WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) dedicated its newest national cemetery, Fort Jackson National Cemetery, in Columbia, S.C., on Oct. 26.
“South Carolina veterans will be proud of this new national shrine,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake. “With the dedication of this hallowed ground, VA fulfills its mission to provide veterans a beautiful final resting place and lasting tribute to their service to our nation.”
VA’s Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs, William F. Tuerk, gave the keynote address and was joined by local officials in unveiling the dedication plaque.
The new 585-acre cemetery is located in Richland County immediately east of the city of Columbia and south of Interstate Highway 20 on property donated by Fort Jackson.
When completed, the cemetery’s 92-acre initial construction area will contain 5,649 full-casket gravesites, including 4,224 pre-placed crypts, as well as 1,084 in-ground sites for cremated remains and approximately 2,000 columbarium niches. This construction will also include roadways, an administration and public information center, a maintenance complex, a flag assembly area, a memorial walkway, committal service shelters and interment areas. Other infrastructure improvements will include grading, drainage, fencing, landscaping, an irrigation system and utilities.
When it becomes fully operational in late 2008, Fort Jackson National Cemetery will provide burials for more than 170,000 veterans and their families who live in central South Carolina.
Veterans with a discharge under conditions other than dishonorable, their spouses and eligible dependent children may be buried in a national cemetery. Other burial benefits available for all eligible veterans, regardless of whether they are buried in a national cemetery or a private cemetery, include a burial flag, a Presidential Memorial Certificate and a government headstone or marker.
In the midst of the largest expansion since the Civil War, VA operates 125 national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico and 33 soldiers’ lots and monument sites. More than three million Americans, including veterans of every war and conflict, are buried in VA’s national cemeteries on more than 17,000 acres of land.
Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices, from the Internet at http://www.cem.va.gov or by calling VA regional offices toll-free at (800) 827-1000.
For information on the Fort Jackson National Cemetery, call the cemetery office at (866) 577-5248. To make burial arrangements at the time of need, call the national cemetery scheduling office at (800) 535-1117.
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