NCA History Program - National Cemetery Administration

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Dial 9 8 8 then Press 1."></a> </div>   <div class="well well-sm"> <a href="https://www.pay.gov/public/form/start/552130744" target="_blank"><img src="/CEM/images/badge_NCA_CEM_Donate.jpg" class="img-responsive center-block" alt="NCA Cemetery Donations. E Donate badge."></a> <br /> <a href="https://www.pay.gov/public/form/start/552130654" target="_blank"><img src="/CEM/images/badge_NCA_CO_Donate.jpg" class="img-responsive center-block" alt="NCA Office Donations. E Donate badge."></a> </div>  </div>  </div>    <style> .va-footer-links-bottom:last-of-type { margin-bottom: 20px; } #footer-alert { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left:0; z-index:1; width: 100%; height: 60px; background-color: #f1f1f1; } #footer-alert p { margin: 8px auto; text-align: center; font-size: 1.6rem; font-weight: 700; color: #004795; } #footer-alert p a { color: #004795; } .va-banner-body > p > i { display: none; } @media (min-width: 480px) { .va-banner-body > p > i { display: inline-block; background-color: #ffffff; border-radius: 50%; margin: 0.4rem; padding: 0.8em; } #footer-alert p { margin: 5px auto; font-size: 1.2em; } } </style> <script> $(function() { document.getElementById("sub-footer").style.marginBottom = "60px"; var alertMsg = "<div id=\"footer-alert\"><div class=\"va-banner-body\" role=\"banner\"><p><i class=\"fas fa-bullhorn icon-left\" aria-hidden=\"true\"> </i><a href=\"https://www.va.gov/resources/the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits\" title=\"PACT Act and your VA benefits\">Learn what the PACT Act means for your VA benefits <i class=\"fas fa-angle-double-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\"></i><\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>"; $("body").append(alertMsg); }); </script>  </div> </div>  <div class="col-md-9"> <div class="fill"> <div id="mainContentWrapper"> <a id="content-wrapper"></a>   <div id="breadCrumbPath"><a href="https://www.va.gov/">VA</a> » <a href="/index.asp">National Cemetery Administration</a> » <a href='/history/'>NCA History Program</a> » NCA History Program </div>    <h1>National Cemetery Administration</h1>  </div>  <span style="position:absolute;"><a id="main-content"> </a></span> <div id="innerContentWrapper" class="innerContentWrapperFeature"> <div id="tier4innerContent">  <h2 class="page-title">NCA History Program</h2>  <div id="General" aria-label="navigation buttons for NCA History Program pages"><a href="#General" class="btn btn-sm btn-default active"><strong>General</strong></a> <a href="#Blog" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Blog</strong></a> <a href="#Notables" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Notables</strong></a> <a href="#Special" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Special Emphasis</strong></a> <a href="#Outreach" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Outreach</strong></a> <a href="#Monuments" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Monuments</strong></a> <a href="#Resources" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Historic Resources</strong></a></div> <h3 style="background-color: #003f72; color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%; padding: 10px 5px;">General History</h3> <div class="row"> <div class="col-sm-7"> <p><strong><a href="/facts/NCA_History_and_Development_1.asp">History and Development of the National Cemetery</a></strong><br />NCA's solemn mission originates with the Civil War. Today it is responsible for 156 national cemeteries, 35 soldiers' lots and 122 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.</p> </div> <div class="col-sm-5"> <div style="font-size: 99%;"><img alt="Marietta National Cemetery in Georgia." class="img-responsive left-block img-thumbnail" src="/CEM/images/history/Marietta-National-Cemetery.jpg" /><br /><br /></div> </div> </div> <p><strong><a href="/facts/Dates_of_Establishment_1.asp">Dates of Establishment: National Cemeteries & NCA Burial Sites</a></strong><br />A listing of VA National Cemeteries & NCA Burial Sites and their dates established.</p> <p><strong><a href="/history/hmhist.asp">History of Government-Furnished Headstones and Markers</a></strong><br />The evolution of government headstones.</p> <p><strong><a href="/history/resources.asp#Gettysburg-Address">Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in the National Cemeteries</a></strong><br />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.</p> <p><strong><a href="/history/Memorial-Day-history.asp">Memorial Day History</a></strong><br />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.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://news.va.gov/70475/story-ncas-presidential-memorial-certificates/" target="_blank">The story of NCA's Presidential Memorial Certificate</a></strong><br />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.</p> <p><strong><a href="/history/frmrleads1.asp">Leadership: Directors & Under Secretaries for Memorial Affairs, 1973 to Present</a></strong><br />Learn about the leaders who helped shape NCA.</p> <p><strong><a href="/video/LandscapesofSacrifice.asx"><em>Landscapes of Honor & Sacrifice: The History of the National Cemeteries,</em> 2003</a></strong><br />A 30-minute video illustrating the rich history of the national cemeteries.</p> <hr /> <div id="Blog" aria-label="navigation buttons for NCA History Program pages"><a href="#General" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>General</strong></a> <a href="#Blog" class="btn btn-sm btn-default active"><strong>Blog</strong></a> <a href="#Notables" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Notables</strong></a> <a href="#Special" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Special Emphasis</strong></a> <a href="#Outreach" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Outreach</strong></a> <a href="#Monuments" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Monuments</strong></a> <a href="#Resources" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Historic Resources</strong></a></div> <h3 style="background-color: #003f72; color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%; padding: 10px 5px;">NCA History Blog</h3> <div style="font-size: 13.2px;" class="well well-sm">NCA historians blog about current events, cemeteries, preservation projects, headstones and monuments, Memorial Day, notable persons and much more.