Cemetery Information

4606 Highway 1806

Mandan, ND 58554

Phone (701) 667-1418
Fax (701) 667-1419
Email

Eligibility for Burial

Honoring Those Who Served

The rendering of Military Funeral Honors is a way to show the Nation's deep gratitude to those who, in times of war and peace, have faithfully defended our country. This ceremonial paying of respect is the final demonstration a grateful Nation can provide to the veteran's families. The tradition of providing Military Funeral Honors, in some form, began in ancient Greece and Rome. The funeral honors protocol of today traces its roots to these ancient ceremonies as well as to historical American experiences.

Who Is Eligible?

Military members on active duty
Military retirees
Members and former members of the Selected Reserve, who served at least one enlistment term
Eligible U.S. veterans of any war
Other U.S. veterans who served at least one term of enlistment and separated under conditions other than dishonorable

- Present & past National Guard members and present & past members of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard Reserve forces. Length of service in the National Guard and Reserve, for enlisted personnel will be completion of at least one term of enlistment and officers who have completed at least four years of service. All military people interred in the cemetery must have received a discharge shown as: "Honorable", "Under Honorable Conditions" or "General". Undesirable, bad conduct, and any type of discharge other than honorable may or may not qualify the individual for burial, depending upon a determination made by the Adjutant General of North Dakota.

The eligible spouse, widow, or widower of any person listed above. Normally the veteran and spouse (and other eligible dependents of the veteran) will be interred in the same gravesite or an adjoining gravesite, as appropriate.

Veterans Cemetery Headstones

Every grave will be marked with an upright granite headstone at no cost to the veteran, non-military spouse, eligible dependents, and National Guard and Reserve retirees.

National Guard and Reserve members with less than 20 years of service, that did not serve active duty time other than for training, but served at least their enlistment term, are required to purchase the headstone through the cemetery. Please contact the cemetery or ask your funeral home for current pricing.

Please note that the headstones will arrive with a black inlay in the letters (lithochrome). However, this will eventually fade out. We are not allowed to reorder a headstone only for this reason. However, if the headstone becomes too hard to read, discolored or eroded, we then may reorder the headstone. The final decision is made by the cemetery director.

Veterans Cemetery Gravesite Regulations

Fresh Cut Flowers:

Fresh cut flowers may be placed on graves at any time. Only temporary flower containers are permitted. Floral items will be removed from graves when they become faded or unsightly.

Artificial Flowers:

Artificial flowers may be placed on the graves during the period of October 1st to the 10th day following Memorial Day.

Christmas Flowers:

Christmas wreaths or blankets are permitted on graves during the Christmas season commencing December 1st and will be removed by caretakers on February 1st each year.

Permanent Flowers:

Permanent plantings will not be permitted on graves at any time. Potted plants will be permitted on graves during the period 10 days before and 10 days after Easter Sunday and Memorial Day.

Commemorative Items:

Statues, vigil lights, glass objects of any nature or any other commemorative items are not permitted on the graves at any time. All graves will be decorated on Memorial Day by the cemetery staff with 8"X12" United States flags. U.S. flags are not permitted on graves at any other time.

Removal of Decorative Items:

During lawn mowing and ground maintenance season, all floral items will be removed from graves when that section of the cemetery requires mowing or other maintenance.

Application

It is not required that you have an application on file at the cemetery. However, the cemetery will accept applications if you so desire.

To pre-register, please complete the application form below and submit a copy of your discharge (DD Form 214 or the equivalent) for active duty or the NGB 22 for National Guard and reservists. These documents must verify that you meet the eligibility requirements prior to any interments taking place.

The funeral director will contact us to complete final arrangements.

For veterans with multiple enlistments, it is imperative all discharges are considered. Information on the headstone is taken from the discharges; therefore war service, highest rank earned, significant decoration's and branches of service will reflect what is displayed on the headstone.

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Burials and Committal Services

Requests for interments should be made at the earliest possible date. In the event of a full body burial, we do require a funeral director to make all arrangements and be present for the burial.

In the event of a cremation burial, if any committal services or Military Funeral Honor Services are being held, you must work with a funeral home and the funeral home representative must be present. In cases of a direct cremation burial (no services, burial only) no funeral home is required and you may schedule directly with the cemetery.

We schedule interments in one-hour intervals, Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm CST. Please contact our office for available times.

Please be certain to be on time as we will begin service promptly on the hour.

Please remember the committal service is not to exceed 5-10 minutes so our groundkeepers have adequate time to complete the burial.

