America’s military cemeteries face financial backlog for upkeep and improvements

March 25, 2024/Cemetery, Regulations/

Kansas United States Senator Jerry Moran recently testified at a United States Senate Veterans Affairs Committee meeting that “When mourning a death the last thing a grieving family needs is some bureaucratic hurdle or some substandard support.”

That comment came in response to the information provided, according to this article, that “there is a backlog of facility upgrade requests submitted by 128 state, territorial and tribal veterans’ cemeteries in the United States”. The article further states that it would cost an estimated $220 million to address two dozen projects that have been on the national waiting list for more than five years.

While it was noted that State Veteran Cemeteries take some of the demand off the National Cemeteries they also require upkeep and improvements. Kansas has a National Cemetery at Fort Leavenworth and four State Military Cemeteries located at Fort Dodge, WaKeeney, Fort Riley, and Winfield.

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs Grants Program was began in 1978 to complement the VA’s national cemeteries. According to information found here, the program has expended over $922 million in grants to establish and/or expand these complimentary cemeteries owned and operated by states, territories, and tribal governments since its inception.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take: According to this information, the Department of Veterans Affairs operates 155 national cemeteries through the National Cemetery Administration.

It’s a little like a doubled-edged sword. . . . the National Cemetery Administration, with its national cemetery system, served the purpose of honoring our veterans for a long time on its own. From my point of view — and I’ll use my home state of Minnesota as an example — it eventually became necessary to expand the locations available for deceased veterans and their families over time and for a couple of reasons.

In Minnesota we had one Veterans Cemetery — the Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While I don’t know for certain, I believe it was the increase in the population’s veteran numbers with the World War II generation coupled with the fact that many wanted to be buried closer to their home city that resulted in the State of Minnesota establishing a State Veterans Cemetery in northern Minnesota at Camp Ripley in 1994.

Since that time, the State of Minnesota has opened three more state veterans cemeteries to complete the mission of allowing our veterans and their eligible dependents to be memorialized closer to home. However, if other states are like Minnesota, that increasing number has put a stress on the amounts that our national government, through the Veteran’s Affairs grant program, can offer these complimentary cemeteries annually for upkeep and improvements.

And, while that is probably reality, it is also disappointing because, in my opinion, being remembered and memorialized for sacrifice and call to duty above self, is as American as America itself. I’m of the opinion that if America took the time to find the appropriations necessary for this from other areas of our government’s spending. . . and also to teach the high ideals of this sacrifice. . . our nation would be a lot better off.

Related Topic — While the article mentions that since 1978 $922 million has been granted by the federal authorities for these cemeteries and there is a backlog of $220 million in improvements waiting for funding for over five years, it appears that is a drop in the bucket for what is needed — or at least requested — for cemetery improvements. Here you can find the U.S. Government 2024 Fiscal Year List of State and Tribal Government Pre-Grant applications. . . . it appears that the total dollars requested for 2024 alone is over $295 million. Somebody will have to make some tough decisions on what makes the cut and what doesn’t.

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