THE HISTORIC POST CEMETERY PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA

The Historic Post Cemetery at the Presidio of Monterey, California.

Presidio of Monterey Cemetery is under the jurisdiction of the Installation Management Command / US Army Garrison, Presidio of Monterey.

Some of the former Buffalo Soldiers were buried in the Presidio of Monterey Cemetery like Private George S. Johnson, who died in March 1904 while assigned to the 9th Cavalry and who was the first person buried (in plot 1) in the new cemetery. Retired Buffalo Soldier Petrum R. Frazier died on 19 May 1908 and was buried in plot 24. Thomas Polk, a retired 9th Cavalry cook, died on 13 September 1911 and was buried in plot 38, and his wife Elsie, who died a few months later on 11 January 1912, was buried in plot 42.

There are 154 children buried here, many died in childbirth, others from the common childhood diseases before vaccinations. Lanny Ochi Mitsuuchi, who died on 6 October 1946, was the infant son of Sergeant Ahio Mitsuuchi, who was a military language instructor of Japanese. Lanny is the first burial associated with the language school that had recently moved back to the Pacific Coast from Minnesota where the school had spent most of the war years, first at Camp Savage, then to Fort Snelling as all Japanese nationals and Japanese American citizens had been evacuated from the Pacific Coast states of California, Oregon, and Washington in 1942.

The cemetery has the remains of three general officers:

MG Edward H. Plummer (plot 103), a West Point graduate (1877), who served as the quartermaster with the 10th Infantry Regiment and supervised the construction of the wooden barracks around Soldier Field, although the construction work was done by 15th Infantry soldiers. Plummer became a major general in the First World War and died in 1927. Plummer Street was named in his honor. (We recently acquired General Plummer's papers from his granddaughter who lives in Pacific Grove.)

BG Thomas E. Merril (plot 388), West Point class of 1898, commanded a field artillery regiment on the Western Front in WWI and commanded Fort Bragg for a few months in 1928.

BG Harry D. Chamberlin (plot 387), West Point class of 1910, fought in both world wars and was the commanding general of Fort Ord. Chamberlin Library is named after him.

The cemetery has a Japanese Prisoner of War buried in plot 292. Shiro Nagajima, a Japanese Prisoner of War, died on 19 October 1945, while working as an agricultural laborer at Camp Lamont in Kern County, California. The death certificate has not been located.

Nagajima was probably captured on Saipan in June or July 1944, and was initially interned at Camp McCoy, WI or Camp Clarinda, IA. After V-J Day on 14 August 1945, the Army allowed Japanese POWs into the Pacific Coast to help with the harvest. Nagajima was transferred to Camp Lamont, Kern County California between 6-8 October 1945, to help harvest cotton. Nagajima's remains were cremated in Kern County and shipped to the Presidio of Monterey (POM) where a box containing his ashes were buried on 19 December 1945 in plot K-292.

On 25 November 2003, Captain Aaron J. Van Alstine, the commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, wrote to the Consul-General of Japan, Shigeru Nakamura, in San Francisco about Nagajima's remains. In a letter dated 4 December 2003, Consul-General Nagajima thanked Van Alstine for having placed a Japanese flag on Nagajima's grave on Veteran's Day and expressed the desire to visit the gravesite if he should have an opportunity to be in Monterey.

Although the cemetery was closed shortly after the Korean War, a few spouses are occasionally buried here.

Source: Al Macks, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs, document with no author credited.

PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY CEMETERY HISTORY 1989

Source: DLIFLC & POM Archives

By James C. McNaughton, DLI Command Historian (1989)

Source: Globe, May 31, 1989

Note: As of 2014 the cemetery is 112 years old.

The early Presidio had a small cemetery near Fort Mervine, where the NCO Club now stands. When the post was reactivated in 1902, the cemetery was moved to its present location, and the original remains were transferred to the Presidio of San Francisco. These included the remains of Major General E.O.C. Ord who, as a lieutenant, helped build Fort Mervine in 1847.

Note: Major General E.O.C. Ord (Edward Otho Cresap), died in Havana, Cuba of Yellow Fever on July 22, 1883. General Ord is not buried at the Presidio of Monterey as pointed out by Cameron Binkley, Deputy Command Historian in this part of the article, but buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

A major general during the Civil War, he was afterwards appointed commander of the Department of the Pacific Division in 1868. Fort Ord was named after him in 1940.

The new cemetery was laid out on additional land purchased in 1903 uphill from the original reservation. A monument to the Spanish-American War veterans was erected in 1918.

