Ceremony Reports
This section contains reports and photos from the August 31st Patriot Grave Marking Cermonies. We will add more content as it becomes available.
First Ceremony, Mission de Alcala
CASSAR President Don Littlefield looks on as Matthew Noell entertains with the fife.
The Color Guard marches in.
Presenting the Colors.
SAR Western District VP, Brian Stephens was the representation of PG Addington.
Lawrence E. Morrow, Esq.
Viceconsul Honoraria de España en San Diego
Musket salute.
Very Reverend Peter M. McGuine,
Mission San Diego de Alcala preforms the blessing of the bricks.
Color Guard and Musket team group photo
Marker bricks to commemorate the Patriots.
Color Guard and musket team at the Presidio.
resenting Rosaura Picasso, Cónsul Honoraria de España en San Diego, with a Certificate of Appreciation, (l-R) Jim McAdory, Rosaura, Don Littlefield.
Musket team.
The Color Guard and musket team ready to march.
Don Littlefield rings the bell after each Patriot name is read by John Ferris.
Presenting Jesus Benayas, President House of Spain, with a Certificate of Appreciation, (l-R) Jim McAdory, Jesus, Don Littlefield.
The musket team firing.
Group photo in front of the Presidio Museum. As a point of interest the museum will built by George Mossholder who was a member of the San Diego Chapter of SAR and our Chapters 4th President. Compatriot donated the facility to the local Historical Society.
(l-r) Ben Hobbins, Don Littlefield, Jim McAdory (seated), Fred Hall and Michael Hirman. Among the organizers for the Grave Marking project.
Pre Event Information
August 23, 2024 – The bricks are in and will be unveiled at the Mission Ceremony.
August 21, 2024 – Muster time for the Color Guard and musket team will be 30 minutes prior to the start of each ceremony. Please arrive at the designated time so that there will be time for a walk through for each ceremony.
August 18, 2024 – Pre-populated SAR Grave Marking Medal Application Forms are available for download. Click HERE to download the zip file which includes an instruction and information document. You will need to complete your personal information on both forms then print all pages and bring with you to the ceremony where they will be collected.
August 10, 2024 – CASSAR President, Don Littlefield, announced that SAR’s President General Darryl Addington has appointed Western District Vice President General Brian Stephens as his representative for this ceremony. With Brian’s participation as the PG’s representative our Grave Marking project is now a SAR National Event.
We have confirmed that the bricks should be in place at the Mission by August 31st. Our fundraising is still underway to help cover our cost. We are adding another bronze ( or brass ) plaque to our plans but it will be produced after we have raised sufficient funds to cover it’s significant cost. Our plan is to install it somewhere at the Presidio however that will require approval so we would anticipate this to happen next year.
July 20, 2024– The “marking” bricks that will be placed around the fountain in the Mission plaza have been ordered. The brick will carry the SAR Grave Marking logo (engraved in the bricks) and the names of the 18 Patriots.
June 20, 2024– We have confirmed that all of our San Diego Patriots appear on more than one source as being eligible and that none have been “marked” before. We have had our first planning group meeting and we were joined by Don Littlefield, President of CASSAR. We have also had a confirmation from the Honorary Consul of Spain for San Diego, Rosaura Picasso, and her Vice Consul, Lawrence Morrow, who plan to attend two of the ceremonies.
We are in a special fund-raising mode to cover the cost of the Patriot Grave Marking on August 31, 2024. This is the first opportunity in California where there will be enough Patriots honored to earn the coveted Patriot Grave Marking medal. We are raising funds to cover the cost of two marking locations with one in the courtyard of the Mission de Alcala with bricks around the fountain. The second location will be in the area of Presidio Hill, hopefully at the Presidio proper but that will require a lengthy approval process.
Our first program will begin at 10am on August 31st at the Mission de Alcala followed by the Presidio after lunch and a short break for travel to the Mormon Station Museum for the final ceremony. All activities will end by 4pm if not sooner. Each ceremony will run between 30-45 minutes but some may extend to a maximum of one hour.
May 31, 2024- We have confirmed with the Mission de Alcala that we will host the first ceremony to recognize Patriots at the Mission. The ceremony will be in the Mission courtyard (near the fountain, behind the bookstore) and will begin at 10am. It will be no more than one hour.
Following this ceremony we will hold the second ceremony at the Presidio followed with the final ceremony at or near the Mormon Battalion Museum. There will be plenty of time to travel (and have lunch) between the locations provided in the schedule.
We are positive that all of our chapter’s past and present members never believed that we would have the opportunity to participate in a Patriot Grave Marking Ceremony in San Diego. During the Revolutionary War this area was referred to as Alta California and was part of the Spanish empire and far removed from the battles of our fight for independence. But as we are aware SAR’s “Patriot” designation goes beyond military service and includes those that made donations of goods and services or paid taxes to support the effort. It is the latter group that let’s us draw a firm connection to Patriots that were buried in the San Diego area. SAR has recognized 18 such Patriots and it will be those that we will commemorate in at least three different locations in the Mission Valley area.
Our plan is to hold three different ceremonies in different locations over Labor Day weekend. Planning is still underway but we anticipate that all will be held on the same day. We expect that CASSAR leadership will participate and there is a possibility of NASSAR leadership to attend as well. Other groups will be invited to participate.
The exact locations of the Patriot graves is not known but we know they were buried in land held by the Mission however at that time that was 55,000 acres. According to historical records, the Presidio was the principal site in the area known as the “Kings Garden of the Dead” which is near the location of the large cross just below the museum. Records also indicate that there were other burials in and around the area. It was the custom of the Spanish to not place grave markers for their soldiers.
The three ceremony locations are the Presidio, Old Town Cemetery and the area in or around Mission de Alcala. We will not place any physical markers at these locations as one of the locations is “off limits”, and the other two require an extensive permitting process. We will develop an application to erect a plaque but this will require approval from multiple groups so we don’t anticipate permission being granted in our timeline. If we do get permission we will schedule and “unveiling” at a later date.
For those interested this is the best chance you will ever have of earning enough points to earn the elusive Patriot Grave Marking medal. The requirements for this medal require active roles in the planning and the ceremonies for 15 markings. While this seems impossible, each marking we are planning offers up to five points so participating in all three will earn 15 points in a single day. Here are the guidelines:
- For each compatriot seeking to earn the Grave Marking Medal, they must perform some form of “work” role.
- This could be researching the patriot.
- Assisting in the planning.
- Handling publicity
- Handing out programs.
- Providing at least $90 in funding per ceremony.
- Firing a musket.
- Leading:
- The Pledge of Allegiance.
- The SAR Pledge.
- The Invocation.
- The Benediction.
- The SAR Recessional.
- We will also plan on one mass song where everyone attending sings “America” or God Bless America” and each participant will qualify for points.
Note that being a member of the Color Guard does not qualify for the designated activities nor does simply attending events.
If you are interested please go to our Donation and Signup page.
This project was announced at our May 18th Chapter meeting but the planning for this began last year.
Kings Royal decree to make donations to support the Revolutionary War
