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# June 2008

# VA National Cemeteries -- History and Development

On July 17, 1862, in the second summer of a war that few had believed
would last more than a few months, Congress enacted legislation
authorizing the president to purchase "cemetery grounds ... for soldiers
who shall have died in the service of the country." Fourteen national
cemeteries were established that first year, including one in
Sharpsburg, Md., where 4,476 Union soldiers were laid to rest after the
one-day Battle of Antietam. (By comparison, approximately 3,000
American, British and Canadian fighters died on June 6, 1944, during the
invasion of Normandy.)

By 1870, the remains of nearly 300,000 Union dead had been buried in 73
national cemeteries. Most of the cemeteries were located in the
Southeast, near the battlefields and campgrounds of the Civil War. After
the war, Army teams searched the countryside for the remains of soldiers
who died in battle. They were buried in the new national cemeteries,
which were enclosed by brick walls and entered through ornate gates.
Tragically, the identities are unknown for nearly half the Union dead
who are buried in national cemeteries.

What would become a national cemetery system operated by the Army
evolved slowly after the Civil War. All honorably discharged Union
veterans became eligible for burial in 1873. Cemeteries associated with
military posts on the western frontier, such as Ft. McPherson, Neb.,
were added in the late 19th century.

In 1923, Congress established the American Battle Monuments Commission,
an independent agency responsible for maintaining burial grounds in
foreign countries for U.S. armed forces members who die overseas. The
commission maintains 24 American military cemeteries as well as
monuments and memorials.

In the 1930s, new national cemeteries were established to serve veterans
living in metropolitan areas such as New York, Baltimore, Minneapolis,
San Diego, San Francisco and San Antonio. Others associated with
battlefields such as Gettysburg and Antietam were transferred from Army
control to the National Park Service because of their historical
significance.

In 1973, Congress authorized the transfer of 82 national cemeteries from
the Department of the Army to the Veterans Administration, now the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Joining with 21 VA cemeteries
located at hospitals and nursing homes, the National Cemetery System
comprised 103 cemeteries after the transfer.

**- More -**

**National Cemeteries \-- History 2/2/2/2**

On Nov. 11, 1998, congressional legislation changed the name of the
National Cemetery System (NCS) to the National Cemetery Administration
(NCA).

Today, there are 141 national cemeteries. Through its National Cemetery
Administration, VA operates 125 of them. Two national cemeteries --
Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia and the Soldiers' and Airmen's
Home National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. -- are still administered by
the Army. Fourteen national cemeteries continue to be maintained by the
Department of the Interior's National Park Service.

More than three million people, including veterans of every war and
conflict -- from the Revolutionary War to the war in Iraq and
Afghanistan -- are buried in VA's national cemeteries, which have a
total of more than 17,000 acres of land from Hawaii to Maine and from
Alaska to Puerto Rico. More than 300 recipients of the Medal of Honor
are buried in VA's national cemeteries. More than 950 monuments and
memorials recall the courage and sacrifice of Americans -- from
Revolutionary War hero Nathan Hale, at Calverton, N.Y., National
Cemetery, to America's prisoners of war memorialized at Riverside,
Calif., National Cemetery.

In April 2007, VA opened its 125th cemetery -- South Florida VA National
Cemetery. Currently, 65 VA cemeteries in 34 states are able to provide
both casket and cremation burials for America's veterans and their
families. An additional 21 provide burial for family members of those
already buried and can also bury cremated remains. The remaining 39
provide burials only if a family member is already interred in the
cemetery.

In 1999 and 2003, with the passage of two laws, Congress directed VA to
establish 12 new national cemeteries. Six have been opened \-- at Fort
Sill, Okla.; Pittsburgh, Detroit, Atlanta; Sacramento and West Palm
Beach, Fla. The rest -- one in Alabama, one in California, two in
Florida, one in Pennsylvania and one in South Carolina -- will be
located near large populations of veterans who do not have access
currently to burial in a veterans cemetery.

In addition to providing a gravesite, VA opens and closes the grave,
provides a headstone or marker, a Presidential Memorial Certificate and
a U.S. Flag, and perpetually cares for the grave at no cost to the
veteran's family.

To complement national cemeteries and expand burial options for
veterans, VA assists states in building or improving state veterans
cemeteries through its State Cemetery Grants Program. VA will pay for
construction costs in exchange for states providing the land and
operating the cemeteries. VA has helped establish 69 veterans cemeteries
in 37 states and U.S. territories, which provided more than 23,000
burials in fiscal year 2007.  Since the program began in 1980, VA has
awarded 163 grants totaling more than \$315 million.

Today, more than 23 million veterans, and current and former Reservists
and National Guard members with 20 years of service, have earned the
right to burial in a national cemetery. Veterans with discharges "other
than dishonorable," their spouses and dependent children are eligible
for burial in a VA national cemetery. Those who die on active duty may
also be buried in a national cemetery.

For more information, contact the nearest national cemetery or a VA
regional office at 1-800-827-1000. Information also is available on VA's
home page at [http://www.cem.va.gov](http://www.cem.va.gov/).

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