During the post cemetery's first four decades, about five people a year were interred. Between the beginning of World War II and the early 1950's, the cemetery quickly filled up. More than 20 burials took place each year through most of the 1940's, peaking at 41 burials in 1948. More than half of these were infant children, born in the station hospital at Fort Ord. The cemetery was also used by Fort Ord and the Naval Postgraduate.

Only one Korean War casualty appears to have been buried there, for by the early 1950's, the cemetery's 388 plots were virtually all filled. Only 17 people were interred after 1952, mostly family members of those already buried there. The most recent interment was in 1987.

The cemetery is now maintained by the post engineers. Local Boy Scout often place flags and flowers there on holidays.

IF STONES COULD SPEAK
By James C. McNaughton, DLI Command Historian (1989)

Perhaps few people notice, as they whiz up the hill to the PX over lunch time, or rush to a class in the School of Russian II, that they are moving pass a most interesting piece of history on the Presidio. Overlooked in the quiet, shady post cemetery lies over a hundred years of military history representing all four services. Perhaps on this Memorial Day, a few of us who normally hurry by will pause to reflect on the stories of those who lie buried here.

The earliest of the old soldiers who lie under the trees is William P. Ball, who had served as a private in the Mexican War (1846-48) and lived on to tell of his youthful adventures until 1915. But he was not the first to be interred. The cemetery itself was started in 1904, shortly after the Presidio was reactivated.

The first soldier to be buried there was Private George S. Johnson, who died on March 6, 1904. Johnson was a black cavalryman with the 9th U.S. Cavalry, one of the famous "Buffalo Soldiers" regiments that fought the Indians on the western plains. His outfit had arrived at Monterey in 1902 for rest and refitting after a prolong combat in Cuba and the Philippines.

During the years that followed, three general officers were buried there too. Among them was Major General Edward H. Plummer, who was graduated from West Point in 1877, the year after Custer's defeat at the Little Big Horn. Plummer spent the next 20 years on frontier duty in the west. He then fought in Cuba and the Philippines before coming to Monterey in 1902 with the 10th Infantry Regiment, the first U.S. Army unit to be stationed at the Presidio since the Civil War. As regimental quartermaster he supervised construction of the wooden barrack still used as classrooms and offices on the lower portion of the post (Lower Presidio).

Plummer rose to major general in the First World War. When he died in 1927, the street that runs past the flag pole on the post was renamed "Plummer Street" in his honor.

Two other generals are buried in the Presidio Cemetery as well: Brig. Gen. Thomas E. Merrill, another West Point graduate (Class of 1898). He commanded a field artillery regiment on the Western Front in World War I. Brig. Gen. Harry D. Chamberlin, also a West Point graduate (Class of 1910), who fought in both world wars, is also buried in the cemetery.

Other headstones give silent testimony to the units that were stationed here in the years before World War II: the 20th Infantry that rushed to San Francisco after the great earthquake of 1906 and the 11th Cavalry that once fought in the Indian Wars and today stands guard at the Fulda Gap.

Wives, children, and even some civilian employees can also be found there, as well as a few sailors, marines, and airmen and their dependents. Perhaps the most unusual burial of all is that of Japanese prisoner of war Shiro Nagajima, who died in a prison camp elsewhere in California and whose ashes were interred in December 1945.

By the time the language school arrived in 1946, most of the cemetery's 388 plots were already filled. But the story can be followed for a few years more. In the fall of that year a newly arrived Japanese-American military language instructor, Sergeant Ahio Mitsuuchi laid to rest his infant son, the first burial associated with the school. And for the next few years a number of similar headstones give sad testimony to those days before widespread vaccinations against childhood diseases.

By the time of the Korean War the tiny cemetery was nearly full. After then, only those few who were rejoining their family members could be accommodated.

Today the post cemetery is completely quiet once again. If we could just pause for a while from our hurried routines to take a walk among the silent stones, there is much to be learned. More than a hundred years of history is waiting to be rediscovered in the simple stories of those who lie there. Theirs are the stories of bravery and family ties that are the real stuff of our history.

Written May 1989.

CEMETERY RESTORATION PROJECT 2009
Before the renovation, the cemetery had not been maintained in a manner befitting those buried for honored military service. Eroded or cracked gravestones were replaced and aligned where they once sunk into the ground with names barely legible. Landscaping leveled the ground, and sprinklers were installed to maintain the beauty for those resting beside the many service members that walk the Presidio grounds.

