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. Open all holidays except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's 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.

Grave Location
The grave location of your loved one is furnished on the map included in the burial document folder. There is a gravesite locator in the administration building for those who may not know the location of the gravesite. The cemetery office personnel are available to assist visitors during office hours.

Grave Marker
A temporary grave marker is used to mark the grave following the interment. A permanent grave marker will be furnished free of charge by the Government without application from the family. Every effort is made to have the grave marker delivered and set within 60 days from the day of interment.

Grounds Maintenance
Immediately after each interment, the grave is filled and leveled and may require repeated renovation. Matters that appear to need immediate corrective action should be brought to the attention of the cemetery office personnel.

Military Funeral Honors
Each veteran interred at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery is authorized a military funeral honors detail consisting of at least two uniformed personnel from the veteran's branch of service to fold and present the flag and play "Taps", upon request of the family or funeral home. Your local funeral director can assist you with arranging for these honors. If you are not utilizing a funeral home, please wait until after you have scheduled with the National Cemetery Scheduling Office (see "Schedule a Burial" above), and you have a date and time for burial to request military honors from the Branch of Service of the veteran.

Note: The three-rifle volley salute is generally not provided by the Department of Defense for veterans unless they died on active duty. The Air Force, however, currently provides a rifle volley for retirees. The firing of the three-rifle volley salute is available for all other retirees and veterans only upon request of the family by contacting 707-301-0499 or by visiting Service Veterans of Northern California Volunteer Honor Guard (SVNCVHG). The services of the SVNCVHG are performed at no cost to the family of the deceased.

U.S. Air Force: 800-586-8402
U.S. Army (Sacramento Joint Forces Headquarters SJFQ): 916-854-3821
U.S. Coast Guard: 510-239-1900
U.S. Marines: 866-826-3628 or 703-432-9524
U.S. Navy: 800-326-9631 or 619-556-7178 (or 9790) or 916-380-8449

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

Fresh cut flowers may be placed on graves and in the gravel, areas surrounding the columbarium and memorial walls at any time and will be removed once they become unsightly. In addition, all items placed on gravesites can be removed to accommodate grounds maintenance to include removal of artificial flowers. Floral pickup is conducted every Wednesday of each month along with daily pick up of faded or unsightly arrangements and other items.

Cemetery furnished temporary flower cones are available and located throughout the cemetery in specially marked containers.

Artificial flowers and potted plants are permitted on graves and in the gravel, areas surrounding the columbarium and memorial walls five days before and five days after Easter Sunday and Memorial Day. Seasonal holiday adornments such as wreaths, poinsettias, and small grave blankets may be placed on graves beginning the third Saturday in December through the second Saturday of January.

Permanent plantings will not be permitted on graves and in the gravel areas surrounding the columbarium and memorial walls at any time.

To maintain the dignity of the cemetery, items such as candles, statues, glass of any kind, vigil lights, shepherd's hooks, wind chimes, pinwheels, balloons, memorabilia, or any item exceeding 24 inches in height are not permitted on graves and in the gravel areas surrounding the columbarium, or memorial walls, at any time.

Headstones and niche covers are federal property, altering or marking by paint, marker, lipstick, or any other means is prohibited. No object of any type will be secured to headstones, niches, memorial markers or memorial monuments.

Sacramento Valley National Cemetery assumes no responsibility for items left at graves. Due to the open nature of the grounds, we cannot guarantee against theft, vandalism, or the effects of nature, including damage by wildlife.

Rules of Behavior: To preserve the dignity and honor of our Veterans final resting place, please observe the following while visiting the cemetery grounds:

• Guns, knives, or other weapons are not allowed.
• Pets are not permitted outside of vehicles except service animals.
• No picnicking.
• No sports or recreational activities such as biking, jogging, or running are permitted.
• No soliciting.
• Unauthorized gatherings are not permitted.
• Please do not litter or park on grass areas.

Sacramento Valley National Cemetery is the seventh national cemetery built in California and the 124th in the national cemetery system.

Like many lands in the western United States, the Homestead Act of 1862 facilitated the settlement of the site of what is now the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery. In the late 1860's, the site consisted of nine separate parcels, which were subsequently acquired by private citizens through preemption (an individual's right to settle land first and pay for it later) and homestead claims. During the 20th century, these separate parcels were gradually consolidated under one owner. The site was continuously used as farmland from the 1860's until it was purchased by the National Cemetery Administration in 2004. Crops raised on the property at the time of NCA's purchase included corn, alfalfa, beans, squash, and peppers.

The Union Pacific Railroad, formerly the Southern Pacific Railroad, and prior to that the Central Pacific Railroad, intersects the southeastern corner of the property. In May 1869, the famous golden spike was driven in Promontory Summit, Utah, to symbolically mark the completion of the "First Trans-Continental Railroad," connecting Omaha, Nebraska, to Sacramento. However, the rail network did not actually reach the Pacific Ocean until the completion of the Central Pacific Railroad, connecting San Francisco and Sacramento in November of that year.

The First Trans-Continental Railroad linked the West Coast with the existing railroad network in the eastern United States, and contributed dramatically to the economic development and population growth of California. The Southern Pacific Railroad leased the Central Pacific railroad in 1885; over time, the Southern Pacific Railroad grew into a massive railway network throughout the Western and Southwestern United Sates, stretching down from Portland, Oregon to New Orleans. The Southern Pacific Railroad was acquired by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1996.

Sacramento Valley National Cemetery opened for burials in 2006, and was formally dedicated on April 22, 2007.

Monuments and Memorials
Sacramento Valley National Cemetery features a memorial pathway lined with a variety of memorials that honor America's veterans. As of 2017, there are 9 memorials here.