The 10 largest national cemeteries in the USA are some of the final resting places for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to preserve freedom. Behind each gravestone is a story of courage, deserving a moment of quiet awe.
What is a National Cemetery?
A US national cemetery is a military cemetery provided for the burial of US military personnel, veterans, and sometimes their spouses or dependents.
When Was the First National Cemetery Established?
During the US Civil War, the first U.S. military cemeteries were established in 1862. It’s unknown which cemetery was the first, but 14 national cemeteries were established within six months after Congress approved a national cemetery system.
How many National Cemeteries are there in the United States?
There are 171 national cemeteries in the US and an additional 26 US national military cemeteries outside the country.
The 10 Largest National Cemeteries in the USA
- Riverside National Cemetery (Riverside, CA) – 1,236 acres
- Calverton National Cemetery (Calverton, NY) – 1,045 acres
- Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery (Elwood, IL) – 982 acres
- Georgia National Cemetery (Canton, GA) – 774 acres
- Fort Custer National Cemetery (Augusta, MI)- 770 acres
- Massachusetts National Cemetery (Bourne, MA) – 749 acres
- Quantico National Cemetery (Quantico, VA) – 725 acres
- Indiantown Gap National Cemetery (Annville, PA) – 667 acres
- Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery (Dallas, TX) – 638 acres
- Arlington National Cemetery (Arlington, VA) – 624 acres
1) Riverside National Cemetery
The 10 Largest National Cemeteries in the USA
The largest cemetery in the US is Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California, and spans 1,236 acres.
Based on the number of interments, Riverside National Cemetery has been the most active national cemetery since the year 2000.
Riverside National Cemetery is home to a national Medal of Honor memorial.
The Medal of Honor is the United States’ highest award for military valor in action. Since it was established during the Civil War, less than 4,000 of these medals have been awarded. During critical moments, each recipient displayed bravery, courage, sacrifice, integrity, a deep love of country, and a desire to always do what is right. the names of each Medal of Honor recipient are engraved in gold on memorial walls.
One of the recipients was Corporal Nathaniel M. Allen, who fought in the infantry during the US Civil War in 1863. When his regiment fell back, this soldier, bearing the national color, returned in the face of the enemy’s fire. He pulled another regimental flag from under the body of its bearer, who had fallen, saved the flag from capture, and brought both colors off the field.
This memorial spotlights a scar of war that is not often showcased, honoring prisoners of war and those missing in action. The bronze statue, sculpted by Vietnam Veteran Lewis Lee Millett, Jr., is of an American serviceman bound by his captors. The statue is surrounded by black marble pillars which represent imprisonment.
The memorial honors more than 607,000 US prisoners of war and 170,000 servicemen and women listed as missing in action since the Revolutionary War.
2) Calverton National Cemetery
The 10 Largest National Cemeteries in the USA
The 2nd largest cemetery in the US is Calverton National Cemetery in Calverton, New York, and spans 1,045 acres.
With more than 275,000 interments, Calverton National Cemetery has the largest number of burials of any national cemetery in the United States. More than 7,000 burials are conducted there each year.
One of the remarkable military leaders buried at Calverton National Cemetery is United States Navy SEAL Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy. He was recognized for his “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty” in the face of grave danger in Afghanistan.
On June 28, 2005, in a rugged enemy-controlled area, Murphy and his four-member team were confronted by 30 – 40 Taliban fighters.
His military citation states in part, “Demonstrating exceptional resolve, Lieutenant Murphy valiantly led his men in engaging the large enemy force. The ensuing fierce firefight resulted in numerous enemy casualties, as well as the wounding of all four members of the team.
“Ignoring his own wounds and demonstrating exceptional composure, Lieutenant Murphy continued to lead and encourage his men. When the primary communicator fell mortally wounded, Lieutenant Murphy repeatedly attempted to call for assistance for his beleaguered teammates. Realizing the impossibility of communicating in the extreme terrain, and in the face of almost certain death, he fought his way into open terrain to gain a better position to transmit a call.
“This deliberate, heroic act deprived him of cover, exposing him to direct enemy fire. Finally achieving contact with his headquarters, Lieutenant Murphy maintained his exposed position while he provided his location and requested immediate support for his team. In his final act of bravery, he continued to engage the enemy until he was mortally wounded, gallantly giving his life for his country and for the cause of freedom.
“By his selfless leadership, courageous actions, and extraordinary devotion to duty, Lieutenant Murphy reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”
Click HERE to see the highly decorated grave of Michael P. Murphy.
3) Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery
The 10 Largest National Cemeteries in the USA
The 3rd largest cemetery in the US is Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elmwood, Illinois.
Approximately 50 miles south of Chicago. the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery is named after the 16th President of the United States and founder of the National Cemeteries.
