38 U.S.C. § 2403
Section 2403 · Memorial areas
Amended 7 times on record
Applied in 2 court decisions — leading case 129 F. Supp. 2d 832 - Griffin v. Department of Veterans Affairs (2001)
Most recently applied in 106 F. App'x 816 - Griffin v. Department of Veterans Affairs (July 2004)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) The Secretary shall set aside, when available, suitable areas in national cemeteries to honor the memory of members of the Armed Forces and veterans—
(1) who are missing in action;
(2) whose remains have not been recovered or identified;
(3) whose remains were buried at sea, whether by the member's or veteran's own choice or otherwise;
(4) whose remains were donated to science; or
(5) whose remains were cremated and the ashes scattered without interment of any portion of the ashes.
(b) Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, group memorials may be placed to honor the memory of groups of individuals referred to in subsection (a), and appropriate memorial headstones and markers may be placed to honor the memory of individuals referred to in subsection (a) and section 2306(b) of this title.
(c) All national and other veterans' cemeteries under the control of the National Cemetery Administration shall be considered national shrines as a tribute to our gallant dead and, notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, the Secretary is hereby authorized to permit appropriate officials to fly the flag of the United States of America at such cemeteries twenty-four hours each day.
(d)(1) Subject to standards established by the Secretary, the Secretary shall permit the display of a Fallen Soldier Display in any national cemetery.
(2) In this subsection, the term "Fallen Soldier Display" means a memorial monument in honor of fallen members of the Armed Forces that may include a replica of an inverted rifle, boots, helmets, and identification tag.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
For cemeteries under the control of the National Cemetery Administration, referred to in subsec. (c), see section 2400(b) of this title.
Amendments
2020—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 116–106 added subsec. (d).
1998—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 105–368, §401(c), amended subsec. (b) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (b) read as follows: "Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, appropriate memorials or markers shall be erected to honor the memory of those individuals, or group of individuals, referred to in subsection (a) of this section."
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 105–368, §403(c)(6), substituted "under the control of the National Cemetery Administration" for "in the National Cemetery System created by this chapter".
1991—Pub. L. 102–83 renumbered section 1003 of this title as this section.
1989—Pub. L. 101–237 substituted "Secretary" for "Administrator" wherever appearing.
1982—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 97–295 substituted "chapter" for "Act" after "created by this".
1981—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 97–66 substituted provisions relating to members of the Armed Forces and veterans, for provisions that related only to members of the Armed Forces, struck out provisions limiting the subsection to persons who died or were killed while serving in the Armed Forces, and inserted provisions relating to persons whose remains have not been recovered, whose remains were donated to science, or whose remains were cremated and the ashes scattered without interment of any portion of the ashes.
Effective Date of 1981 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 97–66 applicable with respect to veterans dying before, on, or after Oct. 17, 1981, see section 701(b)(6) of Pub. L. 97–66, set out as a note under section 1114 of this title.