Nine individuals in U.S. history have obtained the five-star general officer rank, all but one directly on account of their World War II service. Only one of this select group, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, is interred in a VA national cemetery. While all Veterans in national cemeteries are buried with equality and their gravesites treated with reverence, Nimitz’s rank generated some burial privileges not otherwise granted. His five-star insignia was included in the space normally reserved for an emblem of belief (EOB) and, at his request, the plots around him were set aside for the later burial of select colleagues. Both factors make his headstone and gravesite unique in the National Cemetery Administration’s history.
Nimitz outlived the three other WWII Navy five-star officers, all of whom accepted the entitlement of a state funeral in Washington, D.C., that came with their rank. When the administration of President John F. Kennedy approached Nimitz about planning his own services, he informed them of his desire for burial at Golden Gate National Cemetery—then administered by the U.S. Army—in a standard military funeral with a government-issued headstone. Golden Gate in the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno contains many WWII sailors and Marines, some of whom died while serving under Nimitz during his tenure as Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet. Catherine Nimitz recalled that her husband was adamant about this cemetery because “all his men from the Pacific were out here.”
At the time of his death, February 20, 1966, EOBs were a common feature on the government-issued headstone. The primary ones offered were a Latin Cross, Star of David, and the Buddhist Wheel of Righteousness. Nimitz asked that his fleet admiral insignia be used instead. His biographer speculated that, as a spiritual man who did not adhere to the beliefs of any particular denomination, Nimitz felt the five stars showed how hard he had worked in life. This is a rare instance where a symbol other than the approved EOBs was inscribed at the top of a government-issued headstone.
When Nimitz reserved plots for himself and his wife at Golden Gate in 1949, he personally asked to have spaces reserved right beside him for two of his most trusted subordinates and closest friends, Admirals Raymond A. Spruance and Richmond Kelley Turner. The Army denied this special request, but secretly reserved the plots without informing Nimitz until a later date.
Another close friend, Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, was later included in this arrangement. Spruance was the last of the group to die, passing away in 1969. With his burial, the “Nimitz Plot” became the final resting place of four of the Navy’s most influential leaders in the Pacific theater during World War II. The sentiment behind the burials emphasizes the symbolic power of comradeship after death in national cemeteries.
Nine individuals in U.S. history have obtained the five-star general officer rank, all but one directly on account of their World War II service. Only one of this select group, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, is interred in a VA national cemetery. While all Veterans in national cemeteries are buried with equality and their gravesites treated with reverence, Nimitz’s contributions to victory in WWII generated some unique privileges not otherwise granted. By Richard Hulver, Ph.D.
Historian, National Cemetery Administration
Share this story
Related Stories
History of VA in 100 Objects
In the 19th century, the federal government left the manufacture and distribution of prosthetic limbs for disabled Veterans to private enterprise. The experience of fighting two world wars in the first half of the 20th century led to a reversal in this policy.
In the interwar era, first the Veterans Bureau and then the Veterans Administration assumed responsibility for providing replacement limbs and medical care to Veterans.
In recent decades, another federal agency, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), has joined VA as a supporter of cutting-edge research into artificial limb technology. DARPA’s efforts were spurred by the spike in traumatic injuries resulting from the emergence of improvised explosive devices as the insurgent’s weapon of choice in Iraq in 2003-04.
Out of that effort came the LUKE/DEKA prosthetic limb, named after the main character from "Star Wars."
History of VA in 100 Objects
American prisoners of war from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam faced starvation, torture, forced labor, and other abuses at the hands of their captors. For those that returned home, their experiences in captivity often had long-lasting impacts on their physical and mental health. Over the decades, the U.S. government sought to address their specific needs through legislation conferring special benefits on former prisoners of war.
In 1978, five years after the United States withdrew the last of its combat troops from South Vietnam, Congress mandated VA carry out a thorough study of the disability and medical needs of former prisoners of war. In consultation with the Secretary of Defense, VA completed the study in 14 months and published its findings in early 1980. Like previous investigations in the 1950s, the study confirmed that former prisoners of war had higher rates of service-connected disabilities.
History of VA in 100 Objects
In the waning days of World War I, French sailors from three visiting allied warships marched through New York in a Liberty Loan Parade. The timing was unfortunate as the second wave of the influenza pandemic was spreading in the U.S. By January, 25 of French sailors died from the virus.
These men were later buried at the Cypress Hills National Cemetery and later a 12-foot granite cross monument, the French Cross, was dedicated in 1920 on Armistice Day. This event later influenced changes to burial laws that opened up availability of allied service members and U.S. citizens who served in foreign armies in the war against Germany and Austrian empires.
