Memphis National Cemetery: Still open, now improved, forever hallowed
U.S. Navy veteran Michael Sinnock prepares the final resting place for a fellow veteran at the Memphis National Cemetery on Tuesday, Jan. 7. The cemetery is the resting place for military veterans from all the nation’s wars since the Civil War. In all, 43,700 veterans, spouses and their children are buried on the grounds. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Randall Crow, cemetery foreman at Memphis National Cemetery, stands in front of an ossuary on Tuesday, Jan. 7, that was installed at the cemetery. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Memphis National Cemetery workers Jesse Rowand and Howard Hurst prepare a gravesite for an interment later in the day on Tuesday, Jan. 7. Veterans of the Air Force and Army, respectively, the pair said it’s an honor to continue to serve their brothers and sisters in arms by giving them a dignified final resting place. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Howard Hurst fixes a wreath recently laid on the grave of Capt. Nathaniel Reed, a Newburyport, Massachusetts, native who fought for the Union during the Civil War and died from disease or a severe arm injury. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Randall Crow, cemetery foreman at Memphis National Cemetery, looks up at a monument that was donated by the state of Minnesota to honor its fallen sons who died in Tennessee during the Civil War and were subsequently buried in the cemetery. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Memphis National Cemetery may be surrounded by obstacles that could keep visitors away, but the park-like burial grounds are undergoing a $10 million upgrade to make it easier to celebrate and pay respects to the heroes buried there.
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Memphis National Cemetery West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery VeteransTom Bailey
Tom Bailey retired in January as a business reporter at The Daily Memphian, and after 40 years in journalism. A Tupelo, Mississippi, native, he graduated from Mississippi State University. He has lived in Midtown for 36 years.
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