§ 55.3 Administration, control, and su

pervision.

The Director of the National Park Service, under the direction and control of the Secretary of the Interior, is responsible for the operation, maintenance, and administration of the national cemeteries below listed, and for the formulation of plans, policies, procedures, and regulations pertaining thereto.

Andrew Johnson National Monument.
Antietam (Sharpsburg), Maryland.
Battleground, District of Columbia.
Chalmette National Historical Park.
Custer Battlefield National Cemetery.
Fort Donelson (Dover), Tennessee.
Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Poplar Grove (Petersburg), Virginia.

Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing), Tennessee.
Stones River (Murfreesboro), Tennessee.
Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Yorktown, Virginia.

§ 55.4 Defacing.

Every person who willfully destroys, mutilates, defaces, injures, or removes any structure, tree, or plant within the limits of any national cemetery is subject to prosecution under the terms of the Act of March 3, 1911, chapter 231 and 291 (36 Stat. 1167; 24 U.S.C. 286). § 55.5 Disposition unservicable headstones, markers, etc.

(a) Government headstones and grave markers. Government headstones and markers which are replaced will be broken up so that the inscriptions are illegible and the resulting stone used or disposed of as rubble. Government headstones as such will not be sold or donated to any individual or organization.

(b) Private monuments and markers. Private headstones, markers, and monuments that are broken or materially damaged or on which the inscriptions have become illegible will be reported to the Director for instructions as to disposition. The report will include full information as to condition of stone and pertinent information as to the next of kin.

§ 55.6 Blank ammunition for veterans' organizations for use in national cemeteries.

(a) The Act of 26 May 1952 (66 Stat. 94; 50 U.S.C. 62) authorized the free issue of caliber .30 blank ammunition to national veterans' organizations recog

nized by the Veterans Administration, Washington 25, D.C., for use at funerals and other ceremonies within national cemeteries.

(b) The national cemetery superintendent will be responsible for requisitioning, storing, and issuing such ammunition.

§ 55.7 Erection of poles and lines and utility lines.

The construction or erection of poles and lines, including underground lines, for the transmission and distribution of electric power; poles and lines, including underground lines, for telephone and telegraph purposes; and water, sewer and gas pipes will be permitted only with the authorization of the regional director.

(a) Visitors will be admitted during the hours the gates are open.

(b) Visitors are not permitted to litter the grounds; cut, break, or injure trees, shrubs, or plants; use the cemeteries as picnic grounds; or otherwise desecrate the area.

(c) Superintendents will apprise offenders of the regulations and if repeated violations occur, such offenders will be asked to leave. Should it become necessary to arrest an offender, the superintendent will bring, or cause such person to be brought, before any United

States Commissioner or judge of any district court of the United States within the State or district in which the cemetery is located, and there the superintendent will make complaint in due form.

(d) The use of national cemetery drives as public highways is prohibited, and the speed of vehicles must not exceed 25 miles per hour. The superintendent may, however, reduce the speed limit to that which he deems consistent with the public safety and in consideration of other pertinent factors. The superintendent will prescribe and promulgate such rules as may be necessary to provide for safety and proper control of traffic including parking rights generally.

(e) Special advance plans may be developed in anticipation of large crowds which may restrict the number of motor vehicles permitted to enter the cemetery area in order to relieve congestion and to promote public safety. § 55.11

Use and display of flag.

The flag will be used and displayed in accordance with regulations promulgated pursuant to law. (June 22, 1942, 56 Stat. 377, ch. 435; 36 U.S.C. 173-178.) § 55.12 Services and ceremonies.

(a) General. Patriotic organizations may, with proper permission, conduct services in national cemeteries. Requests for permission should be addressed to the superintendent of the cemetery who will asign an appropriate time and render assistance in carrying out the program. No organization will be given exclusive permission to enter any cemetery or for any particular occasion. Where several requests are received for separate services, the superintendent will schedule each so as to avoid interference.

