| The National Cemetery System of the United States of America is unique to the world. Although a small Cemeterial plot was provided for members of Congress at the time of the Revolution, no significant expansion occurred until the advent of the Civil War. To cope with the enormous loss of live from that conflict, Congress created the National Cemetery System in June, 1867. Initial new cemetery sites were chosen and developed adjacent to major Civil War battlefields. Such sites were selected out of necessity, rather than choice, as the military lacked the modern transportation to make mass removal of remains practical.;Growth continued as subsequent wars with Mexico, Spain, and Germany increased the number of eligible burial candidates. With expansion came legislative acts which defined both eligibility and administrative responsibilities. As these wars involved military action overseas, questions were raised as to whither the final burial of deceased Americans should be on foreign shores or, their repatriation and burial in the United States, would be in the best interests of a new, international looking United States. Finally, a system of American military cemeteries, independent of their domestic counterparts, were established near battlefields in Europe and the Pacific. Unknowingly, the very act of placing cemeteries close to battlefields infused the system with an original memorial aspect neither intended nor conceived. |
