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National Cemetery Administration

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Image of Map from the NCA Find a Cemetery page.

Find a Cemetery


NCA's interactive map enables Veterans to search for their final resting place or for those who want to visit their Veteran interred at 155 VA managed or 122 VA grant-funded cemeteries.


Find a Cemetery »

Schedule a Burial »

A tablet, computer monitor and phone above the Nationwide Gravesite Locator URL.

Gravesite Locator


Locate resting places for Veterans and their families in national and grant-funded VA cemeteries as well as various military, Department of Interior, and private cemeteries.


Nationwide Gravesite Locator »

Pre-Need Eligibility form.

Pre-Need Eligibility


Planning in advance for a Veteran's or loved-one's final resting place can eliminate unnecessary delays and reduce stress on a family at a difficult time.


Apply now »

Three sizes of Bronze Medallions.

Memorial Benefit: Medallion


Medallions are furnished in lieu of a traditional Government headstone or grave marker for those Veterans who served on or after April 6, 1917, and whose grave in a private cemetery is marked with a privately purchased headstone or marker.


Learn more »

 
Green Burial: Return to nature. Rest in green. Eco-friendly farewell. Sow seeds of life. (Shutterstock.com)

VA Creates Green Burials at Three National Cemeteries

Richelle Taylor
Public Affairs Specialist, NCA
Published: November 26, 2024

In November 2024, the VA National Cemetery Administration (NCA) officially opened Green Burial sections at the Pikes Peak National Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Colorado; the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix, Arizona, and Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida. The number of green burial sites at each cemetery are 152, 155, and 222, respectively.

Green burials are a way of caring for the dead with minimal environmental impact that aids in the conservation of natural resources, reduction of carbon emissions, protection of worker health, and the restoration and/or preservation of habitat.

 


In 2014, NCA conducted a nationwide survey of Veterans to determine an interest in burial and memorial options not then offered in national cemeteries. Forty-one percent of respondents agreed that the VA should offer an environmentally friendly burial option, including 48% of Veteran respondents between the ages of 18 and 39. In addition, 75% of Veterans interviewed agreed that burial in a defined, naturalistic section in a national cemetery would be acceptable and dignified.

In 2022, Congress authorized the VA to establish green burial sections through the National Cemeteries Preservation and Protection Act. The law provides that remains interred in a green burial section must be prepared for burial in a manner that does not involve chemicals or embalming fluids, and require the use of non-toxic and biodegradable materials, such as caskets, shrouds and urns.

"NCA is pleased to begin offering this new option to Veterans and their family members eligible for interment in a VA national cemetery," said Ronald E. Walters, VA's Acting Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs. "It reflects our commitment to understand and address the emerging burial preferences of Veterans and their loved ones."

NCA will accept both cremated and intact remains for interment in green burial sections. While green burial sections are new, NCA has always accepted remains that are prepared naturally and/or presented in a biodegradable container for burial in VA national cemeteries and will continue to do so at its open cemeteries even if they are not one of the three pilot sites.

Get information about VA burial benefits or call the National Cemetery Scheduling Office (NCSO) toll-free at 800-535-1117 for more information about scheduling a burial. For advance burial planning for you and your family, visit NCA's pre-need eligibility website.

NCA Resources Guide

Looking for a cemetery?
Trying to locate a grave?
Questions about burial benefits?
What happens during a committal service?

Explore the NCA Resources Guide »

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NCA History Blog

Gettysburg Address Tablet

Les' Melnyk
Senior Historian, NCA
Published: November 19, 2024

Top portion of tablet of address by President Lincoln at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery on November 19, 1863. Text on tablet displayed in photo: Address by President Lincoln at the Dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, November 19, 1863. Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

President Abraham Lincoln is one of the most revered figures in American history. Rankings of U.S. presidents routinely place him at or near the top of the list. Lincoln is also held in high esteem at VA. His stirring call during his second inaugural address in 1865 to "care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan" embodies the nation's promise to all who wear the uniform, a promise VA and its predecessor administrations have kept ever since the Civil War.

Lincoln's second inaugural address is inscribed on the north interior wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Directly across from it, engraved on the south interior wall, is another speech by Lincoln which is even more famous. It is arguably the greatest piece of oratory in the nation's history. The speech, of course, is the Gettysburg Address. Read more »

VLM Featured Veterans
Jacob Cart
U.S. Army, SGT
Medal of Honor
Civil War
United States Army seal for Jacob Cart, U.S. Army, SGT, Medal of Honor, Civil War.
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National Cemetery Administration
Attn: General Inquiries
810 Vermont Avenue
Washington, DC 20420

MyVA411 main information line:
800-698-2411