Nearly every day across America, a simple, yet unmistakable melody plays countless times. The song, “Taps,” a deeply haunting 24 notes played on a bugle is a final tribute and thank you to a veteran who once answered his or her nation’s call.
Denver’s Fort Logan National Cemetery, a pristine and immaculate resting place located on the southernmost end of Denver, holds the remains of more than 148,000 American veterans and family members. Its rolling hills cover an expanse of more than 200 acres. The graves are of veterans of every American conflict going back to the Civil War.
The protocol for each burial is a uniform, respectful simplicity. It includes the same decades-old staples for every ceremony that has ever taken place in a national cemetery. They are a final note of appreciation “from a grateful nation,” the presentation of a tri-folded American flag to the family and the playing of “Taps,”an unembellished refrain that long ago simply signaled “lights out.”
But in a practical concession to reality, with World War II, Korean War and Viet Nam veterans aging out, an in the flesh bugler is now often replaced with the song played electronically. Another reality? A shortage of volunteer veterans to serve as honor guard, the result of aging and mortality, has downsized the heretofore full military presence at the ceremony.
Across the country, there are more than 150 national cemeteries with, perhaps, Arlington National Cemetery the most well-known. But while Arlington is best known, it is not the largest. That distinction goes to California’s Riverside National Cemetery which covers more than 1,200 acres, nearly twice the acreage of Arlington.
Outside of the U.S. there are also 26 American military cemeteries and memorials. According to the National Cemetery Administration, there are approximately 124,000 veterans of World War I and II buried on foreign soil, including Belgium, France, Mexico and the Philippines. France’s St. James American Cemetery holds the remains of 4,410 American soldiers who died during the Brittany and Normandy campaigns.
There are also Americans who fought and died and are buried in the Mexico City National Cemetery. Most fought in the Mexican American War (1846-1848). A number of others who died in the Civil War and Spanish American War are also forever interred in Mexico. The cemetery has one common grave for 750 Americans whose names remain unknown. All told, there are more than four million veterans in the country’s national cemeteries and memorials.
“The first time I came on it,” said Fort Logan’s acting director Edward Bremer, “It was just beautiful…I was just blown away by its presence.” Bremer knows every section of the cemetery by heart and, since 2022, has watched countless families come and go with some staying to chat to learn the history of the grounds.
“Every day is special,” said Bremer. “Every family that comes through has a different story or different value to the place.” But not everyone who comes here comes for a funeral, Bremer says. Some come just to peruse the grounds, for serenity, to read the names on the headstones, some made from granite, others marble.
At Fort Logan, they see markers of Medal of Honor recipients—there are two. There are also veterans from wars going back to the 19th century, including the Buffalo soldiers, all Black U.S. Cavalry soldiers who fought in plains battles in the 19th century. The name ‘Buffalo soldier’ was attached to these troops because of their ruggedness, tenacity and looks, many comparing the texture of their hair to that of the buffalo. The name ‘Buffalo Soldier’ is revered in U.S. military history.
As Memorial Day approaches, many veterans, including Metropolitan State University-Denver military history professor William ‘Bill’ James Parker thinks not only of other veterans but family members whose final resting place is on the grounds of a national cemetery. To Parker, a retired Navy captain, it is simply sacred ground.
“It’s about the men and women who put our nation’s uniform on and never came home,” he said. “They gave their last full measure of devotion,” to the nation. Whether it was “one year or forty-five, they deserve some devotion.”
Parker, a 1988 Air Force Academy graduate, descends from generations of military families, including a number who achieved flag officer rank. He also remembers the simple but hallowed grounds at his alma mater where a number of Academy graduates rest in peace and the two structures at the Academy honoring two significant names, both Medal of Honor recipients. Mitchell Hall is named for William ‘Billy’ Mitchell and Doolittle Hall honors James ‘Jimmy’ Doolittle who led the first aerial attack on Japan in World War II.
Parker, a Maryland native, now permanent Coloradan, has visited Fort Logan countless times and marvels at its serenity. “It’s extremely special,” he said. Hearing the distant melody of “Taps,” he said, only adds to the austere quality of a special place. “It makes the hair on your neck stand up.” But what makes Fort Logan and other similar places especially reverential is what they symbolize. They show, Parker said, that “We respect you enough for what you have done for your country and that you will be honored in a special place.”
The rows upon rows of alabaster headstones at Fort Logan and all U.S. national cemeteries catch the sun and the eye in an almost surreal way. The uniformity is also no accident. Each headstone measures 42 inches in height, 13 inches in width and is four inches thick. The marble or granite marker weighs approximately 130 pounds.
While the headstones rise 42 inches from tip to tip, Bremer said, “you won’t see all of that.” He explains that only “24 to 28 inches” remains visible. Each headstone is marked with lifespan and era of the enlistment of each veteran or family member. Also, each headstone is imprinted with one of 98 government approved emblems “of belief”. Most, but not all, are reflections of faith. Among the symbols adorning the headstones are symbols of Christian, Judaism, Muslim, Native American, Sikh, Humanist Emblem of Spirit, Wiccan and faith.
While Fort Logan today is identified as a national cemetery, it did not begin that way. The fort, named for Civil War General John Alexander Logan, began life in 1887 as one of many western military posts. It continued as an Army post until 1946 when it officially closed as a military facility. The land was transferred to the state of Colorado that same year and became home to the Colorado Mental Health Institute. In 1950 it was officially designated as a national cemetery.
Fort Logan also holds a unique, historical legacy. It is often referred to as the ‘birthplace of the Air Force.’ In 1894, when it was the base of the military’s Signal Corps. Its balloons were used in Cuba for enemy surveillance in the Spanish American War.
