VA national cemetery
Cape Canaveral National Cemetery
Mims, Florida
Location
5525 U.S. Highway 1
Mims, FL 32754
Visiting
- Address
- 5525 U.S. Highway 1, Mims, FL 32754
- Phone
- 321-383-2638
- Visiting hours
- Open daily from sunrise to sunset.
- Office hours
- Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed federal holidays.
- Time zone
- Eastern Time
- Burial space
- Open
- Accessibility
- Not yet verified
- The cemetery’s Facebook page
- Official page
- cem.va.gov
Flowers and grounds policy, from the VA
Our cemetery floral policy exists only to reflect the honor and respect we hold for our Nation's Veterans, by preserving the dignity and solemnity of their final resting place.
We welcome and encourage fresh-cut flowers throughout the year. The cemetery provides water and green flower containers for gravesite display located at each section and columbarium. Permanent plantings or fixtures are not permitted.
Funeral arrangements may include 1 casket spray and up to 2 floral pieces accompanying the casket or urn at the time of the burial will be placed on the completed grave. They will be removed when they become unsightly or when it becomes necessary to facilitate cemetery operations such as mowing.
Other seasonal adornments such as artificial flowers, potted plants, or poinsettias that are less than 18 inches in diameter are permitted for placement on gravesites during the period 10 days before and 10 days after Easter Sunday, Christmas and Hanukkah. Artificial floral arrangements will be allowed five days before and after Memorial Day on all gravesites.
Items left at the grave must be floral in nature and may not stand taller than 24 inches. Unauthorized items include artificial flowers (except the dates above), balloons, pinwheels, wind chimes, lights, candles, weapons of any kind, vigil lights, glass vases, statues, stuffed animals, alcoholic products or other similar in nature. No item may be attached to a headstone. Altering a headstone in any manner is prohibited. (i.e., marking, sitting on, placing objects upon, attaching photographs or keepsakes to, etc.). Unauthorized items will be removed immediately. Removed items will be held for 30 days.
Floral pick up will be conducted on Thursday each week. Flowers that have become unsightly will be removed for mowing and maintenance purposes, or if damaged by weather or wildlife. Due to the open nature of the grounds, we cannot guarantee against theft, vandalism or the effects of nature.
Individual gravesite flags, no larger than 8" by 12", are permitted on graves placed by family and friends for private memorialization. The following military and military-related service flags are allowed: United States, Armed Services of the U.S (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Public Health Service, American Merchant Marines, Army & Air National Guards, Prisoners of War/Missing in Action, Medal of Honor and Foreign Allies pertaining to the decedent. Veterans Service Organizations (VSO) gravesite flags are not permitted. Flags will be removed and retired when needed for grounds maintenance or when become unserviceable IAW Title 4 U.S.C. Chapter 1.
Grounds: In order to preserve the dignity and honor of our Veterans' final resting place, please observe the following rules of behavior U.S. Code of Federal Regulations 38 C.F.R. §1.218 while visiting the cemetery grounds:
- Altering a headstone in any manner is prohibited. (i.e., marking, sitting on, placing objects upon, attaching photographs or keepsakes to, etc.)
- Pets are not allowed on the cemetery grounds at any time.
- No soliciting.
- Sports or recreational activities of any kind are prohibited.
- No picnicking.
- Public gatherings of a partisan nature are prohibited, no unauthorized gatherings are permitted.
- Committal shelters are for services only, no loitering.
- Littering is not allowed, please use one of the many receptacles provided.
- Smoking is not allowed on the grounds, in any building or the committal shelter.
- No cutting, digging or otherwise damaging the landscape.
- Boisterous activity, including the playing of loud music, is prohibited.
All items placed on gravesites become the property of the US Government and will be disposed of under federal regulations.
Thank you in advance for providing the respect our Veterans are due by observing the above listed floral and grounds policy. Our Nation's Heroes, some of whom gave their lives for this country, deserve no less than an honorable and pristine landscape to make their final rest.
