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.
6-440: Leavenworth National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas . It occupies 128.8 acres (52.1 ha) of land. As of the end of 2005 it had 30,875 interments. It is sometimes locally referred to as " Old Soldiers' Home ". Prior to construction of the medical buildings near the site, the land was part of a Delaware Indian reservation. By 1886 several buildings were completed, and
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
24-780: The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a component of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Medical Center Historic District . 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
30-480: 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
36-501: The first interment was made. During the construction of one of the nearby medical buildings, the remains of twelve Native Americans were found. They were re-interred in the cemetery. This burying ground became part of the national cemetery system in 1930. It is the location of eight Medal of Honor recipients, five of them honored for service during the American Civil War , and interments of other notable people. In 1999
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