Tahoma National Cemetery is a

United States National Cemetery The United States National Cemetery System is a system of 164 cemeteries in the United States and its territories. The authority to create military burial places came during the American Civil War, in an act passed by the U.S. Congress o ...

in unincorporated

King County, Washington King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...

. It encompasses , and as of the end of 2019, had over 60,000 interments, compared to the end of 2008 with 23,479 interments, and 15,924 interments in 2005. Administered by the

United States Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...

, it was the only national cemetery in the state of Washington until 2020, when the

Vancouver Barracks Established in 1849, the Vancouver Barracks was the first U.S. Army base located in the Pacific Northwest. Built on a rise 20 feet (6 m) above the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) trading station Fort Vancouver. Its buildings were formed in a line adjac ...

National Cemetery was established.

History

Tahoma National Cemetery was established by the Department of Veteran Affairs on November 11, 1993, purchasing from the

Washington State Department of Natural Resources The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages over of forest, range, agricultural, and commercial lands in the U.S. state of Washington. The DNR also manages of aquatic areas which include shorelines, tidelands, lands und ...

for $1.6 million. It was intended to house 13,000 graves and reach capacity by 2040. Congress approved $10.6 million in funding to build the cemetery in 1994 and design work began the following year. The cemetery was dedicated on September 26, 1997, and opened for interments on October 1. Until Tahoma was completed, Washington was one of eleven states without a national cemetery; the closest had been the

Willamette National Cemetery Willamette National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located about southeast of the city of Portland, Oregon. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses straddling the county line between Multn ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, where some Washingtonians were buried. A second Washington national cemetery was proposed in 2006 for the

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

area. A second phase of construction was completed in 2005.

Noteworthy monuments

* The Blue Star Memorial, a traditional

service flag A service flag or service banner is a banner that family members of those serving in the United States Armed Forces can display. The flag or banner is officially defined as a white field with a red border, with a blue star for each family member s ...

monument dedicated to all veterans.

Notable interments

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

recipients ** Second Lieutenant Jesse T. Barrick, for action in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. ** Sergeant Dexter J. Kerstetter, for action in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. ** Master Sergeant Wilburn Kirby Ross, for action in

. * Others ** Robert F. Burt, United States Navy chaplain ** Sergeant First Class Nathan Ross Chapman, first American serviceman to die in the line of duty in the

United States invasion of Afghanistan In late 2001, the United States and its close allies invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government. The invasion's aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the September 11 attacks, and to deny it a safe base of operatio ...

in 2002. **

Edward Eugene Claplanhoo Edward Eugene Claplanhoo (August 8, 1928 – March 14, 2010) was an American Makah elder and former chairman of the Makah Tribe, located on the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. Claplanhoo was the first Makah to earn a bach ...

, former Chairman of the

Makah The Makah (; Klallam: ''màq̓áʔa'')Renker, Ann M., and Gunther, Erna (1990). "Makah". In "Northwest Coast", ed. Wayne Suttles. Vol. 7 of ''Handbook of North American Indians'', ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institut ...

** Lieutenant Colonel Edward J. Saylor, Ret. U.S. Air Force veteran of World War II who participated in the Doolittle Raid on Japan on April 18, 1942. **

Frosty Westering Forrest Edward "Frosty" Westering (December 5, 1927 – April 12, 2013) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach at Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa from 1962 to 1963, Lea College in Albert Lea, Minnesota from 1966 to 197 ...

, Hall of Fame college football coach ** Frank Williams (gridiron football)

References

External links

National Cemetery Administration

Tahoma National Cemetery
* * {{Find a Grave cemetery Cemeteries in Washington (state) Protected areas of King County, Washington United States national cemeteries Geography of Kent, Washington