Weapons Policy
VA regulations 38 CFR 1.218 prohibit the carrying of firearms (either openly or concealed), explosives or other dangerous or deadly weapons while on VA property, except for official purposes, such as military funeral honors.
Possession of firearms on any property under the charge and control of VA is prohibited. Offenders may be subject to a fine, removal from the premises, or arrest.
General information, from the VA
This national cemetery is located in Mims, Florida and includes 318-acres.
Directions from Nearest Airport
From I-95 take Exit 231, at Highway 1 turn right (south); the cemetery is two miles on the left.
Pay your respects
Visitors to veterans’ graves sometimes leave a coin on the headstone to show that someone came. You can leave a symbolic coin here. No money is involved, and nothing about you is published. About the custom, and what each coin is said to mean.
History
Reproduced from the VA National Cemetery Administration’s page for this cemetery, retrieved November 11, 2026. This is the VA’s text, unedited; it is not independent research by this site.
Cape Canaveral National Cemetery was dedicated on November 20, 2015. The first burial took place on January 12, 2016.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) purchased the land in July 2012 for $2.1 million.
The initial phase of construction provides approximately 17,000 gravesites and accommodates both casket and cremation interments. In addition to gravesites and columbaria, the cemetery includes other features such as a front entrance on U.S. Route 1, a public information center with an electronic gravesite locator and restrooms, an administration building, a maintenance building, a flag pole assembly area, a memorial wall with ossuary and walkway, and committal shelters. Other cemetery infrastructure features include roads, landscaping, utilities, and irrigation.
Notable burials and memorials
Reproduced from the VA’s page for this cemetery, retrieved November 11, 2026, including Medal of Honor recipients where the VA lists them. Links lead to the VA’s own records. To correct an entry, contact the VA; to tell us our copy is out of date, report it.
Ohioan Edwin T. Cowan (1920–2009) was a legendary Tuskegee Airmen who served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. Flight Officer Cowan graduated from the pilot training program at Tuskegee in 1944. He flew B-25 Mitchell bombers for the 477th Bombardment Group. As a civilian, Cowan worked for the U.S. Postal Service before earning a Master of Education and becoming a teacher and principal with the Cleveland public school system. He retired after 22 years and in 1978 Cowan and his wife, Theda, moved to Merritt Island, Florida, where he co-founded a chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen. In 2006, Tuskegee Airmen were honored for their service, belatedly, with the Congressional Gold Medal. Cowan's initial grave at St. Luke's Episcopal Church was unmarked. On February 7, 2019, Cowan and his wife (1920–2007) were reinterred at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery with full military honors (Section 11, Site 225).
Alene B. Duerk (1920–2018) was born in Defiance, Ohio. A 1941 graduate of the Toledo Hospital School of Nursing, she was commissioned as an ensign in the Nurse Corps, USNR in 1943. During WWII she served at Portsmouth, VA and Bethesda, MD and in the Pacific theater aboard USS Benevolence (AH-13). She was released from active service in June 1946. After, she earned a B.S. from Western Reserve University. She joined the Naval Reserve in 1948 and was recalled to active service in June 1951. For nearly two decades, she served in positions of increasing responsibility across the globe and became director of the Navy Nurse Corps in May 1970. She became the first female flag officer in June 1972, and the figurehead for her gender in the Navy. She retired in 1975. RADM Duerk is interred at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery (Section 10, Site 777).
Nearby veterans cemeteries
Sources
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. Find a Cemetery: all national cemeteries, and each cemetery’s own page. U.S. government work (public domain). Retrieved November 11, 2026. Used for: name, address, phone and burial-space status, hours, policies, history and notable burials.
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. Cape Canaveral National Cemetery (official cemetery page). Retrieved November 11, 2026.
- Map position: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration. VA National Cemetery Sites (dataset).