Full Name: Richard William SUTER
Nationality: American 
Rank: Fireman (2nd class)
Service: United States Navy
Unit: –
Age at Death: 21
Date of Death: 10 Feb 1918
Service Number: 134-97-49
Cemetery: Calvary Cemetery, Galveston, Texas, USA
Grave Reference: –
CWGC Certificate: n/a
EVERY MAN REMEMBERED: n/a
SOURCE: http://www.ahgp.org/world-war-1/surname-sunderland-to-szyrowinski.html
(Officers and Enlisted Men of the United States Navy Lost Lives During the World War ~ April 6, 1917 ~ November 11, 1918)
Next of kin: Brother, Alfred A. Suter, 4907 Avenue R, Galveston, Tex.
Records show that William was originally buried in an unmarked Veteran’s grave in Calvary Catholic Cemetery. It was not until October 1940 that his brother, Alfred, applied to have a headstone made and delivered. This was just one of 61,000 applications made to the Cemeterial Division of the Quartermaster General. In the early frontier years, garrison commanders were expected to bury their dead. During the Civil War, however, the numbers of the dead became too much for them to handle. On September 11, 1861, the War Department began to take command of the responsibility of granting deceased soldiers the privilege of a marked grave.
Alfred was serving on board USS Wasp at the time of his application. He completed the application form on 27 October 1940, it was approved 5 August 1941 and the stone was shipped on 29 November that year.