George Theodore Hyatt was a soldier in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry during the Siege of Vicksburg.
On May 22, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant ordered an assault on the Confederate heights at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Volunteers were instructed to build a bridge across a moat and place scaling ladders against the enemy embankment prior to the main attack.
The volunteers knew the odds were against survival and so the mission was called, in nineteenth-century vernacular, a “forlorn hope“. Only single men were accepted as volunteers but even so, twice as many men as needed came forward and were turned away.
As the attack began in the early morning, the Union soldiers came under fire immediately and were pinned down in a ditch they were trying to cross.
The men of The Forlorn Hope were unable to retreat until nightfall. Of the 150 men in the storming party, nearly half were killed. Hyatt was among the 79 survivors who were awarded the Medal of Honor.
4) Georgia National Cemetery
The 10 Largest National Cemeteries in the USA
The 4th largest cemetery in the US is Georgia National Cemetery in Canton, Georgia, spanning 775 acres.
This is a relatively new national military cemetery as it was opened in 2006.
Military personnel buried at Georgia National Cemetery served in WWII, Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
One visitor wrote, “I am humbled visiting knowing that each grave represents a person who sacrificed of themselves to enable our freedoms.”
This image was taken at Georgia National Cemetery. In 2007, the Wreaths Across America non-profit group was founded. Since then, the event has expanded to all 50 US states to lay wreaths at Veterans’ cemeteries. The organization’s mission is to remember fallen heroes, honor those who serve, and teach children about the sacrifices made by Veterans and their families.
5) Fort Custer National Cemetery
The 10 Largest National Cemeteries in the USA
The 5th largest cemetery in the US is Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta, Michigan, spanning 770 acres.
Fort Custer was created as a training installation for troops during WWI and WWII. It was also used as a POW camp for German soldiers and a medical facility for casualties during WWII.
The Fort Custer National Cemetery is the final resting place of 26 German POWs who died while at the fort. Of these, 16 died when the truck that they were being transported in was hit by a train on its way to a sugar beet farm where they had been working. There is a memorial on the grounds in their honor and German Veterans often visit to pay their respects.
POWs in Michigan
By 1943, many German prisoners of war were transferred from camps in Great Britain to camps in the United States. They were put to work and became integral to the industry of Michigan and other Midwestern states, as these prisoners were added to the labor force on farms, in factories, orchards, and lumber mills.
Since America followed the Geneva Convention guidelines for the holding of prisoners of war, the camps were well supplied with food and other amenities. However, in order for the prisoners to get access to extra amenities from the camps’ store, they needed to work.
One of the farms where the German POWs worked was owned by William Teichmann in Eau Claire, Michigan. The Teichmann family had moved to the US from Germany in 1890. One soldier, Gerhard, told him, “When I was on your farm it felt like being at home”. This camaraderie showed itself in the letters that the family got after the war.
Mr. Teichmann told each German POW that worked for him to be sure to write when they returned home and that if they ever need help to just ask for it and he would be there. His kindness led to the Teichmann family receiving about 50 letters from prisoners that they employed. These letters helped document the troubles that post-war Germany and its citizens faced.
6) Massachusetts National Cemetery
The 10 Largest National Cemeteries in the USA
The 6th largest cemetery in the US is Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne, Massachusetts, spanning 749 acres.
One of those buried at Massachusetts National Cemetery is George Henry Maynard, a private from Massachusetts in the US Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor, for voluntarily returning to the front lines under severe fire to carry a wounded man who had been left behind to a place of safety.
Also buried at Massachusetts National Cemetery, Frederick Joseph Christensen Jr., was an American fighter pilot and designated flying ace with the US Army Air Forces during WWII.
A flying ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat.
7) Quantico National Cemetery
The 10 Largest National Cemeteries in the USA
The 7th largest cemetery in the US is Quantico National Cemetery in Quantico, Virginia, spanning 725 acres.
Private Marine Hector A. Cafferata is one of the notable burials at Quantico National Cemetery. While serving as a rifleman in the Korean War, all of the other men in Cafferata’s firing team were killed or seriously wounded when they were attacked in the early morning hours.
Cafferata, a crack shot, single-handedly held off the enemy for more than five hours. He fought without his boots or coat, which he had been unable to locate in the sudden chaos at dawn.
His fellow comrade, Marine Kenneth Benson, who was temporarily blinded by a grenade that went off near his face, assisted Cafferata by reloading his rifle.
Each time the enemy threw a hand grenade toward the riflemen, Cafferata tossed it back with his entrenching tool.
When a live grenade fell into the shallow entrenchment occupied by his wounded fellow Marines, Cafferata grabbed it and hurled it away — saving the lives of many, but suffering severe wounds. Finally, he was seriously wounded by a sniper. Eventually, he was rescued by other Marines and evacuated to Japan.
