Fort Richardson National Cemetery
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Fort Richardson National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located on the Fort Richardson United States Army installation near Anchorage, Alaska. It encompasses 39 acres and as of the end of 2005, it had 4,251 interments. For much of the year the grave sites are inaccessible due to snow fall.
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[edit] History
Established during World War II, the site was set aside to bury soldiers of any nationality who died in Alaska. After the war, many of the remains were disinterred and returned to their places of origin, but some remained in the cemetery, including 235 Japanese soldiers who died in the Battle of the Aleutian Islands which were exhumed in 1953 to be cremated in proper Shinto and Buddhist ceremonies under the supervision of Japanese government representatives. In 1981, Japanese residents of Anchorage erected a marker at the site of their interment.
On May 28, 1984 the cemetery officially became a National Cemetery.
[edit] Notable monuments
- A memorial stone gateway for Major Kermit Roosevelt, erected in 1949.
- The Japan Monument, first erected in 1981 to honor the 235 Japanese interred at the cemetery. It was replaced with a new monument in 2002.
[edit] Notable interments
- Staff Sergeant James Leroy Bondsteel, Medal of Honor recipient for action in the Vietnam War.
- Major Kermit Roosevelt, son of President Theodore Roosevelt, World War II veteran. Served with the British army before the US entered the war.
