National Cemetery Administration
Fort McPherson National Cemetery
12004 South Spur 56A
Maxwell, NE 69151
Phone: 308-582-4433
FAX: 308-582-4616
Kiosk: Yes
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Visitation Hours: Open daily from dawn to dusk.
Office Hours: Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed federal holidays except Memorial Day.
This cemetery has space available to accommodate casketed and cremated remains.
Burial in a national cemetery is open to all members of the armed forces who have met a minimum active duty service requirement and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.
A Veteran's spouse, widow or widower, minor dependent children, and under certain conditions, unmarried adult children with disabilities may also be eligible for burial. Eligible spouses and children may be buried even if they predecease the Veteran.
Members of the reserve components of the armed forces who die while on active duty or who die while on training duty, or were eligible for retired pay, may also be eligible for burial.
The cemetery is located on south spur 56A, four miles south of Maxwell, or two miles south of exit 190 on I-80. The nearest commercial airport is Lee Bird Field, 11 miles west of Maxwell on Highway 30. Access to 56A is gained from Highway 30 through Maxwell or from I-80, exit 190.
Fax all discharge documentation to the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 1-866-900-6417 and follow-up with a phone call to 1-800-535-1117.
For information on scheduled burials in our national cemeteries, please go to the Daily Burial Schedule.
Grave Location: At the time of interment, we will provide a packet to the next of kin that includes a map of the cemetery with the grave location information. To locate graves of others who are buried here, please visit our public information center where you will find both automated and printed grave locators. To locate gravesites of veterans elsewhere, please visit the VA locator. To locate gravesites of service members buried overseas, visit the American Battle Monuments Commission.
Military Funeral Honors
Any veteran who is buried in a national cemetery is entitled to military funeral honors that include folding and presentation of the U.S. flag to the next of kin and the playing of Taps. The flag detail will include two members of the armed forces, at least one of whom is from the branch of service in which the veteran served. A rifle volley may be provided if a qualified rifle detail is available. A volunteer rifle detail is available in North Platte and can be scheduled through the funeral home or by calling 308-534-4350 ext. 267. Members of the armed forces can be scheduled through the funeral home or by calling the following numbers:
Air Force: 402-294-6667
Army: 785-239-3741
Coast Guard: 314-539-3900
Marine Corps: 866-826-3628
Navy: 877-478-3988
The Department of Veterans Affairs does not provide military funeral honors and, while our staff is always willing to assist families in any way possible, the Department of Defense is responsible for providing military funeral honors. Additional information may be found online or by writing to the following address:
Department of Defense
Directorate for Public Inquiry and Analysis
Room 3A750 The Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1400
For educational materials and additional information on this cemetery, please visit the Education section, located below.
You can place fresh cut flowers on your loved one's grave throughout the year.
At the time of burial, floral arrangements with the casket or urn will be placed on the completed grave.
Floral items will be removed from graves when they become faded or unsightly. Government supplied plastic flower containers are available for your use.
Floral policies are posted at the cemetery.
You can place artificial flowers on graves from October 10 through March 15. Artificial flowers are also allowed during the week of Memorial Day and will be removed 7 days after the holiday.
Christmas wreaths or grave blankets may be placed on graves during the holiday. Floral grave blankets may not be larger than two feet by three feet. These will be removed by January 10.
To preserve the dignity and appearance of your loved one's final resting place, the following items aren't allowed at headstones or columbariums:
- Alcoholic products
- Balloons, candles, or vigil lights
- Decorative and breakable glass items or objects
- Non-government supplied floral containers (pots, planters, glass vases, etc.)
- Objects such as rocks or other durable items, that when mowing or performing maintenance could become projectiles
- Offensive items or those deemed contrary to honoring Veterans
- Permanent in-ground plantings
- Pinwheels
- Statues or stuffed animals
- Weapons of any kind, explosives, or ammunition
Please note:
- Floral items or decorations may not be secured to headstones.
- In-ground floral containers may not be placed in new cemeteries or new sections of national cemeteries.
VA regulations 38 CFR 1.218 prohibit the carrying of firearms (either openly or concealed), explosives or other dangerous or deadly weapons while on VA property, except for official purposes, such as military funeral honors.
Possession of firearms on any property under the charge and control of VA is prohibited. Offenders may be subject to a fine, removal from the premises, or arrest.
Built in 1863, Fort McPherson was established to ensure peace along the western frontier between the immigrants traveling along the Oregon Trail and the Native American inhabitants. The troops originally stationed at the post provided military protection from hostile Native Americans during the construction of the railroad.
To meet the burial needs of the soldiers stationed at the post, a cemetery was established early in its history. The old post burial ground was later moved to southwest of the post and some 50 remains were moved to this location.
Establishment of the 20-acre Fort McPherson National Cemetery in 1873 afforded the space to relocate remains from the cemeteries abandoned when the number of settlers decreased. Burial records testify that life on the frontier was full of hardships and dangers similar to battlefield camps during times of war.
The cemetery lodge was built in 1876 and rehabilitated in 1951 and 2000. About one mile southeast of the cemetery a monument marks the site of the flagstaff of the old military post. Another monument marks the route used by the Pony Express over the Oregon Trail, which passes through the cemetery.
The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 5, 2012.
Monuments and Memorials
The cemetery has a digital carillon system that was donated by the American Veterans, Inc (AMVETS) Department of Nebraska, in partnership with the AMVETS National Foundation. The carillon rings during the week to mark the time of day and plays selected devotional music on the weekend.
