Los Angeles National Cemetery

The Los Angeles National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the West Los Angeles area, serving as the final resting place for veterans from many wars and their family members.

Established in 1889, the Los Angeles National Cemetery was designated for volunteer soldiers of the Pacific Division. Opened a year prior, in 1888, the Soldiers Home provided care for the disabled veterans of the Union from the Civil War, with land on the eastern boundary of the 640-acre campus set aside for cemetery use.

Cemetery Features

Currently spanning 114 acres, the National Cemetery is the final abode for 14 Medal of Honor recipients. The cemetery's administrative building and columbarium are Spanish Revival structures, honoring Southern California's architectural heritage. Buried across its 114 acres are veterans from the following conflicts:

• Mexican-American War;
• Civil War;
• Spanish-American War;
• World War I;
• World War II;
• Korean War;
• Vietnam War;
• Iraq War;
• Afghanistan War.

An annual ceremony commemorating Abraham Lincoln's birthday is held at the cemetery on February 12th. Memorial Day gathers several thousand attendees each year.

National Cemetery History

Following the Civil War, thousands of volunteer soldiers were left with injuries and disabilities requiring long-term care that often exceeded what their families could provide. In 1865, the U.S. Congress passed legislation to create a National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, providing the needy with medical care and essentials: housing, food, clothing, and employment.

The Los Angeles National Cemetery was opened on lands shared with national veterans homes or asylums for disabled soldiers. By 1900, with over 1000 veterans in residence, a new hospital was constructed. The Wadsworth Hospital replaced it in 1927, and another building, the Brentwood Hospital, was added in the 1920s.

Los Angeles National Cemetery is notable for two unusual dog burials, though the practice is prohibited today. Old Bonus, the adopted mascot of the Veterans Home, and Blackout, a war dog wounded in the Pacific during World War II, are interred here. In 1997, the Rosary Columbarium was established at the National Cemetery for scattering cremated remains.

What to See

The Los Angeles National Cemetery is closed to new interments, except for subsequent burials for veterans. Occasionally, burial space may become available due to the disinterment of existing gravesites or for other reasons.

• A granite obelisk memorializing those who gave their lives in defense of their country stands in the San Juan Hill section of the cemetery.
• The Civil War Soldiers monument, erected in 1942, features a bronze soldier standing at parade rest atop a boulder.
• The United Spanish War Veterans monument, a stark white marble composition with three figures completed in 1950, collapsed after the 1971 earthquake. In 1973, sculptor David Wilkins recreated the monument in concrete and plaster, reinforcing it with rebar. The memorial plaque from the original sculpture was preserved and incorporated into the new sculpture.

Also notable among the interments are:

• Private Charles W. Randall, Civil War
• Sergeant George H. Eldridge, Indian Campaigns
• Sergeant Luther Kaltenbach, Civil War
• Corporal Edwin Fenix, Indian Campaigns
• Corporal Harry Harvey, Civil War
• Over 100 Buffalo Soldiers are buried at the Los Angeles National Cemetery. These African American soldiers were members of the 9th, 10th, 24th, and 25th Cavalry during the Civil War.