Nicholson: Proud to Partner with State
WASHINGTON – Continuing its mission of providing a final resting place for veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the award of a $3,743,613 grant to expand Maryland’s Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery.
“Expansion of the Cheltenham state veterans cemetery will help to ensure that memorial benefits for Maryland’s veterans are available for many more years,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson. “We are proud to partner with the state.”
The grant will pay for the development of an additional burial section, including 2,434 full-casket burial sites, 1,087 in-ground cremation sites, 1,056 columbarium niches for cremation remains, roads, utilities, landscaping, irrigation and other supporting infrastructure improvements. Nearly 50,000 veterans and their dependents reside within the service area of the cemetery.
Maryland has four other state cemeteries that were built and improved with VA grants: Crownsville Veterans Cemetery; Easter Shore Veterans Cemetery in Hurlock; Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery in Owings Mills; and Rocky Gap Veterans Cemetery in Flintstone. Quantico National Cemetery, approximately 50 miles away in Triangle, Va., is the closest national cemetery that is open for burials.
VA’s State Cemetery Grants Program complements VA’s 125 national cemeteries across the country. The program helps states establish, expand, or improve state veterans cemeteries.
The VA program has helped establish 67 veterans cemeteries in 36 states, Saipan and Guam, which provided more than 22,000 burials in fiscal year 2006. Since the program began in 1980, VA has awarded 160 grants totaling more than $302 million.
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
1-800-827-1000.
Information about Maryland’s veterans cemeteries can be obtained from the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs at ** http://www.mdva.state.md.us/ ** or by calling 410-923-6981.
** Indicates a link to a non-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) website. VA does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of the linked website.
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Reporters and media outlets with questions or comments should contact the Office of Media Relations at vapublicaffairs@va.gov
Veterans with questions about their health care and benefits (including GI Bill). Questions, updates and documents can be submitted online.
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