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| With the Santa Fe National Cemetery filling up, New Mexico veterans seek a resting place in Albuquerque |
May 29, 2000 |
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SANTA FE -- Thousands of shining white headstones stretch to the top of the hill, covering the mile-long ridge line in humble magnificence.
Several carefully placed flowers stand out in
the precise symmetry of the stones amid the freshly cut grass.
The graves have one thing in common: Deeply etched into the dignified stones are the names of
New Mexico military veterans.
To date, the Santa Fe National Cemetery is the
final resting place for about 32,000 soldiers, airmen and sailors.
Gravestones for a former New Mexico governor, a Pulitzer Prize winner and thousands of everyday New Mexicans can be found among the shade trees and driveways.
"When they come to the end, they deserve an honorable and decent burial in a decent place," says Bill Drumm, a 76-year-old military veteran
who served in World War II, the Korean War and
the Vietnam War.
Now, after more than a century of burials, the
state`s largest national cemetery is quickly
running out of space.
About 1,300 people a year are buried in the
Santa Fe cemetery, and it could be full in 10 or 12 years.
Today, Albuquerque veterans plan to present a
petition calling on the federal government to build a new national cemetery in the city.
They say another national cemetery makes sense in Albuquerque because many of the state`s veterans call the city home.
"That cemetery is still going to close . . . as
long as we keep sending people from Albuquerque
there," Drumm says. "We need a cemetery here in Albuquerque because this is the center of population.
A battle for a cemetery
U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, a first-term ongresswoman, recalls getting called to join the
effort to build a new national cemetery before she
went to Washington.
The space crunch at the Santa Fe National
Cemetery has led her to push for an Albuquerque
cemetery.
"It`s something that`s very, very important to
me," Wilson says. "A number of veterans came to
me early on, even before I was elected."
The New Mexico Republican is a U.S. Air Force
veteran who has kept veterans issues close to her
heart. And she is not alone in the bureaucratic
battle to build a new military cemetery in New
Mexico.
About 500 veterans have signed the petition
asking for the cemetery.
Drumm, who served in the U.S. Air Force for 28 years, has been involved in the issue since the
early 1990s.
He is active with various veteran organizations
and still flies with the Civil Air Patrol. He says he feels like it`s his duty to continue to serve his country and its veterans in some way.
When Drumm found out about the space problems in Santa Fe, he and and veteran Nick Abate set out to do something about it.
The two veterans called the late U.S. Rep.
Steve Schiff, Wilson`s predecessor, to talk about
building a new cemetery to compensate for the
finite space in Santa Fe.
A decade later, they are now working with Wilson to complete their efforts.
Drumm says the cemetery at Fort Bayard, the
state`s other national cemetery near Silver City, is too far away for many veterans.
"That`s 460-some miles roundtrip and we`ve
got people here . . . who can`t afford that trip," he says. "If we still have a Department of Defense in the year 2025, we`ll still need cemeteries."
Samuel Montoya, commander of American Legion Post 13, is also part of the veterans` campaign for a new cemetery.
Montoya, who coordinates his post`s honor
guard activities in the state, says putting a new
cemetery in Albuquerque would allow for more
honor guard presentations because the guard
wouldn`t have to travel as far.
"The majority of my honor guard are working
individuals," he says.
It was Montoya who has collected the signatures for a petition he will present Wilson today.
Montoya`s and Drumm`s efforts haven`t gone
unnoticed.
For several months, Wilson has been working
legislation through Congress for another national
cemetery.
She is not the only legislator calling for new
veterans` cemeteries -- five new national
cemeteries have been built since 1997, the largest
number in that time in more than a century.
Texas, Washington and Ohio are among the states
with new national cemeteries.
To hasten the process, Wilson says she is also
is trying to insert $400,000 for the cemetery into
next year`s appropriations bill for the Department
of Veterans` Affairs, which would bypass the
standard process of introducing a separate bill to
establish a cemetery.
The money would go toward advance planning and choosing a site for the cemetery.
"We knew it was going to take a lot of time
and effort," Wilson says. "We intentionally started this early because we knew it would take a lot of time."
Running out of space
The Santa Fe cemetery, which covers almost
100 acres, is about 70 percent full. Most of the
remaining acreage lies on the undeveloped east
side of a ridge that runs through the cemetery.
"We have 22 acres on the east side of the
cemetery," says Gill Gallo, the cemetery`s
director.
The cemetery`s life span got a boost recently
when New Mexico representatives pressed
legislation through Congress that allowed the
state`s national cemeteries to use flat headstones, in place of standing headstones.
The flat headstones save 18 square feet per
grave because they allow for a pre-set crypt.
The legislation provides more room for the
veterans, reserve and commissioned officers,
merchant mariners, spouses and children -- all
who can be buried in national cemeteries.
Gallo could point out almost exactly when the
legislation passed because the headstones
abruptly change from standing to flat in one
section at the Santa Fe cemetery.
"You can double the yield of an acre with flat
headstones," Gallo says. "We have to conserve as
much space as possible."
A special day
Conserving space isn`t Gallo`s only concern,
especially today -- Memorial Day.
He and the other 16 employees at the cemetery have been preparing the grounds for the cemetery`s biggest day.
Cemetery employees were in a flurry of activity last week. The cemetery`s groundskeepers had to, among other things, cut the cemetery`s 70 acres of grass and clean out each headstone`s flag pole hole with a pressurized air gun.
The echoes of the air gun blasts bounce across
the cemetery like a military weapons salute. While overseeing the preparations on a drive
through the cemetery, Gallo, an Air Force veteran,
says he wasn`t looking forward to working at the
cemetery when he first started there three years
ago.
Now his feelings have changed.
"Each stone has its own history. It`s a great
place to work," he says.
Gallo drove past the grave of Congressional
Medal of Honor recipient Daniel D. FernÝndez, a
U.S. Army Vietnam veteran who died on Feb. 18,
1966.
On his headstone, which is close to the base of
a shade tree near the older part of the cemetery,
a gold inlay impression of the medal`s insignia is
the only thing distinguishing the grave from those
around it.
Gallo spoke fondly of the grave, referring to
FernÝndez as "Danny."
"It`s more than just a job," Gallo says.
And, for America`s veterans, it`s more than
just a cemetery. |
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