(b) Special occasions. Since many organizations regularly conduct such services on Memorial Day, Veterans' Day, Easter Sunday, national holidays, and other special occasions, the procedure governing such services will be essentially as above provided. When Memorial Day falls on Sunday the ceremonies may be scheduled for either Sunday or Monday.

§ 55.13 Photographs.

(a) The superintendent may not furnish photographs of individual interment services or of an individual grave within a national cemetery.

(b) The next of kin of the deceased or his authorized representative may photograph the interment services or grave.

(c) The superintendents will furnish to the next of kin a photograph of the grave marker identifying group burials.

(d) The taking of photographs of national cemeteries for private or commercial purposes may be permitted. Superintendents will advise photographers that authorization is granted on the condition that the use or sale of such photographs will not tend to detract from the dignity and reverential atmosphere associated with national cemeteries or invade the privacy of next of kin through publication of any photographs showing name or identifying detail on individual grave markers.

(a) Solicitation within the area of a national cemetery of any type of business is prohibited and this includes guide service, the sale of souvenirs and refreshments.

(b) Violators will be ordered to leave the cemetery and repeated violations will be prosecuted according to law.

INTERMENTS AND DISINTERMENTS

§ 55.15 Who may be interred.

Burial in a national cemetery is authorized under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Army.

§ 55.16 Interment scheduling.

(a) It is the responsibility of the superintendent to fix the date and hour of all interments in a national cemetery. Upon receipt of a request for interment, the requester will be advised that the time set is tentative pending official determination of eligibility and receipt by the superintendent of authorization for interment. Under normal circumstances, superintendents will tentatively schedule interments so as to allow two full work days for The Quartermaster General to verify service data and determine eligibility. If extraordinary or compelling conditions require that a funeral be tentatively scheduled within the two work day period, the superintendent will communicate the circumstances to The Quartermaster General, together with his recommendations.

(b) Upon receipt of a request for interment, the superintendent will check all pertinent cemetery records to determine if any prior interment or gravesite reservation has been made in that ceme

tery for a member of the immediate family of the deceased whose eligibility was derived from the same source. The superintendent will question the next of kin or person in charge of the funeral arrangements, as to whether or not any such family member has been interred in any other national or post cemetery. If so, the name of the deceased and the name of the national or post cemetery are to be included in the request for interment telegram submitted to The Quartermaster General. This action will insure that the requested interment will be made in the proper grave.

(c) Interments will not be made on Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays unless it can be conclusively established that extraordinary conditions exist with respect to the condition of remains which makes it imperative that they be interred prior to a regularly scheduled work day. Requests received by superintendents for interment on these days, together with the pertinent facts in each case, will be referred to the regional director, who may finally approve or disapprove such request.

(d) Interment in national cemeteries prior to receipt of authorization for interment from The Quartermaster General, will be the exception rather than the rule. When the superintendent has not received authority for interment in time to permit the interment as tentatively scheduled, he will telephone or telegraph The Quartermaster General for instructions. Upon consideration of the data available, The Quartermaster General will make determination as to whether interment will be permitted subject to execution by the next of kin, or other person who has authority to direct disposition of the remains, to the effect that should it be determined that such interment was not authorized under existing laws and regulations, they will, upon request, have the remains removed from the cemetery without expense to the Government. The cemetery superintendent will obtain the signed agreement in advance of accepting custody of the remains in all such cases.

§ 55.17 Interment cost.

(a) All work incident to interment will be done by cemetery labor without cost to relatives or friends. Superintendents will inform funeral directors or others arranging for interments that the acceptance of fees or gratuities by cemetery employees is prohibited.

(b) Cemetery personnel will not act as pallbearers. Superintendents will inform funeral directors in charge of funerals of this regulation in advance of funeral services.

§ 55.18 Burial permits.

Burial permits, usually a part of the death certificate, are required for all interments except those of cremated remains. In such cases burial permits will be required only where state law makes them mandatory. It is permissible to inter, prior to receipt of the burial permit, the remains of members of the Armed Forces who die on active duty. § 55.19

Utilization and reservation of

gravesites.

