NCA History Program - National Cemetery Administration

NCA History Program - National Cemetery Administration
skip to page content
NCA Menu
NCA Menu
National Cemetery Administration
Plan Today. Honor Forever.
Veterans and Families
Industry Professionals
About NCA
About NCA
Advisory Committee
NCA Careers
Alerts
Apply Online
Pre-Need Burial Eligibility
Burial Allowances
Presidential Memorial Certificates
Burial and Memorial Benefits
Burial and Memorial Benefits
For Veterans
For Families
For Survivors
For Hmong
For Funeral Directors
Unclaimed Veteran Remains
Military Funeral Honors
Cemeteries
Find a Cemetery
Locate a Grave
Scheduled Burials
Cemetery Volunteers
Cemetery Restoration
Cemetery Grants
Cemetery Design & Construction
Interment Schedule Availability
Veterans Legacy Memorial
About VLM
Find Your Veteran
VLM Remembrance
9/11 Remembrance
Medal of Honor
Purple Heart
Battle of Iwo Jima
Tuskegee Airmen
U.S. Flying Aces
USS Cole
Native American Veterans
Alexandria (Virginia)
Ft. Logan (Colorado)
Golden Gate (California)
Houston Riot of 1917
Frequently Asked Questions
NCA History Program
NCA History Program
Blog
Notables
Special Emphasis
Outreach
Monuments
Historic Resources
Veterans Legacy Program
Veterans Legacy Program
Videos
Lesson Plans
Colleges & Universities
Veterans Legacy Grants Program
NCA Policy Publications
NCA Policy Publications
NCA Directives
NCA Handbooks
NCA Notices
Media and Publications
NCA News
Press Room
Videos
Site Map
VA
»
National Cemetery Administration
»
NCA History Program
»




NCA History Program
National Cemetery Administration
NCA History Program
General
Blog
Notables
Special Emphasis
Outreach
Monuments
Historic Resources
General History
History and Development of the National Cemetery
NCA's solemn mission originates with the Civil War. Today it is responsible for 157 national cemeteries, 35 soldiers' lots and 124 VA grant-funded state, territory and tribal Veterans cemeteries in the U.S. and its territories, and the provision of headstones and other memorial benefits to qualified Veterans.
Dates of Establishment: National Cemeteries & NCA Burial Sites
A listing of VA National Cemeteries & NCA Burial Sites and their dates established.
Domestic and Foreign Cemeteries for U.S. Veterans
Four federal agencies are now responsible for national cemeteries and other Veterans' burial grounds — but all these began with the U.S. Army. The four federal agencies share a mission to honor military service with perpetual care of Veteran graves.
History of Government-Furnished Headstones and Markers
The evolution of government headstones.
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in the National Cemeteries
The affiliation among President Abraham Lincoln, his Gettysburg Address, and the national cemeteries is relevant today. The speech Lincoln gave at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Pennsylvania on November 19, 1863, is iconic.
Memorial Day History
Memorial Day, a federal holiday held the last Monday in May, is the nation's foremost annual day to mourn and honor its deceased service men and women. Originally called Decoration Day, it was formalized by a "Memorial Day Order" issued by Grand Army of the Republic Commander-in-Chief John A. Logan in 1868.
The story of NCA's Presidential Memorial Certificate
The VA Presidential Memorial Certificate was intended to be given to a Veteran's next of kin or friends. World War II Army Veteran Benjamin B. Belfer proposed the idea of a Presidential Memorial Certificate that VA could give to a Veteran's next of kin.
Leadership: Directors & Under Secretaries for Memorial Affairs, 1973 to Present
Learn about the leaders who helped shape NCA.
Landscapes of Honor & Sacrifice: The History of the National Cemeteries,
2003
A 30-minute video illustrating the rich history of the national cemeteries.
General
Blog
Notables
Special Emphasis
Outreach
Monuments
Historic Resources
NCA History Blog
NCA historians blog about current events, cemeteries, preservation projects, headstones and monuments, Memorial Day, notable persons and much more.
Featured Blog Post
Pearl Harbor Unknowns Marker
Jimmy Price
Historian, National Cemetery Administration
Published: April 9, 2025
Pearl Harbor survivor, Raymond Emory, served aboard the USS
Honolulu
(CL-48) during the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Approximately 50 years later Emory visited the National Cemetery of the Pacific and found that the gravesites of his fallen comrades identified them as unknowns from December 7, 1941. This drove Emory to lobby to the government to add the ship names and Pearl Harbor to the markers.
