GENERAL INFORMATION

Welcome to Puerto Rico National Cemetery. We hope you find peace amid these quiet and beautiful grounds and visit us again.

Families often contact us during a difficult time - after the loss of a loved one.

We are here to make the burial process as comfortable as possible. We encourage veterans and their families to talk with us in advance for information or about any questions or concerns.

When the time comes, we will ensure the committal service and any other requests are handled respectfully. We pledge to honor the dignity and memory of each person and to provide excellent service to family and friends during this difficult time.

Puerto Rico National Cemetery became a national cemetery on July 12, 1948. The cemetery serves over 150,000 veterans in Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, the Caribbean Region, and Central and South America. Situated on 108.2 acres of which 77.31 are being developed or have been developed, the cemetery accommodates casketed and cremated remains. Over 1,600 burials are conducted each year or about six per weekday. The cemetery has the only Memorial Program Service Marker Processing Center site located in a national cemetery and outside of the United States. This is the only national cemetery outside of the United States. In 1962, the remains of those interred on all other five military cemeteries on the island were transferred here.
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HISTORICAL INFORMATION

The Puerto Rico National Cemetery is located on the north side of the island in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, and is approximately 13 miles from San Juan, the capital. The cemetery serves as an American presence on the island and many distinguished Puerto Ricans who served in the U.S. military are interred there.

Prior to becoming a national cemetery, the land where the cemetery is now located was owned by the U.S. Navy and it was used as a machine gun range. After World War II, the land was transferred to the Department of the Army specifically for the construction of a new national cemetery. Negotiations for construction of the cemetery began after the land was transferred on July 12, 1948 and the private firm of Font & Montilla was contracted to build the cemetery.

The 108.2-acre cemetery was dedicated on Veteran’s Day in 1949 and it is the only national cemetery located in Puerto Rico. According to El Diario, the local newspaper, the dedication was attended by both local and military officials such as Luis Munoz-Marin, the Governor of Puerto Rico, and Major General Herman Feldman, the Quartermaster of the U.S. Army. In his remarks during the dedication, Feldman noted that, “practically every family in Puerto Rico had a representative in uniform during World War II.” Since its dedication, Puerto Rico National Cemetery has been a shrine to Puerto Ricans who served in the armed forces.

The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Sept. 26, 1983.
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NOTABLE PERSONS

Medal of Honor Recipients
Captain Euripides Rubio, (Vietnam) Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Tay Ninh Province, Republic of Vietnam, Nov. 11, 1966 (Section MA, Grave 1).

Others
Steward John Ernest Sayle -- RTP/R238414, H.M.R.T. British Navy, Mediator, Naval Auxiliary Personnel (Merchant Navy) United Kingdom Commonwealth War Dead. Disinterred from Ft. Brooke Military Cemetery and Re-interred in the Puerto Rico National Cemetery on Jan. 26, 1960 in Section C Grave 597.

SP5 Diana Beatriz Padro, U.S. Army. SP5 Padro was a victim of the Sept. 11, 2001 Terrorists Attack. SP5 Padro was working at the Pentagon as a Civilian when Terrorists launched an attack on the United States. Interred in Section E Grave 2247 on Dec 2, 2001.

COL. Bailey K. Ashford, Spanish American War. Disinterred from Ft. Brooke Military Cemetery and re-interred in the Puerto Rico National Cemetery on Apr. 20, 1954 in Section A Grave 1204.

As a recently commissioned lieutenant in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, Col. Ashford accompanied a military expedition to Puerto Rico in 1898. Serving as the medical officer in the general military hospital in Ponce, Puerto Rico, he was the first to describe and successfully treat North American hookworm in 1899. He was a tireless clinician and conducted an exhaustive study of the anemia caused by hookworm infestation, which was responsible for as many as 12,000 deaths a year. From 1903-1904, he organized and conducted a parasite treatment campaign, which cured approximately 300,000 persons (one-third of the Puerto Rico population) and reduced the death rate from this anemia by 90 percent.

Captain Ashford was a founding member of the Puerto Rico Anemia Commission and, by special authority of the Secretary of War, served on the Commission from 1904-1906. In 1911, his proposal for an Institute of Tropical Medicine in Puerto Rico was approved by the legislature. After serving as a commander of the Army Medical Department's First Division during the First World War, Colonel Ashford was assigned to San Juan and campaigned for the development of "a real school of tropical medicine in the American tropics". The School of Tropical Medicine in San Juan was formally dedicated in 1925. After a 30-year Army career, Dr. Ashford assumed a full time faculty position at the School and continued his interest in tropical medicine.  His writings include: Anemia in Puerto Rico, 1904; and uncinariasis in Puerto Rico, 1911.

Captain Elwood Palmes Walmsley - United Kingdom Commonwealth War Dead, repatriated to the USA (Section B, Grave 142).
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FLORAL/GROUNDS REGULATIONS

Cemetery policies are conspicuously posted and readily visible to the public. A copy of the floral pick-up schedule may be obtained at the Administration Building during normal business hours.

Three floral arrangements accompanying the casket or urn at the time of burial will be placed on the completed grave. Arrangements are removed from gravesites three days after the burial or when they become withered and unsightly.  Natural cut flowers may be placed on graves at any time of the year. They will be removed when they become unsightly or when it becomes necessary to facilitate cemetery operations such as mowing. 

Artificial flowers and potted plants will be permitted on graves during periods when their presence will not interfere with grounds maintenance. As a general rule, artificial flowers and potted plants will be allowed on graves for a period extending 10 days before through 10 days after Easter Sunday and Memorial Day.

Christmas wreaths, grave blankets and other seasonal adornments may be placed on graves from Dec. 1 through Jan. 20. They may not be secured to headstones or markers. Do not attach any items to the headstone, marker or niche cover.

Permanent plantings, statues, vigil lights, breakable objects and similar items are not permitted on the graves. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not permit adornments which are considered offensive, inconsistent with the dignity of the cemetery or considered hazardous to cemetery personnel. For example, items incorporating beads or wires may become entangled in mowers or other equipment and cause injury.

Permanent items removed from graves will be placed in an inconspicuous holding area for one month prior to disposal. Decorative items removed from graves remain the property of the donor but are under the custodianship of the cemetery. If not retrieved by donor, they are then governed by the rules for disposal of federal property.

The cemetery is not responsible for the loss or deterioration of permanent floral vases or flowers. 

The temporary floral vases are available in the administrative office during the business hours.

No permanent floral vases are permitted in Section “O”.

The flower pickup schedule for Puerto Rico National Cemetery sections are as follows:

Monday:  Sections A, AC, B, C, J
Tuesday: Sections E, F, GG, SC, TC
Wednesday: Sections D, G, H, I, S
Thursday: K, L, M, N, O

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