San Joaquín Valley National Cemetery — Local services in Los Banos

Thank you San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery for making my father's service personal and putting me and my family at ease. Your staff was easy to work with and the service was lovely.

To anyone that has not done this please note the following for your mortuary: 1. Hearse should arrive 30 minutes prior to scheduled service. 2. Designated family member managing the service should also arrive 30 min prior to service. 3. Managing member will meet with the cemetery staff and finalize preparations. 4. Attendees will line up behind the hearse / transport vehicle and be taken to a designated area for your service. 5. The location we had was site B and it was an outdoor covered patio that would seat about 20 people with additional standing room. 6. Honor guard delivers your loved one along with additional family members as pall bears if desired. 7. Flag is folded and delivered to identified family member 8. Taps is played 9. Family or friends are allowed to speak for a few minutes (5-10) 10. You may then follow the transport vehicle to burial site. 11. Family and friends will wait behind a chained off area to observe their family member getting lowered and may return at 4pm that day. Please note you cannot stay for the...

we had my Aunt' funeral there. no one helped with the procession to the grave and since there was 10 cars and we were on a hill, we did not see the cars and hearse leave. The first 5 cars that were behind the hearse left but because we were on a hill and there were 2 cars in front of us that were unoccupied, which we had no knowledge either because we couldn't see into the cars. No one was there to direct us. We missed the whole service. This was so upsetting and this cemetery is so unorganized. Then after the service you have to wait until 4 o'clock to go see the grave. Our service was at 10am and we drove over 250 miles for this. Never again. This was just a terrible and...

It has been 10 years this October since I traveled alone to the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery to visit the grave of my beloved veteran who died the previous April. I have not forgotten how quiet and peaceful it was that day in October. The staff in the office could not have been kinder to me during my first and only visit. I live more than 1000 miles from here. My visit was on a weekday. There were very few people in the cemetery besides me as I walked from the office to my beloved's grave and then to the graves of his mother and father. It was not easy for me to leave the cemetery and so I walked through the cemetery for a long time and spent time...