§2105 — Title 36 Patriotic and National Observances | U.S. Code

§2105 Monuments built by the United States Government

Title 36 › Subtitle Subtitle I— - Patriotic and National Observances and Ceremonies › Part Part B— - United States Government Organizations Involved With Observances and Ceremonies › Chapter CHAPTER 21— - AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION › § 2105

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The American Battle Monuments Commission must make plans and cost estimates and must build and care for memorials that honor the service of American Armed Forces. It must do this in the United States and, when it chooses, in places outside the United States where U.S. forces have served since April 6, 1917. The Commission also builds and keeps up works of architecture and art in permanent U.S. cemeteries overseas and in U.S. territories and possessions. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs must maintain works the Commission built in the National Cemetery Administration under section 2400(b) of title 38. The Commission decides the materials and designs, sets rules, and supervises construction of monuments and buildings in U.S. cemeteries abroad. It also controls design and sets rules for memorials built in a foreign country, if that country allows the Commission to do so. Any memorial design must be approved by the National Commission of Fine Arts before the Commission can accept it.

Title 36, §2105

Patriotic and National Observances — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The American Battle Monuments Commission shall prepare plans and estimates to build suitable memorials commemorating the service of American Armed Forces, and shall build and maintain memorials in the United States and, as the Commission decides, at any place outside the United States where the Armed Forces have served since April 6, 1917.

(b)The Commission shall build and maintain works of architecture and art in United States cemeteries located outside the United States and the territories and possessions of the United States that are permanent cemeteries. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall maintain works of architecture and art built by the Commission in the National Cemetery Administration, as described in section 2400(b) of title 38.

(c)(1)The Commission shall control the materials and design and prescribe regulations for, and supervise the building of, all memorial monuments and buildings in United States cemeteries located outside the United States and the territories and possessions of the United States.

(2)The Commission shall control the design and prescribe regulations for the building of all memorial monuments and buildings commemorating the service of American Armed Forces that are built in a foreign country or political division of the foreign country that authorizes the Commission to carry out those duties and powers.

(d)A design for a memorial must be approved by the National Commission of Fine Arts before the Commission can accept it.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 2105(a)36:123 (1st par. 1st sentence).Mar. 4, 1923, ch. 283, § 3, 42 Stat. 1509; June 26, 1946, ch. 502, 60 Stat. 317; July 25, 1956, ch. 721, §§ 2(b), (d), 3(b), 70 Stat. 640, 641. 2105(b)36:123 (1st par. 2d, last sentences). 2105(c)36:123 (2d, last pars.). 2105(d)36:124.Mar. 4, 1923, ch. 283, § 4, 42 Stat. 1510; June 26, 1946, ch. 502, 60 Stat. 317; July 25, 1956, ch. 721, §§ 2(b), (d), 3(c), 70 Stat. 640, 641. In subsections (a) and (c)(2), the word “American” is omitted as unnecessary. In subsection (a), the words “or shall hereafter serve” are omitted as obsolete. In subsection (b), the words “Secretatry [sic] of Veterans Affairs” are substituted for “Department of Defense”, and the words “the National Cemetery System, as described in section 2400(b) of title 38” are substituted for “cemeteries within the United States, its Territories and possessions”, because of section 6 of the National Cemeteries Act of 1973 (Public Law 93-43, 38 U.S.C. 2404 note), which transferred jurisdiction over and responsibility for the national cemeteries (with certain exceptions) from the Secretary of the Army to the Administrator of Veterans’ Affairs. In subsection (c)(2), the words “duties and powers” are substituted for “functions” for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the United States Code.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1998—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 105–368 substituted “National Cemetery Administration” for “National Cemetery System”.