Cape Canaveral National Cemetery is a VA national cemetery in Mims, Florida. VA lists it as open for burials. Burial is free for eligible veterans, their spouses and dependent children.
Source: National Cemetery Administration (cem.va.gov), retrieved May 2026
History of Cape Canaveral National Cemetery
Cape Canaveral National Cemetery was dedicated on November 20, 2015. The first burial took place on January 12, 2016.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) purchased the land in July 2012 for $2.1 million.
The initial phase of construction provides approximately 17,000 gravesites and accommodates both casket and cremation interments. In addition to gravesites and columbaria, the cemetery includes other features such as a front entrance on U.S. Route 1, a public information center with an electronic gravesite locator and restrooms, an administration building, a maintenance building, a flag pole assembly area, a memorial wall with ossuary and walkway, and committal shelters. Other cemetery infrastructure features include roads, landscaping, utilities, and irrigation.
Notable interments
The National Cemetery Administration lists these people of note buried at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery, with section and site where recorded.
Ohioan Edwin T.
Cowan (1920–2009) was a legendary Tuskegee Airmen who served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. Flight Officer Cowan graduated from the pilot training program at Tuskegee in 1944. He flew B-25 Mitchell bombers for the 477th Bombardment Group. As a civilian, Cowan worked for the U.S. Postal Service before earning a Master of Education and becoming a teacher and principal with the Cleveland public school system. He retired after 22 years and in 1978 Cowan and his wife, Theda, moved to Merritt Island, Florida, where he co-founded a chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen. In 2006, Tuskegee Airmen were honored for their service, belatedly, with the Congressional Gold Medal. Cowan's initial grave at St. Luke's Episcopal Church was unmarked. On February 7, 2019, Cowan and his wife (1920–2007) were reinterred at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery with full military honors .
Section 11, Site 225
Alene B.
Duerk (1920–2018) was born in Defiance, Ohio. A 1941 graduate of the Toledo Hospital School of Nursing, she was commissioned as an ensign in the Nurse Corps, USNR in 1943. During WWII she served at Portsmouth, VA and Bethesda, MD and in the Pacific theater aboard USS Benevolence (AH-13). She was released from active service in June 1946. After, she earned a B.S. from Western Reserve University. She joined the Naval Reserve in 1948 and was recalled to active service in June 1951. For nearly two decades, she served in positions of increasing responsibility across the globe and became director of the Navy Nurse Corps in May 1970. She became the first female flag officer in June 1972, and the figurehead for her gender in the Navy. She retired in 1975. RADM Duerk is interred at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery .
Section 10, Site 777
Directions
From I-95 take Exit 231, at Highway 1 turn right (south); the cemetery is two miles on the left.
Flowers and grounds rules
Our cemetery floral policy exists only to reflect the honor and respect we hold for our Nation's Veterans, by preserving the dignity and solemnity of their final resting place.
We welcome and encourage fresh-cut flowers throughout the year. The cemetery provides water and green flower containers for gravesite display located at each section and columbarium. Permanent plantings or fixtures are not permitted.
Who can be buried at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery?
VA national cemeteries accept a veteran who didn't receive a dishonorable discharge, a service member who died on active duty or in training, the veteran's spouse or surviving spouse (even if they remarried), and minor or, in some cases, unmarried adult dependent children. National Guard and Reserve members qualify under narrower rules. You can ask VA for a pre-need eligibility decision in advance; it does not reserve a gravesite.
What does burial here include at no cost?
- A gravesite in any VA national cemetery with available space
- Opening and closing of the grave
- A government-provided burial liner
- A government-provided headstone or marker
- Perpetual care of the gravesite
Veterans also receive a burial flag, a Presidential Memorial Certificate (presented to the next of kin at the burial) and military funeral honors, which include the playing of Taps and two uniformed service members who present the flag. The committal service is held at a committal shelter, not at the grave, and lasts about 20 minutes. National cemeteries have no viewing facilities, so the funeral itself is held elsewhere.
How do you schedule a burial at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery?
- Gather the veteran's DD214 or other discharge papers, and the deceased's details (Social Security number, dates of birth and death, relationship to the veteran).
- Fax the discharge papers to the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 866-900-6417, or email them to [email protected] with the deceased's name in the subject line.
- You or the funeral director call 800-535-1117 (Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET) to request Cape Canaveral National Cemetery and a date. National cemeteries hold burials Monday through Friday.
Where is the Cape Canaveral National Cemetery burial schedule?
VA posts a daily burial schedule for every national cemetery. Search it for Cape Canaveral National Cemetery to see the committal services planned there. It only lists burials whose families agreed to publish them. To change or cancel a burial that's already scheduled, contact Cape Canaveral National Cemetery directly at 321-383-2638.
Headstone, flag and burial allowance
- Government headstone or marker: tell the scheduling office which headstone, marker, niche cover or medallion you want when you schedule the burial.
- Burial flag: VA Form 27-2008.
- Burial allowance: For a non-service-connected death on or after October 1, 2026, VA pays up to $1,032 toward burial and funeral costs and $1,032 for a plot; for a service-connected death on or after September 11, 2001, the burial allowance is up to $2,000. Claim it with VA Form 21P-530EZ. All benefits
After the funeral: survivor benefits and the estate
A surviving spouse, child or parent may qualify for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), a tax-free monthly VA benefit, for example when the death was service connected (VA Form 21P-534EZ). The veteran's estate is settled under Florida law; our sister site ProbateUS explains how probate works in Florida and lists each county's probate court. For the rest of the paperwork, from Social Security to bank accounts, DeathUS has a step-by-step checklist of what to do when someone dies.
Nearest cemeteries
The three veterans cemeteries closest to Cape Canaveral National Cemetery, by straight-line distance:
- Atlantic Garden Veteran Cemetery, Aguadilla, PR: 73 mi, open for burials
- Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, FL: 82 mi, open for burials
- St. Augustine National Cemetery, St. Augustine, FL: 83 mi, closed to new in-ground burials
Funeral homes near Cape Canaveral National Cemetery
A funeral director usually arranges the burial with the cemetery. These are the closest funeral homes by straight-line distance. Each one links to its full listing on FuneralUS, our funeral home directory.
- North Brevard Funeral HomeTitusville, FLMilitary honors services9.1 mi from the cemetery
- North Brevard Funeral Home & CrematoryTitusville, FL9.8 mi from the cemetery
- Lewis-Ray MortuaryTitusville, FL11.6 mi from the cemetery
- 12.3 mi from the cemetery
- 15.3 mi from the cemetery
- Dudley Edgewater ChapelEdgewater, FL17.3 mi from the cemetery