WASHINGTON — Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi today announced the award of a $387,000 grant to the state of Tennessee for installation of fencing at the West Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery in Memphis.
“This award, and an increasing number like it for state veterans’ cemeteries, recognize the contribution of America‘s aging veterans,” said Principi. “I appreciate President Bush’s leadership in supporting a 28-percent boost in next year’s VA budget for state veterans’ cemeteries.”
The grant for the state cemetery, which was established in 1992 by another VA grant, will provide approximately 1,900 feet of fencing along the front of the cemetery and additional perimeter fencing. The West Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery is located at 4000 Forest Hill-Irene Rd. in Memphis.
The Memphis cemetery is one of the busiest state veterans cemeteries in the nation, having provided 861 burials to veterans and eligible family members last year. It was built to maintain service to the veterans of the region when VA’s Memphis National Cemetery exhausted its gravesites in 1992. The national cemetery was opened in the aftermath of the Civil War. Tennessee also opened state cemeteries in Nashville and Knoxville when VA’s national cemeteries in those cities ran out of space in the 1990s.
As a complement to VA’s system of national cemeteries, the state cemetery grants program has helped establish, expand or improve 48 operational state veterans cemeteries. Seven additional cemeteries are under construction. The state veterans cemeteries provided 15,409 burials in fiscal year 2001. Since the program began in 1980, VA has awarded 119 grants for more than $134 million to 28 states, plus Guam.
Information about the grants program is available by contacting VA’s State Cemetery Grants Service at (202) 565-6801. Eligibility for burial in Tennessee’s three state veterans cemeteries is on the same basis for all Tennessee veterans as eligibility for burial in a VA national cemetery. Details may be obtained by calling the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs at (615) 741-4951.
Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices, from VA web sites on the Internet at http://www.va.gov or http://www.cem.va.gov or by calling VA regional offices toll-free on 1-800-827-1000.
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