The nearby Hawai‘i State Veterans Cemetery ran out of burial space in 1945 with the large influx of WWII casualties.

Congress wanted a permanent resting site in Hawai’i for the remains of soldiers who died on Guam.

The site was originally the location of a facility for disabled WWII soldiers.

During the 1980s, the NCA anticipated that many WWII Veterans living in Hawai’i would need a place to be buried.

The population growth of Honolulu in the late nineteenth century created a need for burial space.