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MANSFIELD - In 1945, John Robertston was just 23-years-old, but had been serving in the U.S. Navy for more than two years. It was during World War II that Robertson, while serving on the USS Bunker Hill aircraft carrier, was killed in a kamikaze attack.

Robertson's story and those of 57 other Mansfield veterans were recently compiled by Veterans Agent John Hogan as part of a new walking tour of the Spring Brook Cemetery on Spring Street.

Hogan put together a tour booklet that allows residents to walk through the cemetery and see the tombstones of local veterans who died in every American war from the Revolution to Vietnam.

Hogan, whose duties as veterans' agent include tending to the graves, said the idea came to him as he was out looking at the different gravesites.

"In doing so, I learned some interesting facts about them," he said. Facts such as how Amos White, like so many other Minutemen, responded to the calls of the American Revolution. Or when Frank Ryder served in the Hospital Corps during the Spanish-American War, a war that saw more American soldiers die from disease than actual combat.

The tour, which is less than a mile long, is designed to show residents all the history that is right in their own back yard.

"They can see a part of Mansfield and part of the world and how it all fits together," said Hogan.

As he walks the tour, Hogan can easily spout off information about many of the town's veterans - the ships they served on, the companies they marched with, the battles they fought.

He said the booklet is the culmination of years information he has picked up along the way.

"I had all of the information there, this was just about pulling it together and presenting it in a readable way," he said.

The booklet contains with a map, showing those taking the tour where to head to next and detailed summaries of the different veterans and their parts in the American wars.

With more than 500 veterans buried in the cemetery, Hogan said he had to be judicious in selecting who would be in the book. He said he wanted to make the tour less than a mile, so that it wouldn't take up too much time and elderly residents could walk it as well. He said he also wanted to make sure that each grave selected told an interesting story and that each veteran who died in active duty was honored.

Hogan said he has presented a copy of the booklet to the Board of Selectmen, the Town Manager, the Mansfield Historical Commission. He added that he has plans to make a copy available to residents at the library, as well as town hall.

He said the tour will be great for local Boy Scouts, who must visit a site on the National Registry and write about it in order to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. The cemetery was added to the National Registry a few years ago. As he walked along the tour with a smile on his face, Hogan, who served in Vietnam, said he was glad to do something special for his fellow veterans.

"It's been great to connect the town to so much history," he said.

MATT KAKLEY can be reached at 508-236-0333 or at mkakley@thesunchronicle.com.