Riverside National Cemetery


Riverside National Cemetery is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers. It has been the most active cemetery in the system since 2000, based on the number of interments.

History

Riverside National Cemetery was established in 1976 through the transfer of from March Air Force Base, a section that during World War II was called Camp Haan. The site was selected in 1976 to provide full burial options for Southern California veterans and their families by President Ford’s Commission for National Cemeteries and Monuments. An additional was transferred by the U.S. Air Force in 2003.
With 15 Medal of Honor recipients in attendance and the Marine Corps’ greatest fighter ace Joe Foss as featured speaker, Riverside National Cemetery was dedicated and opened for burials on November 11, 1978. The cemetery's first burial was Army Staff Sergeant Ysmael R. Villegas, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery at the cost of his own life at Villa Verde Trail on the island of Luzon in the Philippines on March 20, 1945. Following the war, Villegas was buried at Olivewood Cemetery in Riverside. Prior to the opening of Riverside National Cemetery, the Veterans Administration asked the Villegas family if he could be honored by re-burial in the new National Cemetery.
The dramatic and meandering landscape features a central boulevard with memorial circles, lakes, indigenous-styled committal shelters, and a memorial amphitheater.
Military funeral honors are provided for eligible veterans by military honor guards from each branch of service, by the California National Guard, and by several volunteer teams collectively known as the Memorial Honor Detail or MHD upon request of family members through their funeral home.

Monuments and Memorials

Riverside National Cemetery is home of the Medal of Honor Memorial, one of four sites in the United States recognized by the U.S. Congress as a National Medal of Honor Memorial Site. The Medal of Honor Memorial, whose walls feature the names of all medal recipients, is located at the third traffic circle in the cemetery. It was dedicated at a ceremony attended by 85 Medal of Honor recipients November 5, 1999.
The statue "Veterans Memorial", created by Colorado sculptor A. Thomas Schomberg, in commemoration of the veterans, their comrades, their personal and emotional sacrifices and to acknowledge those Americans who have lost loved ones in the service of their country. The statue consists of a 12-foot pedestal, on top of which lies the lifeless body of a soldier partially covered with a poncho that hides the face. The unidentified soldier whether a man or woman, private or officer, will forever remain in silent tribute to every American who has given his or her life in combat. The statue was donated to the Riverside National Cemetery by Thomas F. and Judy Kane and was dedicated May 28, 2000.
The Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Memorial was designated a National Memorial by the U.S. Congress on December 10, 2004 and dedicated September 16, 2005. A bronze statue, sculpted by Vietnam veteran Lewis Lee Millett Jr. is the image of an American serviceman on his knees and bound by his captors. The statue is surrounded by black marble pillars, representing imprisonment.

Notable interments

Medal of Honor recipients

  • Staff Sergeant Ysmael R. Villegas, U.S. Army, Company F, 127th Infantry, 32nd Infantry Division. Villa Verde Trail, Luzon, Philippine Islands, March 20, 1945
  • Commander John H. Balch,, U.S. Navy, 6th Regiment, U.S. Marines. Vierzy & Somme-Py, France, July 19, 1918 and October 5, 1918
  • Colonel Mitchell Paige, U.S. Marine Corps, 1st Marine Division, Solomon Islands, October 26, 1942
  • Colonel Lewis Millett, U.S. Army, February 7, 1951
  • 2d Lieutenant Walter D. Ehlers, U.S. Army, June 9–10, 1944

    Distinguished Service Cross recipients

  • John F. Thornell Jr.. World War II triple-ace U.S. Army Air Forces fighter pilot
  • Adelbert Waldron. U.S. Army Vietnam War sniper, credited with the highest number of confirmed kills in the war with 109. A two-time recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross in 1969

    General officers

  • John Groff. Brigadier General, USMC, and centenarian; recipient of the Navy Cross and Distinguished Service Cross
  • Ewart G. Plank. Major General, USA
  • Alexander Kreiser. Brigadier General, USMC
  • Arthur Exon. Brigadier General, USAF
  • Chesley G. Peterson. Major General, USAF; recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross
  • George Kenneth Muellner. Lieutenant General, USAF

    Tuskegee Airmen

Several members of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen, America's first aviators of African descent, who trained at Alabama's Tuskegee University and flew for the United States Army Air Force, are buried at Riverside National Cemetery.