Indiantown Gap National Cemetery
Indiantown Gap National Cemetery | |
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Details | |
Established | 1976 |
Location | |
Country | USA |
Type | U.S. National Cemetery |
Size | 677 acres (274 ha) |
No. of graves | 44,000 + |
Website | Official |
Find a Grave | Indiantown Gap National Cemetery |
Indiantown Gap National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in Union Township, in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it occupies approximately 677 acres (2.74 km2), and has over 44,000 interments, as of 2014.
History
Indiantown Gap derives its name from the various Native American communities that resided the region. Starting in the 1930s, it became a training area for the United States Army and control of the facility was turned over to the Pennsylvania National Guard in 1998.
In 1976, a section of Fort Indiantown Gap Military Reservation was selected as the national cemetery for the states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia and West Virginia. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania donated land for the site to the US Veterans Administration (now known as the United States Department of Veterans Affairs), specifically the branch of the VA known as the National Cemetery Administration (NCA).
Since 1976, the Fort Indiantown Gap National Cemetery has been administered by the NCA and is separate entity from the section of Fort Indiantown Gap assigned to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.