There are some important changes taking place at the Carlsbad Cemetery. We are in the process of building a section of the cemetery (located off of Boyd Drive) that will be dedicated to the burial of veterans, including reserves, as well as active duty service. The Carlsbad Memorial Veterans Cemetery will be a resting place for American heroes.
Not every municipality has a cemetery for veterans, but our neighbors in Roswell have one, and we worked closely with Roswell in developing plans for the cemetery here. We will be following national guidelines for this cemetery, which allows a veteran, spouse and up to one dependent. We will soon have guidelines posted on the City’s web page for families interested.
This cemetery will be located in the northwest corner of the Carlsbad Cemetery, directly in front of the Adon Rodriguez Honor Guard building. It’s going to be a beautiful area featuring sidewalks, shade structures and benches. We will be using upright white marble military gravestones, similar to what are used at national ceremonies.
We have also remodeled the nearby gazebo into a committal structure, which means there will be additional protection from the wind for families holding services there. Orlando Garza does an outstanding job maintaining our cemetery.
As you may have seen, we will be holding our Veteran’s Day ceremony this year at the Carlsbad Cemetery. We are planning a dedication of the Carlsbad Memorial Veterans Cemetery immediately after, on Nov. 11.
This project has been in development for several years, and we are looking forward to providing a respectful place for our community members who have devoted some of their life to military service. We sincerely appreciate our advisory board members, including Alan Wood, Suzanne Carlsen, Jason Shirley, Desiree Kicker and Sam Plumlee. This has been a dream of Adon Rodriguez for many years. We also appreciate Carlsbad City Council for supporting this effort. Council will soon be asked to approve the cemetery’s guidelines.
This cemetery is being supported by the State of New Mexico Department of Veterans Affairs. Additionally, fundraising has already raised around $7,500, which will be used to help veterans who can’t afford burial. Plans for a National Veterans Cemetery in Carlsbad are still in development. This Cemetery, once approved, will be at the Sunset Gardens Location.
Families interested in obtaining more information about the Carlsbad Memorial Veterans Cemetery should contact our cemetery office at (575) 236-1074. Our plan right now is to begin offering this service by Nov. 11, 2022. Thank you again, and thank you to our veterans for their service.
Sincerely,
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway