Project number: [JOWBR, USA-03967]

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The Veteran Burials - Other than Federal or State Cemeteries in VARIOUS CITIES, USA

MISCELLANEOUS U.S. MILITARY BURIALS: JEWISH
ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL INTERRED IN NON-FEDERAL
OR STATE GOVERNMENT CEMETERIES

Rand H. Fishbein, Ph.D. and Aliza M. Fishbein

This database contains information on the burials of 20,664 Jewish military servicemen and woman, from every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, interred in scores of non-Federal or State Government cemeteries throughout the United States. It was generously provided to JewishGen by the National Cemetery Administration (NCA), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, under a Freedom of Information Act Request filed in February, 2012.

For a listing of Jewish military personnel interred in federal or state cemeteries both in the U.S. and overseas, please see the following JOWBR databases:

  • Domestic U.S. Military Cemeteries (Located by state)
  • Overseas U.S. Military Cemeteries (Located by country – to be received)
For most of the internments contained in this database, the following information is given for the deceased:
  • Surname
  • Given Name
  • Date of Birth
  • Date of Death
  • Branch
  • Rank
  • War
  • Award
  • Cemetery Name
  • Cemetery Address
  • Cemetery City
The timeline range for this database covers the history of the United States, though the vast majority of the listed burials are for military personnel who served during the Second World War (1939-1945), Korean War (1950-1953) and Vietnam War (1955-1975). To be included in this database, an individual need only to have served in the Armed Forces of the United States and not necessarily to have died during, or as a consequence of, combat.

It is the policy of JOWBR to accept cemetery data only from entire cemeteries or sections of cemeteries. This approach streamlines the indexing process and encourages volunteers to thoroughly record all associated burials in a section before moving on to another site. An exception, though, is being made in this case due to the enormity of the data acquisition and because many of the rural cemeteries in this collection may only have one, or at most a few, Jewish internments.

JOWBR believes it is important that the sacrifices made by the Jewish members of our Armed Forces should not be forgotten and so has decided to honor their memory by creating a single searchable database for those not buried in federal or state military cemeteries.

American Jews have served honorably and heroically in every national conflict since the founding of our nation. Their service even extends back to the colonial era when Jews were active in the militias of the Thirteen Colonies and served in numbers disproportionate to their small population. Over 550,000 men and women of Jewish faith served in every branch of the U.S. armed forces during WWII and suffered 38,338 casualties. More than 5,300 Jewish service members are interred in Arlington National Cemetery. At least eighteen Jewish servicemen have been awarded the military's highest award, the Medal of Honor.

JewishGen wishes to thank the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, for their cooperation in the assemblage of this database and for kindly agreeing to allow it to be posted to the JOWBR web page. JewishGen also wishes to acknowledge the efforts of Rand H. Fishbein, Ph.D. and Aliza M. Fishbein in the acquisition and processing of this data.