The cremated remains of an Army Medal of Honor winner that have been in an unmarked crypt in San Diego since 1921 will be delivered to the Miramar National Cemetery Wednesday in preparation for burial with full military honors on Thursday.
Sgt. Charles Schroeter will become the first person with the military’s highest award to be laid to rest at the newer of San Diego’s military cemeteries. A brief ceremony is scheduled when his remains arrive.
According to the Miramar National Cemetery Support Foundation, Schroeter, who was born in 1837 in Germany, came to the U.S. in 1860 and fought in numerous Civil War battles.
However, he earned his Medal of Honor several years later during fighting against Apache Indians in the Battle of Rocky Mesa on Oct. 20, 1869, in southeastern Arizona. His citation only states “gallantry in action.”
He retired after three decades of military service, co-owned a candy and tobacco shop in Buffalo, New York, and came to San Diego in 1918, where he died three years later. He had no family.
“Charles Schroeter fought in fierce battles to preserve the Union, and to free an enslaved people,” said Dennis Schoville, president and CEO of the Support Foundation.
“He fought to protect Americans as they moved west across a vast and hostile continent,” Schoville said. “He was among the bravest of men and, during 30 years of military service, remained devoted to his adopted country.”
He called Schroeter “a true American hero, and patriot, who deserves to finally rest with honor.”
Research by the Congressional Medal of Honor Historical Society led to his remains at Greenwood Memorial Park in the Mount Hope section of San Diego, along with other unclaimed remains.
—City News Service
