“We only have one chance to get it right and create a memory” -Jared Howard
“No Veteran Ever Dies” By Holly Shaffner
If we continue to honor our veterans, share their stories, and teach the next generation then perhaps our veterans will never truly die. That is one of the goals of the 139 National Cemeteries maintained and operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration. Here in San Diego County, Miramar National Cemetery is the only National Cemetery open for new internments. It has been open since 2010 and it took more than 20 years of hard work and dedication by San Diego veterans and veterans’ groups to make the idea a reality. There was a growing and dire need as Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery closed to new interment casketed burials in 1966. The only interments that are currently being accepted are for subsequent interments for veterans or eligible family members in an existing gravesite. Who knew that President Lincoln’s second inaugural address delivered 154 years ago would still resonate with our country today? On March 4, 1865, President Lincoln affirmed the government’s obligation to care for the injured during the war and to provide for the families of those who perished on the battlefield. The now infamous words are, “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.” And our U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has adopted this as their motto.
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WWW.SanDiegoVeteransMagazine.com / NOVEMBER 2019
One of the people entrusted to take care of our veterans and their families is the new Director of the Miramar and Fort Rosecrans National Cemeteries, Jared Howard. Jared took the helm in September 2019 putting his years of experience to work here in San Diego County. Jared is a U.S. Army veteran who “came up through ranks” of the National Cemetery system. He started his Veterans Affairs career as a cemetery caretaker and worked hard to become a foreman. He knew he wanted to do more and requested the VA’s one year internship program so that he could be considered for a director position. He graduated from the program, went to Santa Fe, NM as the Assistant Director and later assumed the Director position. And now he lives among our 240,000 San Diego County veterans helping to give them and their families a final resting place. “We only have one chance to get it right and create a memory,” said Howard. He also remarked that a nation is judged by how they take care of their veterans, elderly and young. It is his duty to keep that promise President Lincoln made by maintaining our two National Cemeteries in San Diego County. He knows the public expects lush green turf and white pristine head markers that are lined up like soldiers in formation. Howard knows that he cannot do this alone. Howard has VA employees, volunteers and relationships with various organizations in order to have nearly 4,000 services last year at the two cemeteries.