Image: Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY COMMUNITY REDEDICATES CEMETERY AS HALLOWED GROUND
By Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs
May 29, 2010

PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. - "And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier's tomb, and beauty weeps the brave".

This quote by early American poet Joseph Drake captures the meaning behind the rededication of the Presidio of Monterey Cemetery May 29.

Capitalizing on a warm sunny Saturday, Presidio of Monterey personnel welcomed several distinguished guests and veterans to the ceremony that commemorated the fix of what Garrison Commander Col. Darcy Brewer thought was an eyesore.

According to Brewer, before the renovation, the cemetery had not been maintained in a manner befitting those buried for honored military service.

Eroded or cracked gravestones were replaced and aligned where they once sunk into the ground with names barely legible. Landscaping leveled the ground, and sprinklers were installed to maintain the beauty for those resting beside the many service members that walk the Presidio grounds.

The re-dedication included distinguished speakers, such as, Maj. Gen. (retired) Frederick Lawson, Brig. Gen. (retired) Gerald Griffin, Col. Darcy Brewer and Sgt. 1st Class (retired) Jack Stewart.

Lawson spoke on the history of the Presidio and its cemetery, Griffin spoke on Memorial Day, Brewer talked about what went into the renovation and Stewart talked about the future Central Coast Veteran's Cemetery to be hosted on the former Fort Ord.

The ceremony concluded with a flute performance of "Amazing Grace" by Bill Nye and a Memorial Day lunch at Belas Dining Facility.

Of note, those that lie within the cemetery are:

- Pvt. George S. Johnson, Petrum R. Frasier and Thomas Polk, former Buffalo Soldiers from the 9th Cavalry Regiment, with Johnson being the first to be laid to rest here in 1904.

- Lanny Ochi Mistuuchi, infant son of Japanese military language instructor Sgt. Ahio Mistuuchi. Lanny is the first burial to be associated with the language school.

- Maj. Gen. Edward H. Plummer, Brig. Gen. Thomas E. Merril, and Brig. Gen. Harry D. Chamberlin are the general officers that rest here.

- Shiro Nagajima, a Japanese Prisoner of War, buried in December of 1945 after dying from an illness.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Plaque reads: In Honor of Veterans of the Spanish War 1898 to 1902. Erected by Ladies Auxiliary No. 15 United Spanish War Veterans. Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

Image: Hiro Chang, Presidio of Monterey Public Affairs.

PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY POST CEMETERY, CALIFORNIA
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Presidio of Monterey find a gravesites :

11TH CAVALRY BURIED AT THE PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY

(Last name) (First name) (Middle/Rank/Unit) (Died) (Buried) (Location)

Bricker, Ephraim B., Pvt. - 11th Cavalry - 11/13/1930 - 11/15/1930 131
Clark, Roy A., Pvt., - 11th Cavalry - 1/24/1930 - 1/27/1930 - 122
Cox, Frank Pvt., - 11th Cavalry - 4/10/1921 - 4/13/1921 - 81
Deforest, William J., Pvt., - 11th Cavalry - 3/13/1927 - 3/15/1927 104
Draper, Earl D., Cpl., - 11th Cavalry - 7/8/1939 - 7/13/1939 - 177
Dutzinger, Max Sgt., - 11th Cavalry - 10/26/1930 - 10/28/1930 - 130
Gambrall, Charley, E., Sgt., - 11th Cavalry - 5/20/1944 - 5/25/1944 - 261
Graham, Joseph Sgt., - 11th Cavalry - 10/10/1938 - 10/12/1938 - 171
Hayes, James A., Sgt., - 11th Cavalry - 2/8/1937 - 2/10/1937 - 160
Horner, William - 11th Cavalry - 7/31/1930 - 8/4/1930 - 125
Kling, Martin L., 1Sgt., - 11th Cavalry - 12/23/1939 - 12/26/1939 - 180
Martin, Joseph L.,Pfc., - 11th Cavalry - 1/22/1942 - 1/27/1942 - 203
Necker, John H, MSgt., - 11th Cavalry - 1/1/1930 - 1/3/1930 - 119
Stimax, William F., Sgt., - 11th Cavalry - 2/17/1939 - 2/20/1939 - 174
Storms, Norman D., Pvt., - 11th Cavalry - 4/18/1933 - 4/19/1933 - 149
Thacker, Pierce 2Lt.,- 11th Cavalry - 11/25/1946 - 11/27/1946 - 304
Vinette, Leon Pvt., - 11th Cavalry - 4/3/1923 - 4/7/1923 - 89
Weldon, Malcolm E., Pvt., - 11th Cavalry - 6/27/1937 - 6/29/1937 - 165
Wilson, Harry Pvt., - 11th Cavalry - 3/16/1922 - 3/21/1922 - 85

