Veterans Section at Bryan City Cemetery Honors Service and Sacrifice

The City of Bryan offers a special place for Brazos Valley families to remember loved ones who served our country.

Section 28 of the Bryan City Cemetery Annex is designated as a Veterans Section, reserved for veterans and their spouses. The section was designed to mirror the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Cemetery format, and is believed to be the only municipal cemetery section with this distinction in the country.

“This option provides veterans and their families with local access to the VA’s memorial benefits,” said Ellen Fuller, a Navy daughter and wife who has volunteered countless hours serving Brazos Valley cemeteries as the co-chair of Wreaths Across America Brazos Valley. “Yes, qualified veterans may be buried at national cemeteries, such as in Houston or San Antonio, but families tell me having their loved ones buried locally allows for convenient visits, which helps with the grieving process.”

There is space for up to 1,700 veterans and spouses for double-stacking burials, with almost 70 currently laid to rest. The section also offers four newly dedicated columbaria for cremation inurnments; two are reserved for veterans and their spouses and the other two are for civilians. Veterans receive standard headstones or bronze plaques issued by the VA, and the City of Bryan’s Parks, Recreation and Facilities Department maintain the grounds.

“Coming from a military family and serving in the Navy myself, the Veterans Section is near and dear to my heart,” said Cemetery Sexton Robert Jackson, who oversees the city’s cemeteries. “We want to honor veterans of the Brazos Valley by providing them a respectful final resting place and giving their families a peaceful place to pay homage to them.”

The section features several remembrance elements, referred to as the Veterans of Brazos Valley Memorial (VBVM), which have been funded by Wreaths Across America Brazos Valley volunteers and partners:

• The front of the section is marked with a flagpole and granite monument, 8 feet long and 2 ½ feet tall, which is engraved “’VETERANS OF BRAZOS VALLEY’ ‘…stood where duty required (them) to stand.’ – President George H.W. Bush.” Medallions of the seven United States uniformed service branches are featured along the bottom edge.
• Lights were recently installed to shine on the monument and flagpole.
• A VA-style headstone is set in the ground behind the monument, featuring an eighth medallion for POW-MIA (Prisoners of War-Missing in Action) and an engraving honoring the unknown soldier.
• A granite Bench of Reflection invites family to rest and remember their loved ones, or the public to pay their respects. It includes QR code medallions to assist families in locating their loved ones.
• The Cemetery Annex and VBVM can be hard to find, so families and visitors are now greeted at the entrance by new signs.
• Forty granite pillars, etched with the cemetery name, section and plot number range, and topped with a QR code medallion directing visitors to findagrave.com, will be placed at each section in the Bryan City Cemetery, the Annex and Oakwood Cemetery to improve navigation.

Interested in planning ahead? The Veterans Section of the Bryan City Cemetery Annex is open to veterans who died while on active duty or received an honorable discharge, as well as their spouses. Documentation of service or honorable discharge is required to purchase a plot.

For more information, visit bryantx.gov/cemeteries or contact Cemetery Sexton Robert Jackson at 979-209-5230 or email rojackson@bryantx.gov.

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