VA awards more than $44.5M in grants to state Veterans cemeteries

WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' National Cemetery Administration awarded $44,553,338 in grants for the expansion and/or improvement of state Veterans' cemeteries during fiscal year 2024. These grants help deliver timely and accessible burial and memorial services to Veterans.

The cemeteries receiving grants include California, Georgia, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Washington. Veterans interred in grant-funded Veterans' cemeteries receive the same burial and memorial benefits provided to Veterans in VA national cemeteries, at no cost. This benefit includes a gravesite, opening and closing of the grave, perpetual care, a government headstone or marker, a burial flag, and a Presidential Memorial Certificate.

"It is our duty to ensure America's Veterans are honored for their service as they are laid to rest," said Acting Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Ronald Walters. "Partnering with states, tribes and territories allows us to better provide burial options closer to where Veterans and their families live."

Since its inception in 1978, the Veterans Cemetery Grants Program has allocated more than 504 grants to 122 state, territorial, and Tribal Veterans' cemeteries, and more than $1 billion in funding leading to more than 800,000 interments for Veterans. In FY 2024, these cemeteries and VA national cemeteries conducted nearly 185,000 interments combined.

Between these grant-funded cemeteries and VA's national cemeteries, the department is now providing 94% of Veterans who reside in the United States with the option of burial in a VA or VA-funded cemetery within 75 miles of their homes.

Veterans interred in most VA-grant funded cemeteries are also memorialized on the Veterans Legacy Memorial site. This online program provides family, friends and others the tool to preserve their Veteran's legacy by posting tributes, uploading images, and sharing their Veteran's achievements, biographical information and historical documents.

Learn more about VA's burial benefits and memorial services or watch this video.