Read more »
NCA History Blog »
General
Blog
Notables
Special Emphasis
Outreach
Monuments
Historic Resources
Notables
NCA manages the gravesites of notables such as Medal of Honor recipients and thousands of veterans who are recognized as significant at different periods of American history.
Medal of Honor History
Unlike today, early U.S. military practice did not include awards and medals. The Civil War changed this. Americans fighting on both sides led government officials to recognize this bravery. President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill creating 200 medals of honor in late 1861. From this came the Medal of Honor, today the highest commendation for military service. The medal design, eligibility for it, and recognition on a recipients' grave marker have all evolved since the Civil War.
There are 434 Medal of Honor recipients interred at VA national cemeteries including 6 double recipients.
Learn more »
View more Notables »
General
Blog
Notables
Special Emphasis
Outreach
Monuments
Historic Resources
Special Emphasis
Various stories associated with commemorative events or timely activities include the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, and enemy POWs buried in NCA cemeteries.
America in World War I: 1917–1919
World War I introduced major changes to government-provided headstones, including size and inscribed features, as well as provisions for foreign-national POWs interred in national cemeteries.
World War I Veterans and Their Federal Burial Benefits
View more Special Emphasis »
General
Blog
Notables
Special Emphasis
Outreach
Monuments
Historic Resources
Outreach
NCA develops publications, teaching tools, and other educational products — including projects generated by student interns — to promote its cemeteries and the individuals buried in them who illustrate significant transitions in American history.
World War II Commemorative Series — Allied Forces and Enemy Burials in VA National Cemeteries
NCA's second publication in the series tells the little-known story of how and why members of other nation's military forces came to be buried in our national cemeteries during World War II — both our allies and enemy prisoners of war.
World War II Allied Forces and Enemies
View more Outreach »
General
Blog
Notables
Special Emphasis
Outreach
Monuments
Historic Resources
Monuments
NCA manages approximately 1,400 historic memorial monuments. Patriotic organizations formally donate an average of ten new monuments to NCA each year.
USS
Bennington
Monument and Grave Plot
The USS
Bennington
explosion was among the deadliest peacetime accidents in U.S. Navy history and claimed more lives than the Navy had lost in the nation's most recent conflict, the Spanish-American War. A granite monument was established to honor those lost in the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.
View more Monuments »
General
Blog
Notables
Special Emphasis
Outreach
Monuments
Historic Resources
Historic Resources
NCA produces written and graphic documentation of its cemeteries and their built features, as well as the preservation of historic objects such as burial ledgers that provide essential information about the origins of the national cemetery system.
100 Years of Historic National Cemetery Burial Records
By 2012, NCA completely digitized its original burial system: hand-written ledgers from the 1860s to 1960s. Through a partnership with Ancestry.com, NCA's ledgers — along with others in the National Archives & Records Administration (NARA) collection — are available to Ancestry.com subscribers and free to visitors to NARA facilities.
National Cemetery Burial Ledgers
View more Historic Resources »
return to top
CONNECT
Veterans Crisis Line:
Call: 988 and
(Select 1)
Social Media
Complete Directory
EMAIL UPDATES
VA HOME
Notices
Privacy
Regulations
Web Policies
No FEAR Act
Site Index
USA.gov
White House
Inspector General
QUICK LIST
Apply for Benefits
Apply for Health Care
My Health
e
Vet
Life Insurance Online Applications
VA Forms
State and Local Resources
VA Plans, Budget, & Performance
VA Claims Representation
RESOURCES
Careers at VA
Employment Center
Veteran Readiness & Employment
Homeless Veterans
Women Veterans
Minority Veterans
Plain Language
Surviving Spouses & Dependents
Adaptive Sports Program
ADMINISTRATION
Veterans Health Administration
Veterans Benefits Administration
National Cemetery Administration
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs | 810 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington DC 20420
Last updated March 25, 2026
Get help from Veterans Crisis Line
Call
988 (Press 1)
Text to
838255
Chat
confidentially now
Call TTY if you
have hearing loss
1-800-799-4889
If you are in crisis or having thoughts of suicide,
visit
VeteransCrisisLine.net
for more resources.