United States Military Cemetery Records

United States

Military Records

Cemetery Records

Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, D.C.

Cemetery Records

National Cemetery Administration

National Cemetery Administration

Department of Veteran Affairs

810 Vermont Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20422

This web site has administration news; national veterans cemetery addresses; information about burial, headstones, state veterans cemetery grant programs, and links to other sites for locating veterans; and military records.

A Nationwide Gravesite Locator is now available online from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It has burial records of veterans and their family members from VA National Cemeteries, state veterans cemeteries, and other veterans cemeteries around the country. The site also provides links to maps of the cemeteries.

• National Cemetery System - Wikipedia
• National Cemetery Administration. 1998-

Headstones and Markers

• Headstones, Markers,and Medallions
• Pre-World War I Era Headstones and Markers
• Headstones and Marker Inscription Abbreviations
• Emblems of Belief

National Genealogical Society

• Claire Prechtel-Kluskens.Headstone Records for US Military Veterans. Part I:Headstone Design NGS Magazine 39 #1 (January-March 2013): 30- 33. FHL 973 D25ngs
• Claire Prechtel-Kluskens.Headstone Records for US Military Veterans. Part II: Records for Headstones Requested from 1879 to 1925." NGS Magazine 39 #2 (April-June 2013): 32-35. FHL 973 D25ngs
• Clair Prechtel-Kluskens. Records of Burial Flags for Veterans." NGS Magazine 42 #4 (October-December 2016): 39-42. FHL 973 D25ngs
• john P. Deeben. Last Rites for the Honored Dead: Records of Military Burials in National Cemeteries. NGS Magazine (January-March 2011): 15-18. FHL 973 D25ngs

Arlington National Cemetery

• Arlington National Cemetery
• History of Arlington National Cemetery
• Find a Grave:Arlington National Cemetery app.:ANC Explorer
• Section 27: Casualties of War and Honorary War Veterans
• Monuments and Memorials
• Site Index
• Arlington National cemetery - National Park Service
• Arlington National Cemetery - Wikipedia
• James Edward Peters. Arlington National Cemetery, shrine to America's heroes. Kensington, Maryland: Woodbine House, 1986. FHL 975.5296 V3p

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

• Wikipedia Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
• Address of the President of the United States. November 11, 1921
• The Old Guard History of the Third Infantry Regiment
• Society of the Honor Guard Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific

• American Battle Monuments Commission - Courts of the Missing Description
• National Cemetery Administration
• Wikipedia

National Park Service

• National Parks and National Cemeteries
• National Cemetery Project Post Half-Million Indexed Names of Civil War Burials
• Locating Graves at Vicksburg National Cemetery

National Archives

• The National Archives also has applications for headstones for soldiers and veterans buried in private cemeteries between 1879–1964.
• Honoring Our Dead. The Evolution of the Government Policy on Headstones for Fallen Soldiers and Sailors.
• Claire Kluskens. Research Guide for Headstone Records for US Military Burials in Nonfederal Cemeteries, 1879-1985

National Archives Catalog

• Card Register of Burials of Deceased American Soldiers, 1917-1922 - National Archives Catalog Image search through the National Archives Catalog
• Burial Reports, 1919-1920 - National Archives Catalog Image search through the National Archives Catalog
• Applications for Headstones, 1/1/1925 - 6/30/1970 NAID 596118
• Applications for Headstones and Markers, 7/1/1970 - 9/30/1985 NAID 6016127
• Internment Files, 1.1.1982 -12.31.1982 NAID 112396059
• Records of Interments at the Los Angeles National Cemetery, ca. 1890 - 1975 NAID 18235568
• Records of Interments in the Veteran's Plot at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ca. 1883 - 1981 NAID 18235571
• Records of Interments at National Cemeteries, ca. 1862 - ca. 1984 NAID 1224994

War Department. Office of the Quartermaster General. Administrative History

• Cemeterial Branch 4.11.1919-.2.26.1920 NAID 10511905
• Graves Registration Service. 3.15.1922-ca. 1924 NAID 10463044
• Cemeterial Division. ca. 1924-6.15.1930 NAID 10462859
• Memorial Branch. 6.15.1930-12.27.1940. NAID 10462860

Department of Defense

• Dept of the Army. Office of the Quartermaster General. Memorial Division. 9.18.1947-1962. NAID 10463043
• Office of Support Services. Memorial Division. Cemetery Branch. ca. 1963-ca. 1968 NAID 10459672
• Records Regarding Internments and Disinterments at Cemeteries Located at Abandoned Military Installations, 1874 - 1947. NAID 6923484

Department of Veterans Affairs

• National Cemetery Administration NAID 10470429
• Burial Registers 1867-2006 NAID 5928352

Veteran Grave Registration Records

Some states and counties have grave registration records that identify the graves of soldiers buried in local cemeteries. You can usually find these by contacting the state archives or state library or historical society. The Family History Library has statewide veteran grave registrations for the following states:

• Florida Register of deceased veterans, Florida (FHL film 6716)
• Illinois Soldiers burial places in state of Illinois for wars, 1774-1898 (31 FHL films beginning with 1001183)
• Kentucky Index to veterans of American wars from Kentucky (47 FHL film beginning with 471728)
• Maine Cemetery index of veterans (11 FHL films beginning with 1001841), and Veterans cemetery records (15 FHL film beginning with 1001826)
• Ohio Grave registrations of soldiers buried in Ohio (92 FHL films beginning with 182702)
• Rhode Island Rhode Island historical cemeteries master book (FHL film 954938)
• South Dakota South Dakota grave registration project; cemetery information (17 FHL films beginning with 1295750)
• Utah Records of veterans with Federal service buried in Utah, territorial to 1966 (19 FHL films beginning with 485245)

The state military pages may also have more information for cemetery records for their respective states.

