Indiantown Gap National Cemetery is a VA national cemetery in Annville, Pennsylvania. 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 Indiantown Gap National Cemetery
Indiantown Gap derives its name from the various Native American communities that resided in this region of Pennsylvania. The first inhabitants were Susquehannocks, an Iroquois tribe first encountered by Europeans in the 17th century. In the mid-1700s, Scotch-Irish, English and German pioneers settled the region and managed to live peacefully with the neighboring Lenape Indians. During the French and Indian War, however, tribes who were allied with French colonists raided many English frontier settlements. As Indiantown Gap increasingly became the site of frequent battles, pioneers built a number of defensive structures, including Swatara Fort, Harpers Fort and Reeds Fort.
In the 1930s, when the Pennsylvania National Guard needed a larger area for training maneuvers and firing ranges, the government authorized the acquisition of 12,047 acres in Dauphin and Lebanon counties. The 55th Infantry Brigade was the first unit to use Fort Indiantown Gap when it held its annual maneuvers at the reservation in summer 1932. The following year, the 53rd Field Artillery first trained at Indiantown Gap, and in 1934, the 28th Infantry Division and 52nd Cavalry Brigade were assembled there. Over 100 buildings from nearby Mount Gretna, including officers' mess halls, administration buildings, latrines and bathhouses, were dismantled and hauled by truck to the present location at Indiantown Gap.
After World War II, Indiantown Gap became a separation center for officers and enlisted men returning from overseas, and eventually home to the 32,000 troops of the 5th Infantry Division and a training center during the Korean War. From 1962 to 1973, Indiantown Gap was the host installation for the largest Reserve Officers Training Corps advanced summer camp nationwide. During this 11-year period, 41,158 cadets completed training. In 1975, Fort Indiantown Gap became a camp for Southeast Asian refugees. For eight months, more than 22,000 Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees were resettled through this facility.
In 1976, a section of Fort Indiantown Gap was selected as the national cemetery for the states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia and West Virginia. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania donated Land for the 677-acre site to the Veterans Administration.
Monuments and Memorials The elaborate Pennsylvania Veterans' Memorial is the largest monument in VA's National cemeteries. The combination open-air space and building stands 107 feet high and 360 feet long. Its design evokes "the ruins of a war-torn building centered in a land of solemnity." Designed by Cee Jay Associates of West Chester, PA, the granite, stone, and concrete composition was dedicated October 7, 2001. The memorial is dedicated to all who serve the nation and veterans of all wars, past and future. Sponsors were veterans, the estate of Major Charles and Eva Hawkins and the state of Pennsylvania.
Notable interments
The National Cemetery Administration lists these people of note buried at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, with section and site where recorded.
Born in Pine Grove, PA, Russell William Brown (1922–2018) attended school and listed "acting" as his career field when registering for the draft during World War II.
Staff Sergeant Brown served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945 as a paratrooper with the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, F Company, for which he was awarded the Purple Heart. His four combat jumps, over Salerno and Sicily (Italy), Normandy (France), and Njimegen (Holland), and that experience is included in Four Stars of Valor and All American, All the Way, books that chronicle the 505th PIR and 82nd Airborne Division. As a civilian Brown worked for E.I. DuPont. Around 1955 he married and the family lived in Georgetown, KY. He died there on August 31, at age 96, and is buried in Section 3, Site 779.
Born in South Carolina, Robert (Bob) Montgomery (1919–1998) was one of nine children and his father was a sharecropper.
During the Great Depression years, Montgomery moved to North Philadelphia where he learned to box and joined "The Slaughterhouse" gym. He turned professional in 1938 and won the Lightweight Championship title in Madison Square Garden in 1943. Montgomery was drafted in World War II and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps, 1944–1945. Corporal Montgomery was discharged at Luke Air Field in Arizona. He returned to Philadelphia and reclaimed his championship title in 1947. Montgomery retired in 1950 but he continued to promote the sport and opportunities for black Americans. Montgomery was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995. He died August 25 at age 79, and is buried in Section 13, Site 867.
Pennsylvanian Walter B.
