National Cemetery Administration

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 Rod turns right and becomes McKinley Street. Turn right on N 31st Street. Turn left to merge onto I-680W. 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.

From Lincoln take Interstate 80 east to Exit 439 (Hwy 370). Turn right/east on Hwy 370 to the next exit 144th Street/AKA Hwy 50 and turn right/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. If you get to the gravel road you've missed the entrance/main gate to the cemetery.

If traveling from Iowa take Interstate 80 west to S 144th Street/AKA 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. If you get to the gravel road you've missed the entrance/main gate to the cemetery.

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.

Missourian Melvin Carl Anderson was born in 1912 and by 1930 his family moved to Omaha, Nebraska. 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 by Grosshau; it contained unknown remains that were interred at Rhone American Cemetery. New DNA technologies have allowed the Defense POW/MIS Accounting Agency to identify remains such as those of Anderson. He was reburied in Omaha National Cemetery on October 12, 2018.

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, Nebraska. 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.