From AFT:
“Vet Agency hopes for more state-run
cemeteries for burial options”
(A visitor pauses by a marker in Fort
Logan National Cemetery near Denver on Nov. 11, 2022.)
Veterans Affairs officials are
nearing their goal of establishing a veterans cemetery close to where almost
every veteran in America currently lives, but they’ll need significant help
from state leaders to finish the plan.
Currently, just under 17 million
veterans across the country live within 75 miles of a VA-run or VA-funded
cemetery, according to department statistics. That’s roughly 94% of the entire
population. But VA leaders have set a benchmark of providing a final resting
place close to 95% of veterans, which means adding burial options for almost
200,000 more. Establishing a large, nationally-run burial sites near those
scattered veteran populations does not make fiscal sense, officials said. But
partnering with states, territories and Native American tribes can dramatically
improve choices available to veterans, according to Under Secretary for
Memorial Affairs Matt Quinn. “The federal government is not going to be able to
fund it all alone,’ he told reporters in a press call on Tuesday. “Every year,
we do give states a map of and a chart of the veterans served in each area. As
we get toward more rural areas where you just don’t have a large concentration
of veterans, it gets tougher and tougher.”
VA’s National Cemetery Administration
this month passed $1 billion in state and local grants for veterans cemetery
work in the 45 years since the program was first established. The money has
helped fund 122 regional cemeteries for use by veterans and family members, in
addition to the existing 155 VA-run sites.
The agency’s budget request for
fiscal 2024 includes a $10 million boost in state grant funding — up 20% from
current levels — that Quinn said will help with future cemetery projects in
places such as Michigan, Nebraska and Texas. Quinn said his office regularly
meets with state officials on potential new cemetery sites, but building new
ones requires a combination of federal and local funding, plus a commitment
from regional leaders to care for the locations. A full list of all VA-run and
VA funded cemeteries is available at the department’s web site.
^ This sounds like a program that
needs to be enhanced (and fast) across the country. ^
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