest Legacy High School will provide the color guard.
Visitors are encouraged to enter the ceremony via Cougar Way at Rittiman Rd. It begins Monday at 9:30 am at the cemetery's main assembly area.
Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery was so named in 1937, serving previously as the San Antonio National Cemetery Annex.
More than 170,000 service members and their families are interred there, including a dozen Congressional Medal of Honor recipients from World War II, Vietnam, and the Philippine-American War. And 27 Buffalo Soldiers are also buried there.
It's also the final resting place of the namesake of Randolph Air Force Base, Captain Willam Randolph, who was killed in a 1928 plane crash, and the burial site for the nation's first Hispanic 4-star general, Richard E. Cavazos, who died in 2017. Fort Cavazos, the former Fort Hood, is named in his honor. It is a United States Army post located near Killeen.
