Recently we paid a visit to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola Florida. Last time we visited there we drove by the cemetery, but did not stop. This time we made a point of paying a short visit. The Barrancas National Cemetery is on the base. There is of course, a Wikipedia page, where they state the size of the cemetery to be about 95 acres, with something over 32, 500 burials as of 2005.
There were many of these stones, Unknown.
There were also a lot of these small stones with numbers, the spacing indicated possible burials. We did not stop at the office to ask about them.
Barrancas National Cemetery has a monument honoring soldiers who died from yellow fever. It was erected in 1884 by the Marine Guard of the Pensacola Navy Yard. This tall spire is actually what is lovingly referred to as a "zinker". At colorado-cemeteries.com there is a very nice article about zinkers, which are sometimes called White Bronze, but in reality are made of cast zinc.
Close ups of a couple of the sides, as you can see the detail is amazing and still sharp looking:
One of the tail tell features of a zinker for me, even when I am yards away are the panels. They are held on by screws. There is one zinker in our home county in SE Michigan where one of the panels has been lost to the ravages of time, there is a hole there, and you can look inside the monument, it is hollow.
Thanking them for their service, we leave them to rest in peace:
* The last photo has had photo editing filters applied for effect.
** Barrancas National Cemetery has a Find A Grave presence.
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5 comments:
Whenever I come across a military cemetery like this one I always get a catch in my throat. I think it's something to do with the fact that all those stones represent such sacrifice. I've come across a few 'zinkers' in my travels, but did not know what they were, so thanks for including that info..
Cheers,
Jennifer
I was in Pensacola once and had no idea a cemetery existed there -- especially one of this size. It does make you get a catch in your throat.
Your last photo is very nice, regardless what you did to make it that way. Thanks for sharing. Never been to Pensacola.
I live in Pensacola, FL (born and raised). Today 7/4/2014 marks two years since the passing of my grandfather, who served in the US Army. Both he and my grandma are buried at NAS Pensacola Barrancas cemetery. It is a beautiful place to show the people there and their sacrifices they made (whether they died in action or not they did sacrifice things in life to serve our military).
It was nice to stumble upon your blog about the cemetery and the wondrous beauty it entails. Thank you.
RIP grindad, 1 SGT Roy L Straughn
Forgot to mention... the Wikipedia page shows the size of the cemetery grounds as being 45.1 acres.
If ever planning a trip to or around Pensacola, FL there is more to see/do on Pensacola NAS.... the National Museum of Naval Aviation is worth a trip to visit, as are the Blue Angels for practice flights and air shows and even the lighthouse (which is said to be haunted). Along with these wondrous places, you can also visit the forts in Pensacola and Ft. Pickens, as well as several other "must see" attractions.
If you wish to know anything, you can contact me. =)
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