To find microfilm numbers of cemetery records in the FamilySearch Catalog, look in the Place Search  under:

[STATE] - CEMETERIES [STATE], [COUNTY], [CITY] - CEMETERIES

• United States U.S. Veterans' Gravesites, ca.1775-2006- index, Ancestry ($)

Military Burials- FamilySearch Historical Records

• Unnited States,Burial Registers for Military Posts, Camps, and Stations, 1768-1921
• United States Records of Headstones of Deceased union Veterans, 1879-1903
• United States Headstone Applications for U.S. Military Veterans, 1925-1949
• United States Register of Confederates and Civilians Who Died in the North, 1861-1865
• Georgia, Andersonville Prison Records, 1862-1865 Images include Deaths and Burials
• Illinois, Soldier Burial Places, 1774-1974
• Iowa, Armed Forces Grave Registrations, ca. 1835-1998
• Maine, Veterans Cemetery Records, 1676-1918
• Maine, State Archives, World War I (WWI) Grave Cards, 1914-1950
• Maine, Kennebec County, Togas National Cemetery Records
• Michigan, Civil War Centennial Observance Commission, Committee on Civil War Grave Registration, Burial Records
• New Jersey, Essex County, Superintendent of Soldiers' Burials, 1776-1979
• Ohio, Athens County, Deceased Veteran Grave Registration Card File Index, 1819-1936
• Ohio, Carroll County, Veteran Grave Registrations, 1817-1980
• Ohio, Summit County, Veteran Burial Cards, 1700-1941
• South Dakota, Veteran Graves Registration Records,1940-1941
• Utah, Veterans with Federal Service Buried in Utah, Territorial to 1966

Overseas Cemeteries

American Battle Monuments Commission website, was created in 1923 to maintain memorials in the U.S. and 24 foreign countries where American forces have served. They have the names of 124,913 World War I and World War II war dead and the names of 94,093 soldiers listed as missing in action or buried at sea from four wars: World War I, World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War.

The American Battle Monuments Commission includes information about the purpose, composition, and history of the commission; details about each overseas cemetery; and the names of persons buried at many of their cemeteries. A Search ABMC Burials database is available on the website. By selecting the name, you will be provided with a page on the decedent, showing the cemetery and location of grave and additional information.

• Cemeteries and Memorials
• Educational Resources

The following publications can help you find overseas cemeteries:

• American Memorials and Overseas Military Cemeteries Washington, D.C.: American Battle Monuments Commission, 1970. Contains descriptions of cemeteries in Europe where Americans are buried who died in World Wars I and II. FamilySearch Digital Library

• Nishiura, Elizabeth, ed. American Battle Monuments: A Guide to Military Cemeteries and Monuments Maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission. Detroit: Omnigraphics, Inc., 1989. (FHL book 973 V3am. Lists the public services offered by the commission plus a directory to their offices. It serves as a guide to cemeteries and memorials for the World Wars.

For further information contact:

• American Battle Monuments Commission
  Casimir Pulaski Building
  20 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
  Washington, D.C. 20314-0300
  Phone: 202-272-0533; 202-272-0532

National Archives Catalog

• Card Register of Burials of Deceased American Soldiers. NAID 6943087.
• Card Register of Unconfirmed Disinterments and Burials, 1919. NAID 7347209
• Card List of Soldiers Whose Burials Were Confirmed, 1918-1920. NAID 7348290
• Card List of Soldiers Whose Burials Were Unconfirmed, 1918-1920. NAID 7348312
• Card List of Confirmed Burials of American Soldiers, 1917-1921. NAID 7348361
• Card List of Confirmed Disinterments and Reburials of American Soldiers, 1919-1922. NAID 7348362
• Applications for Headstones for Sailors, Marines, and Soldiers Buried Outside the Continental United States, 1909 - 1923. Includes images
• United States, National Archives, RG 117, Headstone Inscription and Interment Records

Cemetery Records by Conflict

• Colonial Wars, 1607 to 1763
• Revolutionary War, 1775 to 1783
• War of 1812, 1812 to 1815
• Mexican War, 1846 to 1848
• Civil War, 1861 to 1865
• Indian Wars, 1780's-1890's
• Spanish-American War, 1898
• Philippine Insurrection, 1899 to 1902
• World War I, 1917 to 1918
• World War II, 1941 to 1945
• Korean War 1950 to 1953
• Vietnam War 1964 to 1972

Books and Manuscripts

The following book provides descriptions of national cemeteries, state veterans’ cemeteries, soldiers’ lots, and abandoned military cemeteries:

• Holt, Dean W. American Military Cemeteries: A Comprehensive Illustrated Guide to the Hallowed Grounds of the United States, including Cemeteries Overseas. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., Inc., 1992. (FHL book 973 V3ho.)
• Dickon,Chris. The Foreign Burial of American War Dead: a history. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland Co., 2011. FHL 973 M2dch
• Edward C Bearse. National Cemetery System : the birth and evolution of the National Cemetery System. Manuscript FamilySearch Digital Library.

Family History Library

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