Stock Photo - Scene in Sitka National Cemetary on Veterans Day 2012 Gen Jefferson C Davis laid out the cemetery at Sitka in the late 19th century Most of the interments were soldiers and sailors from the Marine base and Naval hospital Subsequently, the land was loaned to the U S Department of the Interior as a home for indigent prospectors From 1912 until 1921, the cemetery was practically abandoned and a dense growth of trees and underbrush grew up almost obscuring the site In 1920, representatives of the Sitka American Legion post wrote to the Secretary of War calling attention to the neglected cemetery and asking for remedial action, they were told no funds were available In 1921, they appealed to the Secretary of the Navy, who allocated $1,200 toward reconditioning the site