National Cemetery Administration

On September 1, 1973, the Veterans Administration (VA) became the steward of 103 national cemeteries, 22 soldiers’ and government lots in private cemeteries, 7 Confederate cemeteries, and 3 monument sites with the absorption of the National Cemetery System. It also took responsibility for the procurement of government headstones and markers for eligible veterans. VA was now in the cemetery service.

In 1945, as World War II was ending, the U.S. cruiser USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine, igniting a quest for survival for the hundreds of sailors stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Today, only a few of those survivors remain, and National Cemetery Administration Historian Richard Hulver memorializes some of those Veterans, who are buried at national cemeteries across the world.

The American Civil War began in April 1861 and within a month, enslaved African Americans, like those from Loutre Island, seeking shelter behind Union lines shifted the war’s objectives - improving emancipation policies. NCA intern Jacob Klinger dives into the experience of Soldier John Pitzer, who served in this dynamic time period and is memorialized at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis.

VA History Exhibit - When the U.S. had to increase enlistments to handle the burden of manpower demands for the battlefield, a draft was legislated in 1863. A provision was written in that gave a drafted person the choice to pay someone who was willing to serve in their place. This was called substitution. 

This National Cemetery Administration (NCA) publication is the first in a series on topics related to World War II. For the VA History Office's first Memorial Day features post, take time to learn NCA's efforts to memorialize the men and women who served in that epic conflict and who now rest in cemeteries managed by VA.