SAN DIEGO — A Civil War-era Medal of Honor recipient forgotten in an unmarked grave for nearly a century finally got a funeral Thursday when he was given full military honors and reburied at a national cemetery.
The Army gave Sgt. Charles Schroeter a rifle salute and a bugler played “Taps” on the cloudy morning at Miramar National Cemetery. Scores of veterans from past wars ranging from Vietnam to Afghanistan attended the ceremony. Some dressed in uniforms and dresses from the Civil War era. Among the crowd were two Medal of Honor recipients.
Schroeter was found thanks to efforts to locate all those awarded the nation’s highest military award. “On behalf of a grateful nation, may you find this new place of rest to be the home of honor you rightfully deserve,” Army Brig. Gen. Joseph M. Martin told the crowd.
The German-born U.S. soldier was given the Medal of Honor in 1869 for his gallantry during battles between settlers and Native Americans out West.
Researchers from the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States discovered records showing Schroeter’s ashes were in an unmarked crypt with other unclaimed remains at the private Greenwood Memorial Park in San Diego. The group sent a Medal of Honor plaque to the cemetery staff in 2013 to have it placed on his grave. That’s when the cemetery’s staff learned Schroeter — who never married and had no children — was buried in the grave space set aside for unclaimed cremated remains.
“This guy should be buried at our national cemetery. It feels more befitting, proper and appropriate as the final resting place for a war veteran and Medal of Honor recipient,” said Cathy Fiorelli, director of Greenwood Memorial Park who also serves on the board of the Miramar cemetery’s foundation. She submitted the necessary paperwork. Schroeter is the first Medal of Honor recipient buried at San Diego’s newest national cemetery.
The box containing his remains was put in a horse-drawn hearse. An honor guard from Fort Irwin’s 11th Armored Cavalry accompanied the hearse to the cemetery’s Memorial Circle as Marine Corps fighter jets conducted training flights nearby.
