Ceremonial Urn Cover Donated for Veterans Committal Services

For Immediate Release
Contact: Tim Crowley, NCSOS, 919-814-5342
Tammy Martin, NC DMVA, 984-292-3255

Ceremonial Urn Cover Donated for Veterans Committal Services Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery will use the urn for memorials and burial ceremonies

FORT LIBERTY, NC - Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall has accepted a donation of ceremonial veteran urn covers on behalf of the State of North Carolina and presented one today to Grier Martin, Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (NC DMVA), during a ceremony at Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery.

"Our veterans and their families have served our country and sacrificed so much that the least we can do is ensure that each one is committed with the dignity and respect they so richly deserve," said Secretary Marshall. "This exquisite wooden design reflects the honorable service each of these veterans has made to our nation."

"We are deeply grateful for this ceremonial urn and the others at our State Veterans Cemeteries around North Carolina," said Secretary Martin. "With this donated urn, we honor our veterans and their families with the dignity and reverence they deserve in their final resting place."

The ceremonial urn cover was designed and donated by Idaho artist and woodworker John Sword. Similar urn covers have been donated to veterans cemeteries in more than 20 locations. Each veteran ceremonial urn cover is a handmade elegant creation that creates a solemn feeling of strength and purity. Numerous holes have been drilled in the base of the urn and plugged with a brass cap. Soil or sand from a battlefield like Omaha Beach or Pearl Harbor is placed there to represent the battlegrounds where veterans fought and so many lost their lives.

The leaf on the lid was replicated in bronze from an actual leaf collected for Arlington National Cemetery. This is the fourth of four ceremonial veteran urns donated and placed in North Carolina.

Additional photos available upon request. High-res photos of the urn donation ceremony may be downloaded here

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