Remembering the Fallen at Old Savannah
Rifles used in a 21-gun salute lie at rest in Rosemead’s Savannah Pioneer Cemetery. Situated at the end of the Old Spanish Trail that carried the Yankee wagon trains to Southern California, Savannah is among our region’s most historic graveyards — and unfortunately among the most threatened.
Today I attended a moving tribute to the many veterans buried there, some whose service hails back to the War of 1812. Later this week I’ll have a full update on the history and plight of Savannah. For now, I simply want to take time to honor those whose many sacrifices nurtured and preserved the freedoms we enjoy today.
I don’t normally gush with patriotism. But hearing the speeches of current and former soldiers, along with the jarring 21-gun salute and the mournful bugling of Taps, I couldn’t help but brush away a stray tear or two. It wasn’t so much a stirring of grief, but of great pride. There we were, standing together, people of every race, creed and background — descendants of pioneering families together with recent immigrants — all paying our shared gratitude to the fallen of history. Only the truly cynical could fail to appreciate such a moment.
In the end, there are really no words to capture the experience, except to say it was all so wondrously and uniquely…”American.”
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