National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific - Definition and Overview

Like Arlington, the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific is one of the most prominent of the many national cemeteries in the United States.

The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific is a cemetery located in Honolulu, Hawai'i that serves a memorial to those men and women who served in the United States Armed Forces. It is administered by the National Cemetery Administration of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and was declared a National Historic Landmark. Thousands of visitors visit the cemetery each year, and it is one of the more popular tourist attractions in Hawai'i.

The cemetery is located in Punchbowl Crater (Pūowaina in Hawaiian), located just north of downtown Honolulu. In ancient times Punchbowl was used as a site for human sacrifices, and pū-o-waina means "hill of placing (human sacrifices)."

Since the cemetery was dedicated on September 2, 1949, 34,000 veterans of World War I, World War II, the Korean, and Vietnam wars have been interred. The cemetery is now full and a new veterans cemetery has been built and dedicated on the windward side of O'ahu at Kāne'ohe.