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Omaha National Cemetery
NCA marks 50 years (1973-2023) of serving America's Veterans, Service Members, and Families.
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Visitation Hours: Open daily from sunrise to sunset.
Office Hours: Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
This cemetery has space available to accommodate casketed and cremated remains. Cremation placement includes in-ground, columbarium and ossuary.
Burial in a national cemetery is open to all members of the armed forces who have met a minimum active duty service requirement and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.
A Veteran's spouse, widow or widower, minor dependent children, and under certain conditions, unmarried adult children with disabilities may also be eligible for burial. Eligible spouses and children may be buried even if they predecease the Veteran.
Members of the reserve components of the armed forces who die while on active duty or who die while on training duty, or were eligible for retired pay, may also be eligible for burial.
From Eppley Airfield head south toward Pratt Ct. Turn right on Pratt Ct. Turn right on Abbott Drive. Keep right to stay on Abbott Dr. Continue onto John J Pershing Dr. Turn left onto Dick Collins Rd. Dick Collins Road turns right and becomes McKinley Street. Turn right on N 31st Street. Turn left to merge onto I-680 W. Take exit 446 to merge onto I-80 West toward Lincoln. Take exit 440 for NE-50/144th Street. Turn left and go south 2.1 miles to Schram Road and turn left/east. The main entrance to the cemetery is 1/8 of a mile on the left from 144th Street/Hwy 50.
If traveling from Iowa take Interstate 80 west to S 144th Street/ Hwy 50 and turn south. Continue 2.1 miles to Schram Road and turn left/east. The main entrance to the cemetery is 1/8 of a mile on the left from 144th Street/Hwy 50.
Fax all discharge documentation to the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 1-866-900-6417 and follow-up with a phone call to 1-800-535-1117.
For information on scheduled burials in our national cemeteries, please go to the Daily Burial Schedule.
The 236-acre cemetery in Sarpy County, Nebraska will serve the burial needs of more than 112,000 Veterans in the cemetery's service area for the next 100 years. This cemetery is the second Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) national cemetery in the State of Nebraska.
For educational materials and additional information on this cemetery, please visit the Education section, located below.
You can place fresh cut flowers on your loved one's grave throughout the year.
At the time of burial, floral arrangements with the casket or urn will be placed on the completed grave.
Floral items will be removed from graves when they become faded or unsightly. Government supplied plastic flower containers are available for your use.
Floral policies are posted at the cemetery.
You can place artificial flowers on graves from October 10 through March 15. Artificial flowers are also allowed during the week of Memorial Day and will be removed 7 days after the holiday.
Christmas wreaths or grave blankets may be placed on graves during the holiday. Floral grave blankets may not be larger than two feet by three feet. These will be removed by January 10.
To preserve the dignity and appearance of your loved one's final resting place, the following items aren't allowed at headstones or columbariums:
- Alcoholic products
- Balloons, candles, or vigil lights
- Decorative and breakable glass items or objects
- Non-government supplied floral containers (pots, planters, glass vases, etc.)
- Objects such as rocks or other durable items, that when mowing or performing maintenance could become projectiles
- Offensive items or those deemed contrary to honoring Veterans
- Permanent in-ground plantings
- Pinwheels
- Statues or stuffed animals
- Weapons of any kind, explosives, or ammunition
Please note:
- Floral items or decorations may not be secured to headstones.
- In-ground floral containers may not be placed in new cemeteries or new sections of national cemeteries.
VA regulations 38 CFR 1.218 prohibit the carrying of firearms (either openly or concealed), explosives or other dangerous or deadly weapons while on VA property, except for official purposes, such as military funeral honors.
Possession of firearms on any property under the charge and control of VA is prohibited. Offenders may be subject to a fine, removal from the premises, or arrest.
The Department of Veterans Affairs purchased the property in 2012 for $6.2 million.
The Dedication Ceremony took place on August 5, 2016 and the first interments took place on September 27, 2016.
Missourian Melvin Carl Anderson was born in 1912 and by 1930 his family moved to Omaha, NE. When the United States entered World War II, he enlisted in the army. In November 1944, Sergeant Anderson was part of Co. C, 803rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, supporting the fighting near Grosshau, Germany. Two tank destroyers and six tanks were destroyed, including Anderson's. On December 21, 1944, Anderson was categorized as killed in action and his name was inscribed on the Wall of the Missing, Netherlands American Cemetery. He was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, posthumously. U.S. investigators later found the remnants of a tank destroyer near Grosshau; it contained unknown remains that were interred at Rhone American Cemetery. New DNA technologies have allowed the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to identify remains such as those of Anderson. He was reburied in Omaha National Cemetery on October 12, 2018 (Section 3, Site 299).
Born in 1925, Jean Annette Briggs grew up in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk County, England. One of three girls, she was a talented artist who attended school in Cambridge. In 1943, at 18, she joined the Royal Navy and her family believed she drove a bus during World War II. Briggs actually operated a BOMBE machine, used to decode German military messages, and worked for master codebreaker Alan Turing. The secret ULTRA project cracked Germany's ENIGMA code. Briggs married U.S. Army Air Corps pilot John Watters (1917–2018) after the war. He flew B-17s, and later the U.S. Air Force colonel served in Korea and Vietnam. The couple raised six children in Bellevue, NE. Jean Briggs Watters died September 15, 2018, and was buried with British military honors. She is interred with her husband in Omaha National Cemetery (Section 3, Site 253).
Wilfred Louis Ebel (1930–2018) was the fifth director of what is now the National Cemetery Administration, from 1987–1989. The Nebraskan served in the U.S. Army during the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. Ebel received military commendations including the Legion of Merit and Distinguished Service, and he was inducted into the Senior Army Reserve Commanders Association Hall of Fame in 1995. As a civilian, he held appointments in the Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Bush administrations. The Memorial Affairs program at VA became the National Cemetery System during his tenure. Ebel oversaw the development of Florida and Fort Mitchell (AL) national cemeteries, transfer of a state veteran cemetery into the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, and the opening of three state cemeteries. He remained connected to NCA until his death. Ebel died July 3, 2018, and is buried in Omaha National Cemetery (Section 1, Site 854).
We are developing educational content for this national cemetery, and will post new materials as they become available. Visit the Veterans Legacy Program and NCA History Program for additional information. Thank you for your interest.
