The United States National Cemetery System is a system of 164 cemeteries in the United States and its territories. The authority to create military burial places came during the American Civil War, in an act passed by the U.S. Congress on July 17, 1862. [1] By the end of 1862, 12 national cemeteries had been established. [2] Two of the nation's most iconic military cemeteries, Arlington National Cemetery and Gettysburg National Cemetery were established in 1864 and 1863, respectively.
The National Cemetery Administration of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) maintains 148 national cemeteries as well as the Nationwide Gravesite Locator, which can be used to find burial locations of American military veterans through their searchable website. [3] [4] The Department of the Army maintains two national cemeteries, Arlington National Cemetery and United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery. [5] The National Park Service (NPS) maintains 14 national cemeteries associated with historic sites and battlefields. [6]
The American Battle Monuments Commission, an independent agency, maintains 26 American military cemeteries and other memorials outside the United States.
12 national cemeteries were established in 1862. A total of 34 were established during the Civil War from 1861-1865. Additional cemeteries were set up after the United States Civil War by Edmund Burke Whitman. [7] Congress passed additional laws to establish and protect national cemeteries in 1867. [8] The National Cemetery Administration lists a total of 73 Civil War-Era National Cemeteries from 1861-1868. [9]
Final military honors are provided for qualified veterans by volunteer veteran or National Guard details known as Memorial Honor Details (MHD), upon application by family members through their choice of mortuary handling the deceased.
*Please note that the year listed is the official date of establishment listed by the VA. This may differ from the year of the first burial, the oldest remains, the year the land was acquired, etc. Many post cemeteries have been given national cemetery status as late as 2020, which is consideribly later than the original cemetery. For example Vancouver Barracks post cemetery was established in 1849 and became a national cemetery in 2020--one of 11 cemeteries transferred from the Army to NCA in 2019–2020 per Exec. Order No. 13781, 2017. [10]
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| Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs |
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| Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health | ||
| Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Benefits | ||
| Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Memorial Affairs | ||
| Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals | ||
Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. From 1868 to 1970, it was observed on May 30. Since 1971, it is observed on the last Monday of May.
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing lifelong healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers and outpatient clinics located throughout the country. Non-healthcare benefits include disability compensation, vocational rehabilitation, education assistance, home loans, and life insurance. The VA also provides burial and memorial benefits to eligible veterans and family members at 135 national cemeteries.
Arlington National Cemetery is one of two cemeteries in the United States National Cemetery System that are maintained by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres in Arlington County, Virginia.
Chalmette National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located within Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in Chalmette, Louisiana. The cemetery is a 17.5-acre (7.1 ha) graveyard adjacent to the site that was once the battleground of the Battle of New Orleans, which took place at the end of the War of 1812. Despite its proximity to the site of the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812, the majority of the interments are of soldiers who were casualties or veterans of the American Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam War. The cemetery was subsequently closed to new interments.
United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery, in Washington, D.C., is located next to the U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home. It is one of only two national cemeteries administered by the Department of the Army, the other being Arlington National Cemetery. The national cemetery is adjacent to the historic Rock Creek Cemetery and to the Soldiers' Home.
Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located on Fort Leavenworth, a United States Army installation north of Leavenworth, Kansas. It was officially established in 1862, but was used as a burial ground as early as 1844, and was one of the twelve original United States National Cemeteries designated by Abraham Lincoln. The cemetery is the resting place of nine Medal of Honor recipients, but most are the less famous casualties of war. It was named for Brigadier General Henry Leavenworth, who was re-interred there in 1902 from Woodland Cemetery in Delhi, New York. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it occupies approximately 36.1 acres (14.6 ha) and was site to over 22,00 interments, as of 2020. It is maintained by Leavenworth National Cemetery.
Beverly National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in Edgewater Park Township, in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses 64.6 acres (26.1 ha), and as 2021 had over 50,000 interments.
Philadelphia National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the West Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1862 as nine leased lots in seven private cemeteries in the Philadelphia region. The current location was established in 1881, and the graves of soldiers were reinterred from the various leased lots. It is administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, and managed from offices at Washington Crossing National Cemetery. It is 13 acres in size and contains 13,202 burials.
Puerto Rico National Cemetery is a United States national cemetery located in the city of Bayamón, in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It encompasses 108.2 acres (43.8 ha) of land, and at the end of 2005, had 44,722 interments. Until 2021, it was the only United States National Cemetery in Puerto Rico. A second United States National Cemetery was built in Morovis, Puerto Rico because the cemetery in Bayamón has reached its capacity.
Cypress Hills National Cemetery is a 18.2-acre (7.4 ha) cemetery located in the Cypress Hills neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It is the only United States National Cemetery in New York City and has more than 21,100 interments of veterans and civilians.
Fort Richardson National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located on the Fort Richardson United States Army installation near Anchorage, Alaska. It encompasses 39 acres (16 ha) and as of the end of 2020, it had more than 8,000 interments. For much of the year, the gravesites are inaccessible due to snowfall.
Richmond National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery three miles (4.8 km) east of Richmond in Henrico County, Virginia. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses 9.7 acres (3.9 ha), and as of 2021 had more than 11,000 interments. It is closed to new interments. Richmond National Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
Quincy National Cemetery is a small United States National Cemetery located in the city of Quincy, in Adams County, Illinois. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses slightly less than a half an acre, and as 2014, had 690 interments. It is currently closed to new interments, and is maintained by Rock Island National Cemetery.
Danville National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the city of Danville, in Boyle County, Kentucky. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it has 394 interments and is currently closed to new interments.
The Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs is a senior position within the United States Department of Veterans Affairs that directs the National Cemetery Administration, which maintains 150 national cemeteries and provides burial services for veterans of the United States military and eligible family members.
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) maintains many cemeteries specifically devoted to veterans. Most have various rules regarding what must take place in order to be interred there.
Yellowstone National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located one mile north of Laurel, Yellowstone County, Montana, at 55 Buffalo Trail Road, administered by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. The 10.5 acres (4.2 ha) cemetery began as a satellite cemetery of Black Hills National Cemetery; Sturgis, South Dakota. On 18 May 2015 the Department of Veterans Affairs created five national areas of responsibility. Fort Logan National Cemetery, Denver, Colorado, in the newly formed Continental Division, assumed supervisory responsibility for Yellowstone National Cemetery. Yellowstone National Cemetery is the first of eight smaller national burial grounds the Department of Veterans Affairs began in its Rural Veterans Burial Initiative for largely rural states in America.
The Union Confederate Monument, also known as the Unknown Confederate Gravesite Monument, is an outdoor Confederate memorial at Union Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri. The 15-foot (4.6 m) granite obelisk monument was erected by the U.S. government in 1911 to commemorate the 15 Confederate prisoners of war buried at the site. The exact location of their individual graves is unknown. The memorial includes two bronze tablets displaying the names of the prisoners, who were captured during the Battle of Westport.
Bellevue Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Danville, Kentucky. It was established in the 1840s and was originally named Danville City Cemetery.
Atlantic Gardens Veterans Cemetery is in the United States territory of Puerto Rico. The December 10, 1898 Treaty of Paris transferred Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the United States control as of December 23 of that year. This cemetery was dedicated in May 2014, and designed for approximately 23,000 burials. Located in the Montaña ward of Aguadilla, the cemetery is on the Garden of Eden Boulevard.