For the third consecutive year, the Veterans Day ceremony at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery is on the chopping block.
Citing “the federal government’s efforts to improve efficiency,” Fort Sam Houston Cemetery Director Gerald Lefler said, “We are considering discontinuing the Veterans Day ceremony” in a letter read at the San Antonio Veterans Advisory Commission meeting Monday.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which manages the cemetery, considered canceling the ceremony each of the past two years, but separate efforts by then-U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, a U.S. Navy veteran, saved it.
In 2024, the VA, citing low-attendance, sought to consolidate and cut costs by discontinuing the Fort Sam Houston ceremony, and only having one at the San Antonio National Cemetery. A congressional letter led by Gonzales convinced the agency to keep both ceremonies.
Then, amid a government shutdown in 2025, the ceremony almost didn’t happen, until Gonzales and his office organized it themselves. Both times, local veterans objected to the proposed cancellations.
Gonzales resigned from Congress in April, and his office currently sits vacant.
Lefler’s letter said he is seeking input from veteran service organizations and city officials before a final decision is made. The smaller San Antonio National Cemetery ceremony would still continue as normal, according to the letter.
More than 180,000 veterans and eligible family members are buried in Fort Sam cemetery, compared with around 3,000 in San Antonio cemetery.
District 9 representative to the commission, Mike Toreno, a U.S. Air Force veteran, raised concern with the proposed discontinuation over attendance issues.
“Whether there’s one family or 100, can we do better in advertising and encouraging those to participate in these ceremonies before you just arbitrarily cut the service out?” he said at the meeting.
Steven C. Price Sr., a U.S. Army veteran with the organization The VOICES of Our Veterans, was in attendance and also took issue with the proposal.
“My mother, my father and my son are at that cemetery, so I object,” Price said.
Other members of the audience appeared upset at the proposed event cancellation, however they weren’t allowed to speak directly to the commission during the meeting.
“It’s a public meeting,” Price said. “If you don’t let us speak, you’re going to have a problem.”
Chairman John Gauna said this was the first time the commission had a crowd larger than two people, and no one had signed up to give a public comment on the proposal prior to the meeting.
He said the commission would work to bring a representative of the VA cemetery to the October meeting, and that he didn’t want to see cuts to veteran services either.
“We don’t want any less veteran recognition than we have now. We want more,” Gauna said.
