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Fort Logan: A place where vets rest

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Contributed by: Karen Groves/YourHub.com on 3/12/2008

Editor's note: Visit our Faces of South Metro page, where YourHub.com staff and readers can introduce you to more people who make this part of the metro area what it is. Andy Alonzo got into the groundskeeping trade after he left active duty in the Marine Corps in 1999. "I started working at the Veterans Hospital as a patient escort. When a groundskeeper position open up, I applied," the Lamar native said. Now he is the grounds work leader at Fort Logan National Cemetery, a 214-acre site south of Hampden Avenue on the east side of Sheridan Boulevard, where 94,000 people are buried. A military demand for precision is reflected in the alignment of the white marble headstones, which stand at attention in straight rows from any perspective. "Each headstone has an address that corresponds to a master map and each veteran's plot has a specific number," Alonzo said, although distance between headstones differs depending on whether they reside on cremated remains or standard crypts, all the headstones are measured to rise 25 inches from ground level. He starts his days at 7 a.m. and consults with his foreman about what needs to be done, whether it's mowing the grounds, trimming trees, dredging salt from one of the two lakes, setting headstones -- which are dug by hand with a trenching tool -- or preparing a site for a burial. His eight-person crew then moves from one section of the cemetery to another. "Every job is done by at least two people," he said. He explained the necessity for safety, since heavy equipment is operated for digging and lowering crypts into graves. "I make sure they're trained, give them their mission and let them go. Most everyone who works here is a vet," he said. "We rotate personnel, so everyone knows how to do everything." Alonzo said some crew members are part of the Compensated Work Therapy program, which is a transitional program to help vets who may be homeless or troubled get back into the work force. Alonzo added that jobs at the cemetery don't see a high turnover rate. "Some people have worked here for 30 years," he said. While four crew members lower a crypt into a pre-assigned grave -- they are lined with concrete and are 7 feet deep to accommodate two family members, one placed atop the other -- office personnel may be greeting family members for a burial. Alonzo said he'd noticed more burials. "Some days we see nine, other days we might see up to 25," he said. Alonzo hopes to move to one of several new cemeteries in the nation as a foreman, but doesn't know when that will happen. "It's the next step for me," he said. Alonzo stays busy patrolling the grounds. If a civilian or soldier approaches him looking for a loved one's plot, he takes them there personally. The 46-year-old said he's been in government service for 27 years. Ten of those he has spent at Fort Logan. "It's self-rewarding," he said. "It's the best job I've had. I take pride in serving our nation's vets, I have a good feeling about it. It's the last thing we do for our veterans and their families." Fort Logan Cemetery 4400 W. Kenyon Ave. 303-761-0117

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