</div> <div class="row"> <div class="col-sm-8"> <h4 style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 115%;">Featured Blog Post</h4> <p style="padding: 0px 0px 5px;"><strong><a href="https://department.va.gov/history/100-objects/084-gettysburg-tablet/" target="_blank">Gettysburg Address Tablet</a></strong></p> <p style="font-size: 98%;"><strong>Les' Melnyk<br />Senior Historian, National Cemetery Administration<br />Published: November 19, 2024</strong></p> <p>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. <strong><a href="https://department.va.gov/history/100-objects/084-gettysburg-tablet/" target="_blank">Read more »</a></strong></p> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/history/blog.asp" class="btn btn-lg btn-nca-navy"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;">NCA History Blog »</span></a><br /><br /></div> </div> <div class="col-sm-4"> <div class="panel panel-info"> <div style="background-color: #f5f5f5; border-radius: 3px;" class="panel-body"> <div style="font-size: 99%;"><img alt="Tablet of address by President Lincoln at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery." class="img-responsive center-block img-thumbnail" src="/CEM/images/GAtablet.jpg" />Tablet of address by President Lincoln at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery on November 19, 1863.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <hr /> <div id="Notables" aria-label="navigation buttons for NCA History Program pages"><a href="#General" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>General</strong></a> <a href="#Blog" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Blog</strong></a> <a href="#Notables" class="btn btn-sm btn-default active"><strong>Notables</strong></a> <a href="#Special" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Special Emphasis</strong></a> <a href="#Outreach" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Outreach</strong></a> <a href="#Monuments" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Monuments</strong></a> <a href="#Resources" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Historic Resources</strong></a></div> <h3 style="background-color: #003f72; color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%; padding: 10px 5px;">Notables</h3> <div style="font-size: 13.2px;" class="well well-sm">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.</div> <div class="row"> <div class="col-sm-7"> <h4 style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 115%;">Medal of Honor History</h4> <p>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. 426 Medal of Honor recipients are interred in VA cemeteries. <strong><a href="/history/Medal-of-Honor-history.asp">Learn more »</a></strong></p> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/history/notables.asp" class="btn btn-lg btn-nca-navy"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;">View more Notables »</span></a> <br /><br /></div> </div> <div class="col-sm-5"> <div class="panel panel-info"> <div style="background-color: #f5f5f5; border-radius: 3px;" class="panel-body"> <div style="font-size: 99%;"><img alt="Left: Army Medal of Honor, early design. Center: Headstone with recognition for a Medal of Honor recipient. Right: Navy Medal of Honor; early design." class="img-responsive center-block img-thumbnail" src="/CEM/images/history/CW150thMOHBanner_small.jpg" />Left: Army Medal of Honor, early design.<br />Center: Headstone with recognition for a Medal of Honor recipient.<br />Right: Navy Medal of Honor; early design.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <hr /> <div id="Special" aria-label="navigation buttons for NCA History Program pages"><a href="#General" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>General</strong></a> <a href="#Blog" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Blog</strong></a> <a href="#Notables" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Notables</strong></a> <a href="#Special" class="btn btn-sm btn-default active"><strong>Special Emphasis</strong></a> <a href="#Outreach" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Outreach</strong></a> <a href="#Monuments" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Monuments</strong></a> <a href="#Resources" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Historic Resources</strong></a></div> <h3 style="background-color: #003f72; color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%; padding: 10px 5px;">Special Emphasis</h3> <div style="font-size: 13.2px;" class="well well-sm">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.</div> <div class="row"> <div class="col-sm-7"> <h4 style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 115%;">America in World War I: 1917–1919</h4> <p>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.</p> <p><a href="/pdf/AGS_Quarterly_War_Monuments_WWI_2018.pdf" target="_blank">World War I Veterans and Their Federal Burial Benefits</a></p> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/history/special.asp" class="btn btn-lg btn-nca-navy"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;">View more Special Emphasis »</span></a><br /><br /></div> </div> <div class="col-sm-5"> <div class="panel panel-info"> <div style="background-color: #f5f5f5; border-radius: 3px;" class="panel-body"> <div style="font-size: 99%;"><img alt="Gravesite of John Hunter Wickersham, WWI Veteran, Medal of Honor recipient. (Photo courtesy of the American Battle Monuments Commission)." class="img-responsive center-block img-thumbnail" src="/CEM/images/history/AGS_Photo.png" />Gravesite of John Hunter Wickersham, WWI Veteran, Medal of Honor recipient. (Photo courtesy of the American Battle Monuments Commission).