(a) Not more than a total of two adjoining (side-by-side) gravesites will be used and reserved for the instant and eventual interment of the persons involved in the spouse and parent-child relationship, viz: service-connected person, spouse, and children of the serviceconnected person.

(b) When a service-connected person is interred, an adjoining gravesite may be reserved for the eventual interment of the nonservice-connected spouse, provided space is available and a written request for the gravesite reservation is received. When request for a gravesite reservation is received and an adjoining gravesite is not available, option will be given for

(1) Interment in the same gravesite with the service-connected spouse.

(2) Removal at private expense of the remains of the service-connected spouse to a location where two adjoining gravesite locations are available.

(c) No gravesites will be assigned in advance of their requirements for burial purposes. Reservation of a gravesite for the widow of a nonrecoverable member of the Armed Forces of the United States (lost or buried at sea or officially determined to be permanently absent in a status of missing or missing in action) is not authorized. Space in such cases will be assigned as needed.

(d) If it is not possible to make reservation of an adjoining gravesite for the surviving spouse of a member of a group burial, the reservation of an adjacent or neighboring gravesite is authorized.

(e) The Quartermaster General will communicate periodically with surviving nonservice-connected spouses having

(a) Layout plans for burial sections in all national cemeteries will be approved by the Director. Sizes of gravesites will conform to dimensions designated by The Quartermaster General.

(b) Burials in unused gravesites in existing established sections of national cemeteries will be in accordance with policies that were in effect for the different categories of decedents at the time the specific section within the cemetery was established.

(c) In all new sections to be developed, interments will be made without distinction as to race and rank. Group interments in new sections will be made in the same section with individual interments. No new separate sections will be established exclusively for group interments.

(d) As the need arises for the use of new sections for burials, such cases will be forwarded to the Director for approval. Plans and recommendations for resolving the situation will accompany the request for final decision. § 55.21

Disinterments.

(a) Interments of eligible remains in national cemeteries are considered to be permanent and final and disinterments will not be permitted except upon approval of the Director. Disinterments and removal of remains from a national cemetery will be approved only when next of kin (includes the person who directed the initial interment if still living) give their consent and establish cogent reasons for the disinterment, or in recognition of a court order directing the disinterment.

(b) All requests for authority to disinter remains will be submitted to the Director, and must state the reason for desiring the disinterment and be accompanied by the following documents:

(1) Notarized affidavits by all close living relatives of the deceased, stating that they interpose no objection to the pro

posed disinterment. "Close relatives" are defined as surviving spouse, parents, adult brothers and sisters, and adult children and will include the person who directed the initial interment, if living.

(2) A sworn statement, by a person having knowledge thereof, that those who supplied such affidavits comprise all the living close relatives of the deceased.

(c) In lieu of the documents required in paragraph (b) of this section, an order of a court of competent jurisdiction will be considered.

(d) Any disinterment that may be authorized under this section must be accomplished without expense to the Government.

HEADSTONES AND MARKERS

§ 55.22 Headstones and markers.

Headstones and markers, authorized to be furnished at Government expense will be provided under rules and regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Army.

§ 55.23 Private monuments and markers for graves.

(a) Erection of monuments and markers at private expense to mark graves in lieu of Government headstones or markers is restricted to sections in existing national cemeteries in which private monuments and markers were authorized as of 1 January 1947. Approval of the Director for erection of a private monument or marker in a national cemetery must be obtained in advance and is conditional upon the next of kin agreeing to maintain it in a manner acceptable to the Government; otherwise the Government reserves the right to remove and dispose of the monument or marker and to replace it with a standard Government-type stone. Erection of private stones will conform to standards prescribed by the Director.

(b) Monuments will be of simple design, dignified, and in keeping with a military cemetery. Ledger monuments, except as may be authorized under § 55.22 for marking group burials, monuments of cross design, and mausoleums or overground vaults are prohibited. Underground vaults may be placed at private expense, if desired, at time of interment.

(c) A drawing or blueprint showing detailed specifications as to design, materials of which to be constructed, finish, carving, lettering, etc., and exact inscription to appear on the monument or marker must be forwarded to the Di