Pleate (1876–1985) was the oldest U.S. veteran when he died at the VA Medical Center in Lebanon. Born to German immigrants living in Bridesburg (now part of Philadelphia), in 1899 he enlisted in the U.S. Army. Private Pleate's enlistment record notes service as a musician in Company I, 2nd U.S. Infantry, and his discharge in Laguimanos, Philippine Islands. His tour of duty included the Philippines and fighting in the Boxer Rebellion (1900). Pleate returned to Philadelphia after his military service ended in February 1902, and by 1910 he was a helper in the Philadelphia Almshouse and Hospital. In the 1930s Pleate sought veterans' compensation for his Spanish-American War service, and he entered the VA hospital network by 1940. At the time of his death at 109 on December 5, he had no known survivors. Musician Pleate is buried in Section 11, Site 138.
John J.
Shumaker (1929–1999) was born in Harrisburg, PA. He served as a commander in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. Shumaker lived in central Pennsylvania for most of his life and worked as an attorney and businessman. He helped bring the Penn National Racetrack to Grantsville in 1968 and worked as its president and general manager until 1983. That year, he filled a vacant senate seat for Pennsylvania's Fifteenth District and served in that capacity until resigning for health reasons in 1995. He advocated for veterans and formed the state's first veterans advisory board. The Harrisburg Area Community College named a safety center on its campus after him in 1988. Shumaker died on October 13, 1999, and is buried in Section 20, Site 192.
Paul Vathis (1925–2002) was born in Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe), PA.
He enlisted in the Marine Corps during WWII as a high school senior and trained in photography. He flew combat missions with the 1st Marine Air Wing in the South Pacific photographing bomb damage. He began a fifty-six-year career as an Associated Press photographer in 1946, most of it with the Harrisburg bureau. His proximity to President Eisenhower's Gettysburg residence made him a regular in the press pool there. This familiarity helped give him access to photograph a Camp David meeting between Eisenhower and new President John Kennedy after the disastrous Bay of Pigs Invasion. "Serious Steps," a photograph taken in this session won the 1962 Pulitzer Prize. He died December 10 at age 77, and is buried in Section 25, Site 504.
Directions
The cemetery is located 25 miles northeast of the Harrisburg International Airport. From the airport, travel Interstate 283 North to Interstate 83 North to Interstate 81 North and take exit 85B. Bear right off the exit and the cemetery entrance is ¼ mile on the right.
Flowers and grounds rules
Cemetery policies are conspicuously posted and readily visible to the public.
Funeral arrangements to include a casket spray and three floral pieces accompanying the casket or urn at the time of the burial will be placed on the completed grave. They will be removed at the discretion of the cemetery when they become unsightly or when it becomes necessary to facilitate cemetery operations such as mowing.
Who can be buried at Indiantown Gap 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 Indiantown Gap 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 Indiantown Gap National Cemetery and a date. National cemeteries hold burials Monday through Friday.
Where is the Indiantown Gap National Cemetery burial schedule?
VA posts a daily burial schedule for every national cemetery. Search it for Indiantown Gap 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 Indiantown Gap National Cemetery directly at 717-865-5254.
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 Pennsylvania law; our sister site ProbateUS explains how probate works in Pennsylvania 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 Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, by straight-line distance:
- Prospect Hill Cemetery Soldiers' Lot, York, PA: 32 mi, closed to new in-ground burials
- Ashland Cemetery Soldiers' Lot, Carlisle, PA: 36 mi, closed to new in-ground burials
- Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery, Owings Mills, MD: 68 mi, open for burials
Funeral homes near Indiantown Gap 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.
- Kreamer & Lum Funeral Home and CrematoryJonestown, PA3.6 mi from the cemetery
- Kreamer Funeral Home & Crematory, Inc.Annville, PA4.3 mi from the cemetery
- Buse Funeral HomeGrantville, PA6.6 mi from the cemetery
- Kreamer & Lum Funeral Home & Crematory, Inc.Jonestown, PA7.0 mi from the cemetery
- 8.0 mi from the cemetery
- Dimon Funeral Homes IncTower City, PA8.2 mi from the cemetery