National Cemetery Administration

Visitation Hours: Open daily from sunrise to sunset.

Office Hours: Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed federal holidays except Memorial Day and Veterans 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.

» Eligibility for Burial in a VA National Cemetery

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.

This cemetery is supervised by the Kentucky National Cemetery Complex. Please call 270-692-3390 for further information. In the event of an emergency and you are unable to reach Lebanon National Cemetery office, please call Camp Nelson National Cemetery at 859-885-5727, and someone will assist you.

For educational materials and additional information on this cemetery, please visit the Education section, located below.

Lebanon National Cemetery is not responsible for any items left at gravesites.

Floral arrangements (up to six arrangements) accompanying the casket or urn at the time of burial will be placed on the completed gravesite by cemetery staff. They will be removed when they become unsightly or when it becomes necessary to facilitate cemetery operations, such as mowing.

Natural cut flowers may be placed on graves at any time of the year. They will be removed and disposed of when they become unsightly.

Temporary metal containers, provided by the cemetery, are available at various sites on the cemetery grounds. Please limit one per gravesite. Cemetery provided floral containers are the only floral containers allowed in the cemetery Perma-vases are not permitted, nor are they sold at Lebanon National Cemetery.

Artificial flowers and/or potted plants, in unbreakable containers (cardboard, plastic, metal), are permitted on gravesites from October 10 until April 15. They will also be permitted on graves 10 days before and 10 days after Easter Sunday and Memorial Day.

Items are subject to removal on the first and third Fridays during mowing season, and depending on the added frequency of mowing more often, up to twice a week.  Depending on the growing season, artificial flowers/ potted plants may have to be removed to accommodate the early mowing season, up to twice per week.

Christmas wreaths, grave blankets, and related arrangements will be permitted on graves from December 1 until January 20. Grave floral blankets may not be larger than 2 x 3 feet, please do not wrap them in plastic, as it destroys the turf.

Floral items and other decorations may be secured in place (in the ground) by the donor. They may not be attached to headstones or markers. Floral "stands" and "saddles" are prohibited.

Pets are prohibited in the cemetery.

National Cemeteries are not recreational parks, they are national shrines. Jogging, running or other recreational activities is not allowed.

Unauthorized decorations such as permanent plantings, statues, vigil lights, upright metal flag holders, and breakable objects of any kind and similar commemorative items are not permitted on the gravesites or on the monuments.

Understanding that families may desire to keep certain floral arrangements, we have in place a procedure that, upon the families written request, cemetery personnel will place the arrangement in a designated location for 30 days, after which arrangements will be disposed of.

The staff at Lebanon National Cemetery want to thank you for your cooperation in helping us to maintain this cemetery as a national shrine, a final resting place of Honor and Dignity, for the veterans of this great nation.

Lebanon National Cemetery is located on the outskirts of the community of Lebanon in Marion County, KY. In September 1861, Colonel John M. Harlan from Springfield, IL, established Camp Crittenden at Lebanon and began recruiting the 10th Kentucky Infantry regiment. From November of that year, Lebanon had become the primary staging center for General George H. Thomas' Mill Spring camp. The town remained an important Union supply depot during the Civil War, as well as a major center for Union hospitals. Even after the fighting moved south during the last two years of the war, at least one military hospital continued to operate in town. During the same period, Lebanon was a major recruiting camp for "colored troops." Over 2,053 men were recruited, the overwhelming majority of whom had been slaves in the region.

Official records indicate the U.S. government first obtained the land for the cemetery in 1862, but it was not designated a national cemetery until 1867. The original interments were the scattered remains of Union soldiers from Lebanon and the surrounding countryside. There were 865 total original interments including 281 unknowns. The original triangular tract is bounded by a stonewall and it contains an 1870s lodge occupied by the superintendent and the remains of a rostrum.

In 1984, a donation of 3.4 acres brought the cemetery to 5.8 acres. An additional donation of 9 acres brought the cemetery to its current size. The cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.