Academy Cemetery

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The Academy Cemetery is located east of the Cadet Area on Parade Loop between Stadium Boulevard and Field House Drive. Interment is reserved for certain individuals.

[edit] Who is authorized to be buried in the Academy Cemetery

  • USAF Academy cadets
  • USAF Academy graduates
  • Air Force military personnel assigned to the Academy at the time of death
  • Active duty and retired USAF generals and lieutenant generals
  • Former Superintendents, Vice Superintendents, Commandants, Deans, Directors of Staff, Directors of Admissions, Directors of Athletics, permanent professors, sequential tour faculty officers (formerly continuous tour staff officers), tenured faculty officers, Preparatory School commanders, Air Base Wing commanders, and academy Command Chief Master Sergeants.
  • Original cadre Air Force personnel assigned to the Academy between 11 July 1955 and 10 Sep 1957
  • USAF cross-commissioned officer graduates of West Point or Annapolis who have retired with at least 20 years of uniformed service
  • USAFA Board of Visitors members with prior distinguished military service
  • Any Medal of Honor recipient, regardless of branch of service
  • Any Air Force Cross recipient
  • Former CMSgts performing as Cadet Wing Sergeant Majors who held the position during 1972-1996.
  • Certain eligible relatives of any of the above

[edit] Notable people interred in the Academy Cemetery

  • Gen. Samuel E. Anderson (6 Jan 1906 - 12 Sep 1982): Commander, USAAC 9th Air Division during World War II.
  • Gen. Joseph H. Atkinson (5 Feb 1900 - 6 Nov 1984): Commander, 5th Bombardment Wing during World War II.
  • Gen. William H. "Butch" Blanchard (6 Feb 1916 - 31 May 1966): Air Force Vice Chief of Staff; bomber pilot during World War II, who planned air raids on Japan; while serving with Curtis LeMay planned the atomic attack on Hiroshima; awarded four stars by the age of 48.
  • MSgt. (USA) William John Crawford (19 May 1918 - 15 Mar 2000): World War II Medal of Honor recipient.
  • Lt. Gen. Hubert R. Harmon (1892 - 22 Jan 1957): First Superintendent of the Academy.
  • Gen. Curtis E. LeMay (15 Nov 1906 - 1 Oct 1990): Air Force Chief of Staff, 1961-65.
  • Gen. Emmett O'Donnell (15 Sep 1906 - 26 Dec 1971): Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for battling the Japanese over Clark Field in the Philippines in 1941; led the first major air raid against Tokyo, Japan, in 1944; after World War II, served as AF Director of Information, and as President of the USO after his retirement in 1964.
  • Brig. Gen. Robin Olds (14 July 1922 – 14 June 2007): Former Commandant; renowned fighter pilot and triple-ace.
  • Gen. Carl Andrew Spaatz (28 Jun 1891 - 14 Jul 1974): Commanded US bombing raids against Germany (1944) and in the Pacific against Japan (1945); first Chief of Staff of the Air Force (1947-48).
  • Lt. Col. Ted Harris (6 May 1923 - 5 Sep 2003): The Last Man Out “If I can’t go back with my self-respect, I won’t go back at all.”
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