Burial Costs

There is no cost to the Veteran or eligible spouse and dependent for burial. This includes the burial plot, opening and closing of the gravesite and the headstone. Caskets and vaults must be purchased by the family through a funeral home. Urns of your choice must be provided for burial at the family's expense.

Lot determination is normally the next one available in the area currently being utilized. As in National Cemeteries, only one plot would be used for the veteran, spouse and/or eligible dependent. The first vault would be placed at a depth sufficient to accommodate additional vaults.

A basic grave liner is required and is purchased through the funeral homes; they are not provided by the cemetery.

There is no vault requirement for cremated remains. However, we will accommodate an urn vault if you so choose to use one.

Additional Links

Veterans Legacy Memorial (VLM)

The VLM is an amazing digital platform dedicated entirely to the memory of nearly 10 million Veterans interred in VA's national cemeteries; VA-funded state, tribal, and territory Veteran cemeteries; Department of Defense-managed cemeteries; National Park Service cemeteries; and private cemeteries within and outside the United States. Individual Veteran profile pages are populated with military service and cemetery information.

The Interactive features allow family, friends, and the public to submit Tributes (comments), images, biographical information, and historical documents; create their Veteran's military service and personal achievements timeline; and generate a Word Cloud that describes their Veteran. The site also allows visitors to share Veteran profile pages by email and post them to social media, and users can "Follow a Veteran" to receive email alerts when new content is added to that Veteran’s page.

Nationwide Gravesite Locator

Search for burial locations of veterans and their family members in VA National Cemeteries, state veterans cemeteries, various other military and Department of Interior cemeteries, and for veterans buried in private cemeteries when the grave is marked with a government grave marker.

Military Funeral Honors

Honoring those who served. (Sponsored by Department of Defense)

Burial and Memorial Benefits

The National Cemetery Administration honors veterans with final resting places in national shrines and with lasting tributes that commemorate their service to our nation.

The kiosk gravesite locator is available in the foyer of the visitor’s center. This area is open from 6:00 am and closes at 9:00 pm. There are restrooms available in this area as well.

The cemetery office is open Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:00pm., closed weekends and on State Holidays.

The cemetery grounds are open twenty-four hours a day for grave visitation.

Burial Space: This cemetery has in ground

burial space available to accommodate

casketed and cremated remains. We are

currently finalizing the design to build a

columbarium as well (above ground

niches for cremations).

Acreage: 70

Dedicated to the men and women who have served this State and Nation with unequaled distinction and honor. The State of North Dakota, in tribute to the devotion shown by our veterans in defense of the ideals and values we hold so precious, honors them by providing a location where they may find eternal peace in a setting rich with military history and quiet dignity.

The North Dakota Veteran's Cemetery was established by an act of the 1989 Legislative Assembly. The cemetery was opened in July 1992, and is operated by the Adjutant General of North Dakota. It is located 6.5 miles south of Mandan on Highway 1806 on a 70 acre tract of land in the southwest corner of Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park.

Memorial Day

The Memorial Day program will be held on Memorial Day each year beginning at 12:00 noon central standard time.

Columbarium

In March 2023, the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery received a grant from the National Cemetery Administration for $1,860,775 to construct a Columbarium on the current grounds of the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery. The entire project cost approximately $2.5 million with $648,000 funded by the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery Foundation.

A Columbarium is a place where urns of cremated human remains are interred in niches (above ground burial).

Groundbreaking ceremony took place on Memorial Day 2023 and construction began June 1, 2023. The project was completed in November 2023 with a ribbon cutting on Veterans Day November 11, 2023.

The Columbarium has 2,240 niche units with approximate burial space for 20 years.

Pre-registration process through the ND Veterans Cemetery allows Veterans and their spouse and eligible dependents to specify if they prefer their cremation burial in the Columbarium or underground. The ND Veterans Cemetery will allow underground cremation in lieu of the Columbarium. If the Veteran or spouse chooses to be placed in the Columbarium, they both must be interred in the Columbarium. The ND Veterans Cemetery cannot use two gravesites for a Veteran and a spouse.

The ND Veterans Cemetery will not dis-inter any currently interred cremations to placed in the Columbarium. The Veteran and spouse will be interred in the same niche. Each niche will be marked with a gray granite niche cover supplied by the National Cemetery Administration and ordered by the ND Veterans Cemetery.

The niche location will be assigned by the ND Veterans Cemetery at the time of burial.

Cemetery Information

Memorial Day

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