Fort Jackson National Cemetery

Fort Jackson National Cemetery is a VA national cemetery in Columbia, South Carolina. 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 Fort Jackson National Cemetery

Columbia, SC, is located at the confluence of the Saluda and Broad rivers, which merge to form the Congaree. Due to its central location, the South Carolina General Assembly chose this site in 1786 for the new capitol. The state legislature first met in Columbia in 1790.

As a regional transportation hub, Columbia grew rapidly during the antebellum period. Area farmers brought cotton, tobacco, and other agricultural products destined for other U.S. cities and Europe to the city, to be transported by rail to the port of Charleston.

South Carolina in the late 1850s was a hotbed of secessionist sentiment, which escalated into full-throated calls to leave the Union after Abraham Lincoln was elected president in November 1860. On December 17, the First Baptist Church in Columbia hosted the South Carolina Secession Convention. By unanimous vote, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union.

Columbia was a Confederate stronghold until the final months of the Civil War. After the famous "March to the Sea" in late 1864, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman moved his troops north from Savannah, GA, toward Columbia. The city was defended by a small Confederate force under the command of Lieutenant General Wade Hampton III, a Columbia native. As the Union Army approached on February 17, 1865, retreating Confederates set stockpiles of cotton ablaze. Small groups of Union soldiers began to loot, vandalize, and start other fires, and soon much of Columbia was consumed in the conflagration.

After the war, Hampton was a leading opponent of federal Reconstruction-era policies, including the military occupation of South Carolina. He went on to serve as governor, 1876–1879, and as a U.S. senator, 1879–1891.

In 1916, as World War I engulfed Europe in turmoil, the Columbia Chamber of Commerce contacted U.S. Army leadership to suggest that a portion of the Hampton family's vast land holdings east of Columbia be used as a new training camp. The Army agreed and the Chamber of Commerce quickly raised local funds to purchase the nearly 1,200-acre parcel from the Hampton estate before donating it to the federal government.

In 1917, Major Douglas MacArthur announced the establishment of Camp Jackson, named in honor of President Andrew Jackson. Per General Orders No. 33, the post was demobilized in 1921, but the site continued to be used part of the year as a South Carolina National Guard training camp. After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, the station was reactivated as a federal installation; it was renamed Fort Jackson a year later. During World War II, nine Army divisions trained there.

In 1950 Fort Jackson was slated to be demobilized a second time but it was deferred when the Korean War broke out. In 1956, Fort Jackson officially became a U.S. Army Training Center and it continues in this role. Today, 50 percent of all incoming soldiers are trained there.

With the passage of the National Cemetery Expansion Act of 2003, Congress directed the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to establish six new national cemeteries. A demographic study of the nationwide veteran population identified the Columbia-Greenville area as lacking burial options. Four sites were considered and in 2008 the U.S. Department of Defense transferred land used for field training exercises to NCA for the purpose of developing Fort Jackson National Cemetery. The cemetery was formally dedicated the same year and opened for burials in 2009. Fort Jackson National Cemetery is the third national cemetery established in South Carolina and the 126th in the national cemetery system.

Notable interments

The National Cemetery Administration lists these people of note buried at Fort Jackson National Cemetery, with section and site where recorded.

Directions

From Columbia Metropolitan Airport. Head north toward Aviation Way. Turn right at Aviation Way. Slight left at Lexington Drive. Turn right at John N. Hardee Expressway. Turn left at Airport Boulevard/Edmund Road/SC-215/SC-302. Continue to follow Airport Boulevard/SC-215/SC-302. Turn left at Frontage Road. Take the ramp onto Interstate 26 West. Take exit 107B to merge onto Interstate 20 East toward Florence. Take exit 80 for Clemson Road. Turn right at Clemson Road Exit. Proceed south approximately ½ mile to the cemetery entrance. Arrive at Fort Jackson National Cemetery, 4170 Percival Rd. Columbia, SC 29229.

Flowers and grounds rules

Our cemetery floral regulations exist 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 and provide flower containers for gravesite display. Items left at grave side must be floral in nature and may not stand taller than the headstone. Other items, to include hazardous materials, glass, metal, toys, candles, balloons and flags are not permitted. Unauthorized items will be removed immediately. Flowers will be removed when spent, for mowing and maintenance, or if damaged by weather or wildlife. Due to the open nature of the grounds, we cannot guarantee against theft, vandalism or the effects of nature.

Who can be buried at Fort Jackson 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 Fort Jackson National Cemetery?

1. 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).
2. 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.
3. You or the funeral director call 800-535-1117 (Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET) to request Fort Jackson National Cemetery and a date. National cemeteries hold burials Monday through Friday.

Where is the Fort Jackson National Cemetery burial schedule?

VA posts a daily burial schedule for every national cemetery. Search it for Fort Jackson 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 Fort Jackson National Cemetery directly at 866-577-5248.

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 South Carolina law; our sister site ProbateUS explains how probate works in South Carolina 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 Fort Jackson National Cemetery, by straight-line distance:

• Florence National Cemetery, Florence, SC: 63 mi, closed to new in-ground burials
• Florence National Cemetery Annex, Florence, SC: 63 mi, open for burials
• M.J. Dolly Cooper Veterans Cemetery, Anderson, SC: 102 mi, open for burials