The United States National Cemetery System is a system of 164 military 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. By the end of 1862, 12 national cemeteries had been established. Two of the nation's most iconic military cemeteries, Arlington National Cemetery which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Army, and Gettysburg National Cemetery , under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service , were established in 1864 and 1863, respectively.
6-574: Fort Gibson National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located inside of the town of Fort Gibson , in Muskogee County, Oklahoma . It encompasses 48.3 acres (19.5 ha), and as of 2021 had more than 25,000 interments. Fort Gibson was established in 1833, on a plot of land within the Cherokee nation. It is at what is considered to be the end of the Trail of Tears . Frontier life
12-506: The Army maintains two national cemeteries, Arlington National Cemetery and United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery . The National Park Service (NPS) maintains 14 national cemeteries associated with historic sites and battlefields. The American Battle Monuments Commission , an independent agency of the executive branch, established by Congress in 1923, maintains 26 American military cemeteries and other memorials outside
18-860: The United States. Twelve national cemeteries were established in 1862. A total of 34 were established during the Civil War from 1861 to 1865. Additional cemeteries were set up after the United States Civil War by Edmund Burke Whitman . Congress passed additional laws to establish and protect national cemeteries in 1867. The National Cemetery Administration lists a total of 73 Civil War-Era National Cemeteries from 1861 to 1868. 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
24-480: 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 considerably later than the original cemetery. For example, Vancouver Barracks post cemetery was established in 1849 and became
30-557: Was hard, yellow fever was common, and at least three separate cemeteries were created between 1833 and 1857 when the Fort was abandoned. In 1863 the Fort was remanned by Brigadier General James G. Blunt . In 1868 the National Cemetery was established in a 7-acre (2.8 ha) plot, and all of the nearby cemeteries had their interments transferred to it. This included the remains of many civilians. Fort Gibson National Cemetery
36-653: Was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 20, 1999. United States National Cemetery The National Cemetery Administration of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) maintains 148 national cemeteries as well as the Nationwide Grave-site Locator , which can be used to find burial locations of American military Veterans through their searchable website. The Department of
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