New Omaha National Cemetery

A new veterans cemetery has opened in Omaha, Nebraska. The first veterans were laid to rest there in September of 2016. This cemetery is owned by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Omaha National Cemetery is located on Schram Road in Omaha, Nebraska. The office hours are open Monday through Friday from 8:00 in the morning through 4:30 in the evening. The cemetery grounds are open every day of the year from sunrise to sunset.

There are eligibility requirements that determine who can be buried in this cemetery. It is for veterans and members of the Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard). Any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who dies on active duty can be buried in a National Cemetery.

Any veteran who was discharged under conditions other than dishonorable can be buried in a National Cemetery. With certain exceptions, service beginning after September 7, 1980, as an enlisted person, and service after October 16, 1981, as an officer, must be for a minimum of 24 continuous months or the full period for which the person was called to active duty.

The Associated Press reported that the Omaha National Cemetery is for veterans in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. The cemetery opened with a service for four men who had served in the military. They were the first to be buried in this new cemetery.

Those men were from four branches of the Armed Forces. The men were: Army veteran Specialist, Michael Brabec; Marine veteran Corporal John F. Ernst; Navy veteran Petty Officer First Class, Russell Rosberg; and Air Force veteran Sergeant James Edgell.

At that time, the Omaha National Cemetery was still being built. Construction on some buildings and landscaping needed to be finished. The plan is that the work will be finished by spring of 2017.

The Omaha National Cemetery is a 236-acre cemetery. It will serve the burial needs of more than 112,000 Veterans in the cemetery’s service area for the next 100 years. This cemetery is the second Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) national cemetery in the state of Nebraska.

The cemetery is currently operational, but only has options for in-ground burial space available to accommodate casketed and cremated remains until the fall of 2017. After that, additional options will become available for cremation placement and will include an ossuary and a columbarium.

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