For his valiant efforts, Cafferata was awarded the National Medal of Honor. He had an elementary school named after him and was even featured on a US postage stamp.
Through it all, Cafferata remained humble. He said, “I did my duty. I protected my fellow Marines. They protected me. And I’m prouder of that than the fact that the government decided to give me the Medal of Honor.”
Click HERE to see Hector A. Cafferata’s gravestone.
8) Indiantown Gap National Cemetery
The 10 Largest National Cemeteries in the USA
The 8th largest cemetery in the US is Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Annville, Pennsylvania, spanning 667 acres.
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor, is a notable person buried at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery.
She was an American abolitionist, prohibitionist, prisoner of war, and surgeon who received the award for her service during the Civil War.
Walker’s military citation says she, “faithfully served as a contract surgeon in the service of the United States, and has devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soldiers, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own health.
Walker also endured hardships as a prisoner of war for four months in a Southern prison while acting as a contract surgeon.”
9) Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery
The 10 Largest National Cemeteries in the USA
The 9th largest cemetery in the US is Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery in Dallas, Texas, spanning 638 acres.
First Lieutenant James Lamar Stone’s final resting place is at the Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery.
Stone’s military citation tells the story of his heroism:
“1st Lt. Stone distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and indomitable courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy.
“When his platoon, holding a vital outpost position, was attacked by overwhelming Chinese forces, 1st Lt. Stone stood erect and exposed to the terrific enemy fire calmly directed his men in the defense.
“A defensive flamethrower failing to function, he personally moved to its location, further exposing himself, and personally repaired the weapon. Throughout a second attack, 1st Lt. Stone, though painfully wounded, personally carried the only remaining light machine gun from place to place in the position in order to bring fire upon the Chinese advancing from two directions.
“Throughout he continued to encourage and direct his depleted platoon in its hopeless defense. Although again wounded, he continued the fight with his carbine, still exposing himself as an example to his men.
“When this final overwhelming assault swept over the platoon’s position his voice could still be heard faintly urging his men to carry on until he lost consciousness. Only because of this officer’s driving spirit and heroic action was the platoon emboldened to make its brave but hopeless last-ditch stand.”
Click HERE to see James Lamar Stone’s gravestone.
10) Arlington National Cemetery
The 10 Largest National Cemeteries in the USA
The 10th largest cemetery in the US is Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, spanning 624 acres.
Since Arlington National Cemetery is maintained by the US Army instead of the National Cemetery Administration, it is frequently omitted when discussing national cemeteries. However, it is also often considered the most famous historic cemetery in the United States.
During the US Civil War casualties began to outnumber available gravesites in Washington, D.C., making the need for a national cemetery in the area obvious.
Arlington National Cemetery was established in May of 1864. Tens of thousands of Union Soldiers were buried at Arlington in the years that followed. Many high-ranking military and government officials continue to be buried there today.
The most famous grave at Arlington National Cemetery is that of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
For more than 100 years the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier has served as a symbolic grave for all war dead whose remains have not been found or identified. The Tomb began with one unknown service member from World War I, and today is the grave of three unidentified service members.
The Guard is changed, during daylight hours, every thirty minutes in the summer (April 1 to Sep 30) and every hour in the winter (Oct 1 to Mar 31). During the hours the cemetery is closed, the guard is changed every 2 hours. The Tomb has been guarded, every minute of every day since 1937.
One side of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier reads,
HERE RESTS IN
HONORED GLORY
AN AMERICAN SOLDIER
KNOWN BUT TO GOD
Who is Eligible for Burial in a National Cemetery?
Burial in a national cemetery is available and free to most Veterans, their spouses, and some dependent children.
Burial benefits offered by the Veterans Administration include opening and closing the grave, ongoing upkeep and maintenance, a government headstone or grave marker, a burial flag, and a memorial certificate.
How Can I Find a Specific Gravesite in a U.S. National Cemetery?
Click HERE to do a cemetery records search on the BillionGraves website. Or use the National Cemetery Administration’s gravesite locator tool.
With either tool, enter the information you know such as last name, birth date, death date, etc. and the tool will return a list of those that most closely match the criteria you have entered.
Learn More!
Click HERE to learn about military flag holders at the cemetery in another great BillionGraves blog post.
Volunteer to Take Photos of Gravestones
Whether you are able to visit a national cemetery or another type of cemetery in any place around the world, we hope you will take some pictures of headstones.
When you take photos in your own local cemeteries and I take them in mine, we will all help each other to find our ancestor’s final resting places. Click HERE to get started. You are welcome to do this at your own convenience, no permission from us is needed. If you still have questions after you have clicked on the link to get started, you can email us at: Volunteer@BillionGraves.com.
Happy Cemetery Hopping!
Cathy Wallace
