Fort Bliss National Cemetery

Fort Bliss
Location in the United States
Fort Bliss
Location in Texas

Fort Bliss National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in west Texas, located at Fort Bliss, a U.S. Army post adjacent to the city of El Paso. Administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses 82.1 acres (33.2 ha), and as of 2014, had over 50,000 interments. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

History

Fort Bliss itself was not established until the 1840s, but burials were made in the area of the cemetery as early as 1833. The fort was used as a Confederate infantry post during the Civil War, a cavalry post for training during World War I, and then became a demobilization camp after the war. In 1914, the cemetery was only 2.2 acres (0.89 ha), and another 2.2 acres were added during the war. In 1939, funds were allocated for improvements and plans were approved to designate it a national cemetery.

Aside from American soldiers, Fort Bliss National Cemetery was chosen by the Chinese government the place of interment for 55 Chinese air force cadets who died while training at the fort in 1944. There are also several German prisoners of war, and three Japanese civilians who were transferred from a cemetery in Lordsburg, New Mexico, as well as one German scientist who died while participating in research projects at Fort Bliss during World War II. An officer of the British Royal Air Force from the same war is also buried here.[1]

In 1955, to make way for new construction in the central business district in New Orleans, Louisiana, the remains of the Fort's namesake Lieutenant Colonel William Wallace Smith Bliss (1815–1853) were disinterred from Girod Street Cemetery in New Orleans and brought to Fort Bliss, along with the monument erected in his memory.

Notable monuments

Notable interments

Medal of Honor recipients

Others

References

  1. ↑ CWGC casualty report.
  2. ↑ Corp Frank Bratling at Find a Grave
  3. ↑ Victor Hugo Espinoza at Find a Grave
  4. ↑ George Hooker at Find a Grave
  5. ↑ "Editorial: Farewell to El Paso Mayor Ray Salazar". El Paso Times. 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2016-05-13.

External links

Coordinates: 31°49′23″N 106°25′28″W / 31.82306°N 106.42444°W / 31.82306; -106.42444

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.