List of military tombstone abbreviations explained

The following is a partial list of military tombstone abbreviations used in American cemeteries.^[1]

United States

Ranks

• BBG = Brevet Brigadier General
• BGEN = Brigadier General
• BMG = Brevet Major General
• CAPT = Captain
• CDR = Commander
• CMSGT = Chief Master Sergeant
• COL = Colonel
• CPL = Corporal
• CPT = Captain
• CSGT = Commissary Sergeant
• ENS = Ensign
• GEN = General
• LCDR = Lieutenant Commander
• LCPL = Lance Corporal
• LGEN = Lieutenant General
• LT = Lieutenant
• 1LT = First Lieutenant (2LT = Second Lieutenant, and so on)
• LTC = Lieutenant Colonel
• MAJ = Major
• MGEN = Major General
• MSGT = Master Sergeant
• NCO = Non-Commissioned Officer
• OSGT = Ordnance Sergeant
• PFC = Private First Class
• PVT = Private
• PVT 1CL = Private First Class
• QM = Quartermaster
• QMSGT = Quartermaster Sergeant
• SFC = Sergeant First Class
• SGM = Sergeant Major
• SGT = Sergeant
• SMSGT = Senior Master Sergeant
• SPC = Specialist
• TSGT = Technical Sergeant
• WO = Warrant Officer

U.S. Civil War (1861–1865)

Regiments

• 58 PENN. INF. = 58th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Infantry Volunteers
• 185 N.Y. INF. = 185th Regiment of the New York Infantry Volunteers

Divisions

• CO. G = Company G
• CO. K = Company K

World War I (1917–1918)

Divisions

• 17 CO = 17th Company

See also

• United States Department of Veterans Affairs emblems for headstones and markers

References

• National Cemetery Administration: Headstone and Marker Inscription Abbreviations

Notes and References

1. Web site: Administration . National Cemetery . VA.gov Veterans Affairs . 2024-02-02 . www.cem.va.gov . en.