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force that can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. Recipients receive the Medal of Honor from the President on behalf of Congress. It was first awarded during the Civil War and the eligibility criteria, medal design, and recognition on a recipients' grave marker have all evolved over time. There are 390 Medal of Honor recipients interred in VA national cemeteries.
» Medal of Honor recipients buried or memorialized here:
Private First Class James W. Fous (Vietnam). He received the Medal of Honor posthumously for service in the U.S. Army, Company E, 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, in recognition of gallantry and self-sacrifice in Kien Hoa Province, Republic of Vietnam, May 14, 1968. Fous is buried in Section G, Site 685.
Sergeant George Jordan (Indian Wars). George Jordan, born about 1850 in Tennessee, enlisted in the U.S. Army in Nashville in 1866. Illiterate at the time, he learned to read and write while in service. Private Jordan transferred to the 9th Cavalry in 1870 and, posted to the Indian Territories, he fought hostile Apache and Sioux tribes. He was promoted to corporal in 1874. In 1890 Sergeant Jordan received the Medal of Honor for holding ground against greater numbers of the enemy in 1880 and 1881. He was the first African American so recognized in two decades. After retiring in April 1897 Jordan remained in Nebraska and, as a landowner, lobbied for the right to vote. In fall 1904 he sought medical attention at the Fort Robinson hospital, but was denied admission; he died that October. Jordan was buried at Fort Robinson and in 1947 his remains were transferred to Fort McPherson National Cemetery, Section F, Site 1131.
Private Daniel H. Miller (Indian Wars). He received the Medal of Honor while serving in the U.S. Army, Company F, 3rd U.S. Cavalry, for actions in the Whetstone Mountains, Arizona Territory, May 5, 1871. Miller died in 1874 and is buried in Section A, Site 380.
Sergeant Emanuel Stance (Indian Wars). Emanuel Stance was born in Louisiana in 1848 and he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1866. Stance joined Troop F, 9th Cavalry, and spent most of his career on active frontier duty in the Southwest. Sergeant Stance received the Medal of Honor in May 1870 for unquestioned courage. However, he had a volatile personality and drove his men hard. Stance was demoted to private and restored to rank several times. In 1885 Troop F was posted at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. There, Stance was murdered on Christmas Day 1887, likely by his own men. In 1947, his remains were transferred from Fort Robinson to Fort McPherson National Cemetery, Section F, Site 1040.
Other Burials
Born of Oglala-Lakota Indian and French decent, Baptiste "Little Bat" Garnier was a scout for the U.S. Cavalry during the Indian Wars. His reputation grew as he tracked in what many believed to be impossible conditions. His skill earned him the nickname "Chief of Fort Robinson Scouts." Garnier was shot and killed by a saloon keeper on December 16, 1900. In 1947, Garnier's remains were disinterred from Fort Robinson, Nebraska, and buried in Fort McPherson National Cemetery (Section S, Site 5900).
Spotted Horse was a Pawnee Indian Scout for the U.S. Army in the Northern Plains during the Indian Wars. He was killed by a Brule Sioux on August 14, 1862, and interred at Fort Kearny. In November 1873, Spotted Horse was reinterred at Fort McPherson National Cemetery (Section C, Site 258).
Fort McPherson National Cemetery is the final resting place for 63 Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry. The soldiers were all buried at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, and were relocated to Fort McPherson National Cemetery in 1947 when Fort Robinson was deactivated.
Fort McPherson National Cemetery has served as the final resting place for American men and women who have served their country at many different times in many wars throughout the years. In some instances positive identification has been impossible due to the circumstances of the deaths. There are 81 group burials at Fort McPherson National Cemetery, which represent 350 Americans who gave the supreme sacrifice.
In section A, graves 384-389 contain the remains of six members of Company F, 3rd U.S. Cavalry: Edward Doe, Louis Cohn, Theodore Froendle, Dennis Mahony, Daniel Taylor and William Mars, who were drowned on May 31, 1873 in a flash flood which swept through their campsite on Blackwood Creek in the Republican River Valley.
Pvt. Cyrus Fox, 7th Iowa Infantry, was the last surviving Union veteran of the Civil War in Lincoln County, Nebraska. Pvt. Fox, who died in 1942, served under General McPherson for whom the cemetery is named (Section C, Site 1270).
An impressive white marble monument marks the group burial of 28 enlisted soldiers who were killed in an encounter with the Sioux on August 19, 1854 near Fort Laramie, Wyoming Territory. The incident, commonly known as the Grattan Massacre after Lt. John L. Grattan who led the soldiers, is generally considered by historians to be the opening salvo in a 36 year period of intermittent hostilities between the U.S. and the Sioux Nation, ending with the massacre at Wounded Knee, South Dakota in 1890. Lt. Grattan is interred at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery in Kansas.
More than half of VA's national cemeteries originated with the Civil War and many are closed to some burials. Other sites were established to serve World War veterans and they continue to expand. Historic themes related with NCA's cemeteries and soldiers' lots vary, but visitors should understand "Why is it here?" NCA began by installing interpretive signs, or waysides, at more than 100 properties to observe the Civil War Sesquicentennial (2011–2015). Please follow the links below to see the interpretive signs for Fort McPherson National Cemetery.
Visit the Veterans Legacy Program and NCA History Program for additional information. Thank you for your interest.
