Legal Definitions - National Cemetery Administration

The National Cemetery Administration (NCA) is a division within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Its primary mission is to honor and commemorate eligible veterans and their families by managing national cemeteries, ensuring veterans' graves are properly marked worldwide, and providing financial assistance to states for establishing and maintaining their own veterans' cemeteries.

Here are some examples of how the National Cemetery Administration's functions apply:

• After a decorated Army veteran passed away, his family contacted the NCA to arrange his burial with full military honors at a national cemetery. The NCA staff guided them through the eligibility requirements and coordinated the interment service, ensuring the veteran received a dignified final resting place managed by the federal government.

  This example illustrates the NCA's role in operating national cemeteries and providing burial services for eligible veterans.

• A family discovered that their great-uncle, a World War II veteran, had been buried in a small, private family plot without a proper military headstone. They applied to the NCA, which then provided and shipped a government-furnished headstone, free of charge, to mark his grave appropriately, recognizing his service even though he wasn't in a national cemetery.

  This demonstrates the NCA's responsibility for providing headstones and markers for veterans' graves, regardless of whether they are interred in a national cemetery or a private plot.

• To better serve its growing veteran population, a state government decided to establish a new veterans' cemetery. They successfully applied for a grant from the NCA, which provided significant funding to help with the construction and initial maintenance costs, ensuring that veterans in that state would have access to a dedicated burial ground.

  This highlights the NCA's program of making grants to states to assist in the establishment, expansion, and care of state veterans' cemeteries.