76TH FIELD ARTILLERY BURIED AT THE PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY

(Last name) (First name) (Middle/Rank/Unit) (Died) (Buried) (Location)

Acker, Andrew Cpl., - 76th Field Artillery - 7/31/1928 - 8/2/1928 - 111
Dellarco, Thomas Pvt., - 76th Field Artillery - 7/17/1932 - 8/3/1932 - 146
Donaldson, Dewey Pvt. - 76th Field Artillery - 4/23/1932 - 4/26/1932 - 145
Perottino, Peter Pvt., - 76th Field Artillery - 3/30/1930 - 4/3/1930 - 124
Stamke, Rudolph P., Pvt., - 76th Field Artillery - 12/30/1929 - 1/30/1930 - 120

Return to: The Layout of the Presidio of Monterey Pre-1940:
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The Layout of the Presidio of Monterey Pre-1940:

OTHER AREAS OF RESEARCH WHICH WE ARE ENGAGED IN:

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FORT ORD STATION VETERINARY HOSPITAL U.S. ARMY HORSE c1941
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Fort Ord U.S. Army Station Veterinary Hospital (Horse) WW2

TRIBUTE OF HONOR: SGT. ALLAN MACDONALD U.S. ARMY HORSE SOLDIER
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Tribute Of Honor: Sgt. Allan MacDonald U.S. Army Horse

FORT ORD STATION HOSPITAL, c1941 WW2
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Fort Ord Station Hospital c1941

11TH CAVALRY PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, 1919 TO 1940
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11th Cavalry Presidio of Monterey, 1919 to 1940

CAMP LOCKETT ARMY HORSE DEFENDING THE BORDER WW2
The 11th, 10th, and the 28th Cavalry, Camp Seeley, Camp Morena and Camp Lockett
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Camp Lockett Army Horse Defending the Border WW2

76TH FIELD ARTILLERY REGIMENT PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, 1922 TO 1940
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76th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Battalion

EAST GARRISON/CAMP ORD 1940's ARMY BUILDING DOCUMENTATION
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East Garrison/Camp Ord 1940's Army Building Documentation 2013

FORT ORD U.S. ARMY POST STOCKADE IN IMAGES
Fort Ord U.S. Army Post Stockade in Images

BRIEF HISTORY GENERAL ROBERT C. RICHARDSON, COMMANDER: VII ARMY CORPS, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA DEFENSE SECTOR AND CONNECTION WITH FORT ORD WW2
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General Richardson Fort Ord Defense of West Coast

7TH DIVISION HEADQUARTERS BUILDING, FORT ORD, 1941 WW2, GENERAL STILWELL
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7th Division Headquarters Buildings, Fort Ord, 1941, General Stilwell

THE CONSTRUCTION OF FORT ORD 1940-1942
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The Construction of Fort Ord 1940-1942

FORT ORD BUILDINGS, COMPLETION REPORT IMAGES 1941-1942
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Fort Ord Buildings, Completion Report Images 1941-1942

250TH COAST ARTILLERY CAMP MCQUAIDE CALIFORNIA 1941
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250th Coast Artillery Camp McQuaide California 1941

THE ARMY VETERINARY SERVICE DURING THE GREAT WAR, WW1
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Veterinary Corps in WW1

LEONARD PATRICK MURPHY U.S. ARMY VETERINARY CORPS, A.E.F., WW1
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Leonard Murphy in WW1

NEVERS FRANCE AND U.S. ARMY HOSPITALS IN THE AREA DURING WW1
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Nevers France and U.S. Army Hospitals in the area during WW1

U.S. ARMY VETERINARY CORPS HISTORICAL PRESERVATION GROUP

Motto: "Illic est Vires in Numerus" There is Strength in Numbers

"Working Hard to Preserve Our Country's History wherever it is being lost".

U.S. Army Veterinary Corps Historical Preservation Group is a group of individuals that are concerned about the preservation of the History of the Veterinary Corps, Remount Service and Cavalry or wherever our country's history is being lost in conjunction with our beloved "Horse and Mule". There is no cost to join and membership is for life. We believe by uniting together in numbers we will be a more powerful force to be heard. Our membership list is private and only used to contact our members. Email us and become a member.

Greg Krenzelok
[email protected]

FACEBOOK: U.S. Army Veterinary Corps Historical Preservation Group

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U.S. Army Veterinary Corps Historical Preservation Group