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VA Grant to Expand Maryland’s Cheltenham
Veterans Cemetery
September 20, 2007
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.
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Larry Scott --
