History
Although the Army post in the area was established in 1875, and construction of Fort Sam Houston was constructed the following year no burials were made in the area that is currently the cemetery until 1926. In 1931 an additional 60 acres (24 ha) were added, and it was considered to be an addition to San Antonio National Cemetery. In 1937, it was made a National Cemetery in its own right and renamed to Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. In 1947 several other Forts in Texas, including Fort McIntosh, were closed and their cemetery interments were transferred to Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.
Interred at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery are 140 axis prisoners of war (POWs) from World War II who Died in captivity. 133 are German, 4 are Italian, and 3 are Japanese. After the end of hostilities most POWs who died in captivity were returned to their respective countries, these 140 were disinterred from various Texas prisoner of war camps and reburied at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. Of these POW's who are buried at Fort Sam Houston, one is Hugo Krauss who was murdered by fellow Nazi POW's in Camp Hearne in 1943. When originally interred these graves were isolated from the American graves. There are two graves that have been erroneously documented as "Nazi" graves because they have been marked with the Knight's Cross and a pro-nazi slogan on the headstone, the Knight's Cross markings merely represent that these two soldiers were at one time awarded the Knight's Cross, one Germany's highest awards. These soldiers were probably members of Germany's famed "Afrika Korps" who were taken prisoner in North Afrika.
Read more about this topic: Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery
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