From Military.com:
“Nearly 5 Million Veterans Added to VA's Digital Memorial
that Catalogs Grave Sites Around the World”
The Department of Veterans Affairs has added pages for
roughly 5 million more former service members to its Veterans Legacy Memorial
online project, including thousands of veterans interred at public and private
cemeteries outside the VA National Cemetery Administration's system.
Coming just ahead of Veterans Day, VA officials said the
expansion doubles the size of the site, bringing the total number of vets
memorialized to roughly 10 million, about one-third of all veterans dating back
as far as the Revolutionary War.
The department was able to add so many veterans to the site
by collecting information on those buried at private and non-VA cemeteries who
received a headstone, marker or medallion from the National Cemetery
Administration since 1996, according to VA Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs
Matt Quinn. "Since becoming under secretary of memorial affairs more than
two years ago, I've had numerous requests for family members for this type of
opportunity. And again, as of Veterans Day 2023, we have made this a
reality," Quinn said during a call with reporters Tuesday.
The Veterans Legacy Memorial launched in 2019, initially as a
static website that gave basic details on 3.7 million veterans buried in the
VA's 155 national cemeteries, such as name, grave location, and photo of
gravesite.
The project was expanded in 2021 to include VA-supported
state, tribal and territorial veterans cemeteries, and was then broadened again
in 2022 to include two National Park Service cemeteries. Earlier this year,
just before Memorial Day, the VA added veterans interred at 27 cemeteries
managed by the Air Force, Navy and Army, including Arlington National Cemetery.
When making that announcement in May, James LaPaglia, digital services officer
at the National Cemetery Administration, said it might be several years before
the VA could add veterans in private cemeteries, due to the complexity of the
records. On Tuesday, however, LaPaglia said that the "database gave us
some extra wins that we weren't quite expecting." Those included 80,000
records for state, tribal and territories veterans cemeteries; 1,000 records
for National Park Service-managed cemeteries; and 4,000 records of headstones
and markers shipped overseas, according to LaPaglia.
Each memorial page includes a veteran's dates of birth and
death, dates or eras of military service, grave location and photo of grave, as
available. The site is fully interactive, allowing family members, friends and
colleagues to share photos, documents and memories. LaPaglia said that, to
date, more than 73,000 posts have been made to veterans' pages by family
members, friends, battle buddies and historians, and the dedications continue
to "grow exponentially."
Linda Monroe, widow of Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Robert
Monroe, buried in Riverside National Cemetery in California, has documented her
husband's 20-year career on his page but also posts recent photos of family,
provides updates on children and grandchildren, and sends him notes of love. "I
call it my radio to heaven because it gives me [so much]," Monroe said
during the press call Tuesday. "I would hope that other family members,
friends take advantage of what VLM provides you and post information or
activities or just say, 'Hi, I miss you.'"
According to the VA, all content submitted for upload to the
site is reviewed by moderators to ensure that it conforms with the Veterans
Legacy Memorial user policy. The next hurdle for adding more veterans to the
site is to include 26 American military cemeteries overseas managed by the
American Battle Monuments Commission, LaPaglia said. And, he added, the VA also
expects to eventually create a system for family members to request a page for
their veteran by providing documentation. "This is years' worth of
development work on continuing to bring in more pages so that more stories can
be told," LaPaglia said.
For those who need assistance finding their veteran or
changing or adding a record, the "Customer Support" link on the VLM
website provides a phone number, as well as a link to an email address to
request help.
^ I looked over this website and found several of my Relatives
on it. I’ve even added a few Military Pictures that are being reviewed before
being posted.
Here is a link to the site:
^
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