</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <hr /> <div id="Outreach" aria-label="navigation buttons for NCA History Program pages"><a href="#General" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>General</strong></a> <a href="#Blog" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Blog</strong></a> <a href="#Notables" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Notables</strong></a> <a href="#Special" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Special Emphasis</strong></a> <a href="#Outreach" class="btn btn-sm btn-default active"><strong>Outreach</strong></a> <a href="#Monuments" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Monuments</strong></a> <a href="#Resources" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Historic Resources</strong></a></div> <h3 style="background-color: #003f72; color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%; padding: 10px 5px;">Outreach</h3> <div style="font-size: 13.2px;" class="well well-sm">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.</div> <div class="row"> <div class="col-sm-9"> <h4 style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 115%;">World War II Commemorative Series — Allied Forces and Enemy Burials in VA National Cemeteries</h4> <p>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.</p> <p><a href="/docs/wcag/history/WWII-Allied-Forces-and-Enemies.pdf" target="_blank">World War II Allied Forces and Enemies</a></p> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/history/outreach.asp" class="btn btn-lg btn-nca-navy"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;">View more Outreach »</span></a><br /><br /></div> </div> <div class="col-sm-3"> <div class="panel panel-info"> <div style="background-color: #f5f5f5; border-radius: 3px;" class="panel-body"> <div style="font-size: 99%;"><img alt="NCA publication for World War II Allied Forces and Enemies." class="img-responsive center-block img-thumbnail" src="/CEM/images/history/NCA-WWII-Allied-Forces-and-Enemies.png" />NCA publication for <em>World War II Allied Forces and Enemies</em>.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <hr /> <div id="Monuments" aria-label="navigation buttons for NCA History Program pages"><a href="#General" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>General</strong></a> <a href="#Blog" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Blog</strong></a> <a href="#Notables" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Notables</strong></a> <a href="#Special" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Special Emphasis</strong></a> <a href="#Outreach" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Outreach</strong></a> <a href="#Monuments" class="btn btn-sm btn-default active"><strong>Monuments</strong></a> <a href="#Resources" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Historic Resources</strong></a></div> <h3 style="background-color: #003f72; color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%; padding: 10px 5px;">Monuments</h3> <div style="font-size: 13.2px;" class="well well-sm">NCA manages approximately 1,400 historic memorial monuments. Patriotic organizations formally donate an average of ten new monuments to NCA each year.</div> <div class="row"> <div class="col-sm-7"> <h4 style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 115%;">USS <em>Bennington</em> Monument and Grave Plot</h4> <p>The USS <em>Bennington</em> 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.</p> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/history/monuments.asp" class="btn btn-lg btn-nca-navy"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;">View more Monuments »</span></a> <br /><br /></div> </div> <div class="col-sm-5"> <div class="panel panel-info"> <div style="background-color: #f5f5f5; border-radius: 3px;" class="panel-body"> <div style="font-size: 99%;"><img alt="Ceremony dedicating the Bennington monument at Fort Rosecrans, overlooking San Diego harbor, January 7, 1908. The cruiser USS Charleston is visible in the background right. More than 2,500 people attended the dedication. (Naval Heritage and History Command)" class="img-responsive center-block img-thumbnail" src="/CEM/images/history/Blog-067-USS-Bennington-Monument.jpg" />Ceremony dedicating the Bennington monument at Fort Rosecrans, overlooking San Diego harbor, January 7, 1908. The cruiser USS <em>Charleston</em> is visible in the background right. More than 2,500 people attended the dedication. (Naval Heritage and History Command)</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <hr /> <div id="Resources" aria-label="navigation buttons for NCA History Program pages"><a href="#General" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>General</strong></a> <a href="#Blog" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Blog</strong></a> <a href="#Notables" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Notables</strong></a> <a href="#Special" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Special Emphasis</strong></a> <a href="#Outreach" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Outreach</strong></a> <a href="#Monuments" class="btn btn-sm btn-nca-navy"><strong>Monuments</strong></a> <a href="#Resources" class="btn btn-sm btn-default active"><strong>Historic Resources</strong></a></div> <h3 style="background-color: #003f72; color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%; padding: 10px 5px;">Historic Resources</h3> <div style="font-size: 13.2px;" class="well well-sm">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.</div> <div class="row"> <div class="col-sm-7"> <h4 style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-size: 115%;">100 Years of Historic National Cemetery Burial Records</h4> <p>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.</p> <p><a href="/docs/wcag/history/National-Cemetery-Burial-Ledgers.pdf" target="_blank">National Cemetery Burial Ledgers</a></p> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="/history/resources.asp" class="btn btn-lg btn-nca-navy"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;">View more Historic Resources »</span></a><br /><br /></div> </div> <div class="col-sm-5"> <div class="panel panel-info"> <div style="background-color: #f5f5f5; border-radius: 3px;" class="panel-body"> <div style="font-size: 99%;"><img alt="Partial image of NCA hand-written ledger" class="img-responsive center-block img-thumbnail" src="/CEM/images/registry.jpg" />Partial image of NCA hand-written ledger.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <hr /> <style> .flex-row { display: flex; flex-wrap: 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