Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
The Forde Files No 157
The Bakersfield National Cemetery is located at 30338 Bear Mountain Blvd. (State Route 223) in Arvin, exit 131 on State Route 58, one-half mile south of SR 58. It is open daily from sunrise to sunset. It was one of six new national cemeteries authorized by Congress in 2003. A grid system of numbered graves makes it easy to locate a specific person.
Maj. Jason George, who died in a car bombing in Iraq in 2009 at age 38, can be found in Section 12, site 81.
Among those listed as notable, actor Charles Napier, who was a sergeant in the 11th Airborne and died in 2011 at age 75, is buried at Section col-A, row D, site 15.
National Treasure – Built on a 500-acre parcel of rolling, golden, oak-studded land donated by the Tejon Ranch Company, the Bakersfield National Cemetery is the resting place for men and women who have served in the United States armed forces, their spouses and certain members of their families. The site, opened in 2009, is beautifully designed, a place of dignity and respect, and a shining example of what the National Cemetery Administration and the federal government can do. Most of those who are buried there are older veterans who served and lived out their lives; some, like Tehachapi's Maj. Jason George (see inset), died in combat in recent conflicts. The upcoming Nov. 11 veterans Day honors all those who have served. The national cemeteries are a promise to them that the nation will honor them always.
