Cape Canaveral National Cemetery

Growing up in the small town of Middlebury in the state of Vermont, Memorial Day always signified many things when I was a kid.  It was a great indication that school was about to be done and summer break would soon be starting. Usually, it meant that winter was probably finally over.  And finally, I knew my dad would be marching in the Memorial Day parade down Main Street in Middlebury.  Dad was in the honor guard at the American Legion. It was always a pleasure to see him with his buddies marching down the street.

Here in Florida, the city of Melbourne usually holds a parade also.  I have gone the last few years and I have taken photos.  I plan to attend again tomorrow (Monday).

But for today, I wanted to see the new National Cemetery that was built in Brevard County.  It is at the northern end located in the small town of Scottsmoor.  There is an entrance right on US 1. The official name is the Cape Canaveral National Cemetery. Here is a blurb I found online:

"Cape Canaveral National Cemetery began interments on January 12, 2016. The new 318-acre cemetery located in Scottsmoor, Florida, will serve the burial needs of more than 163,000 Veterans in the cemetery’s service area for the next 100 years. The cemetery was officially dedicated on November 20, 2015."

I always feel kind of weird taking photos at a cemetery, I do not want to disturb people who may be visiting their relatives. I will admit, this is a beautiful place. I read that they have over 1600 graves already. Here are a few of the photos I took this morning.

Abraham Lincoln Quote on wall

Looking North from center of cemetery

An osprey was keeping guard

Busy bees on some of the flowers throughout the cemetery

Looking South in the center of the Cemetery

More beautiful flowers

Graves on the West end of the National Cemetery

 These were all from the Vietnam War era and before...

One of the many graves at the Cemetery

More recent graves

I think these stones are from more recent soldiers including Iraq and Afghanistan.  I did not walk through these graves since there were lots of families visiting. I decided to take a photo from the distance. There is lots of room for more gravesites, it is too bad we have to have wars that will fill them...