From the National Cemetery Overlook in the Presidio, the rows of white headstones slope toward San Francisco Bay. The Golden Gate Bridge is off to the left. Beneath its San Francisco end sits Fort Point, the brick fort that guarded the entrance long before there was a bridge.

Those landmarks offer a place to pause this Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11. The date marks the 1918 armistice that ended the fighting in World War I. Congress renamed Armistice Day in 1954 to honor American veterans of every war. Today the holiday recognizes all who served in the U.S. armed forces, in wartime and in peace.

The Presidio’s hillside cemetery

Spain established the Presidio in 1776 on the traditional lands of the Yelamu, a Ramaytush Ohlone people. It later became a Mexican outpost and then a U.S. Army post during the Mexican-American War. In 1994, the Presidio joined the national park system.

The Army’s post cemetery became San Francisco National Cemetery in 1884, the first national cemetery on the Pacific Coast. Among those buried there is William H. Thompkins, a Buffalo Soldier in the 10th U.S. Cavalry who received the Medal of Honor for helping rescue wounded troops in Cuba in 1898. The American War Mothers’ monument, erected by the San Francisco chapter in 1934, adds another part of the story by recognizing what war asks of families.

From Fort Point to the Pacific

The Army completed Fort Point in 1861 to defend the entrance to San Francisco Bay. Decades later, Golden Gate Bridge chief engineer Joseph Strauss incorporated an arch into the bridge design to preserve the fort. The Army put the site back to use during World War II.

A few miles east, Fort Mason headed a different kind of military operation. The Army’s San Francisco Port of Embarkation coordinated a network that expanded across the bay to the Oakland Army Terminal. During World War II, nearly 1.65 million troops and about 23.6 million ship tons of cargo moved through that network for the Pacific war effort.

The warehouses and piers at lower Fort Mason are still there. Standing by the water, it’s easy to follow the route those ships took out through the Golden Gate. The bridge was among the last sights of home for many who shipped out and among the first for those who came back.

Honoring veterans in San Francisco today

The city’s ties to veterans also run through Fort Miley, where San Francisco’s VA hospital opened on November 11, 1934, when the holiday was still called Armistice Day. The medical center continues to serve veterans today. The city’s County Veterans Service Office helps veterans and their families apply for benefits and request military records.

If you visit the Presidio this week, take a few minutes at the overlook or stop at a marker and read the name. And if a veteran in your life wants to talk about their service, make time to listen. The city’s landmarks can tell us where people served and where they left from. The people who served can tell us what it was like.

Veterans Day service at Presidio Chapel

The Interfaith Center at the Presidio will hold a free Veterans Day service on Wednesday, November 11, from 11 a.m. to noon at Presidio Chapel, 130 Fisher Loop. Michael Blecker, executive director emeritus of the San Francisco veterans nonprofit Swords to Plowshares, will give the keynote. All ages are welcome. The organizers request an advance RSVP at presidiointerfaith@gmail.com.

Sources & References

Presidio Trust event listing · Veterans Day Interfaith Service

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs · History of Veterans Day · San Francisco VA history

Presidio Trust · Presidio history · National Cemetery Overlook

National Park Service · San Francisco National Cemetery · Fort Point · World War II Port of Embarkation

San Francisco Human Services Agency · County Veterans Service Office

Photo archive · U.S. Army photograph via Wikimedia Commons