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.

National Cemetery Administration

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.

History

Twelve 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.

List of United States national cemeteries

*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]