The entrance to the cemetery is located at 950 South Sepulveda Boulevard (90049) at Constitution Avenue, near the intersection of Sepulveda Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard. It is adjacent to Westwood, Los Angeles and UCLA along the east across Veteran Avenue, and the main Sawtelle Veterans Home campus across the San Diego Freeway (405) along the west. The cemetery was dedicated on May 22, 1889.[1] It is directly connected to the central Veterans Home facilities by Constitution Avenue's underpass below freeway.
An annual ceremony commemorating the birthday of Abraham Lincoln is held at the cemetery on or near February 12. The cemetery's annual Memorial Day program draws several thousand attendees each year.
The chapel at the cemetery was renamed the Bob Hope Veterans Chapel on 29 May 2002, Bob Hope's 99th birthday, in "celebration of his lifelong service to our American Veterans."[2][3]
Sergeant First Class (then Sergeant) Chris Carr (medal awarded under name of Christos H. Karaberis), (World War II), US Army, Company L, 337th Infantry, 85th Infantry Division. Guignola, Italy, October 1–2, 1944
Color Sergeant George McKee, (Civil War), US Army, Company D, 89th New York Infantry. Petersburg, Virginia, April 2, 1865
Sergeant (then Private) Edward Murphy, (Indian Campaigns) US Army, Company G, 1st US Cavalry. Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona Territory, October 20, 1869
Corporal Edwin Phoenix, (Indian Campaigns) US Army, Company E, 4th US Cavalry. Red River Texas, September 26–28, 1875
Farrier Samuel Porter, (Indian Campaigns) US Army, Company L, 6th US Cavalry. Wichita River, Texas, July 12, 1870
Private Charles W. Rundle, (Civil War) US Army, Company A, 116th Illinois Infantry. Vicksburg, Mississippi, May 22, 1863
Wagoner Griffin Seward, (Indian Campaigns) US Army, Company G, 8th US Cavalry. Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona Territory, October 20, 1869
Coxswain Timothy Sullivan, (Civil War) US Navy, USS Louisville. Battles in Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi, unknown date of action
Corporal (then Private) James Sweeney, (Civil War) US Army, Company A, 1st Vermont Cavalry. Cedar Creek, Virginia, October 19, 1864
Private Robert H. Von Schlick (China Relief Expedition, Boxer Rebellion) US Army, Infantry, Company C, 9th US Infantry. Tientsin, China, July 13, 1900
More than one hundred Buffalo Soldiers are interred at the Los Angeles National Cemetery. These African American soldiers were members of the 9th, 10th, 24th, and 25th Cavalry during the American Civil War[1]
Scotty Bowers (1923–2019). Sex worker, author, Private First Class
Paul Brinegar (1917–1995). Actor, World War II US Navy Chief Radioman
Two service dogs were buried in the mid 1940s, however, this practice is no longer permitted. Bonus was a service dog at the Sawtelle Soldiers Home and Blackout was a sentry dog that sustained wounds in the Pacific[7]
Los Angeles National Cemetery has been closed to new interments since approximately 1978, with the exception of spouses of those already buried. To accommodate community need, the Department of Veterans Affairs acquired another 13 acres (5.3 ha) to permit the cemetery to expand.[8] Future interments will be in urns of cremated ashes placed in columbarium walls built on the new land. By eliminating ground burials, the new acreage will permit about as many new interments as are in the existing 114 acres (46 ha).[9]
In 2017, Los Angeles National Cemetery began construction on the first phase of the columbarium on Constitution Avenue, west of I-405 just 100 yards (91 m) from the main cemetery entrance. This phase opened in October 2019 and occupies approximately 4.4 acres (1.8 ha) of the site and holds 10,000 niches for cremated remains. The cemetery will construct additional niches on the site as needed until it reaches the planned capacity of 90,854.[10]