Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 08/15/2005

Dear Sgt. Shaft:
In spite of the spelling of my name I am a male. I served in the U.S. Army as an Oral Surgeon from June 1955 to June 1957. I was honorably discharged.

As the years accumulate one begins to think about a final resting place. I would like to be interred in a National Cemetery for veterans. Please inform me as to the paper work and form numbers that are required for burial in a veterans’ cemetery. I have already attempted to obtain this information from the VA but have run into an endless telephone chase in which one is never connected to a real person.

Many thanks.
Jean O.

Dear Jean
VA national cemetery directors have the primary responsibility for verifying eligibility for burial in VA national cemeteries. A determination of eligibility is usually made in response to a request for burial in a VA national cemetery. VA Regional Offices will also assist in determining eligibility for burial in a VA national cemetery. The toll-free number for the nearest VA Regional Office is 1-800-827-1000.

On July 17, 1862, Congress enacted legislation that authorized the President to purchase "cemetery grounds" to be used as national cemeteries "for soldiers who shall have died in the service of the country." Fourteen cemeteries were established that first year. By 1870, the remains of nearly 300,000 Union dead had been buried in 73 national cemeteries. Most of the cemeteries were located in the southeast, near the battlefields and campgrounds of the Civil War.

All honorably discharged veterans became eligible for burial in 1873.

In the 1930s, new national cemeteries were established to serve veterans living in major metropolitan areas such as New York, Baltimore, Minneapolis, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Antonio. In 1973, Congress transferred 82 national cemeteries from the Department of the Army to the Veterans Administration.

Today there are over 135 national cemeteries. VA, through its National Cemetery Administration, directs 119 of them. Two national cemeteries – Arlington and The United States Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home – are administered by the Department of the Army. The National Park Service maintains 14 national cemeteries. Additionally, most post military installations have post cemeteries. The Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act of 1999 requires the VA to establish additional national cemeteries in the areas of the U.S. where the need is greatest. A run-down on the composition of NCA and state veterans cemeteries is also available on-line at www.cem.va.gov/listcem/htm

Information about the Arlington National Cemetery and the U.S. Soldier’s and Airmen’s Home cemetery, both maintained by the Department of the Army, and post cemeteries found on military installations is available at www.arlingtoncemetery.org ;

The American Battle Monuments Commission maintains 24 military cemeteries and several monuments overseas (www.abmc.gov); and

The Department of the Interior’s National Parks Service maintains 14 veterans’ cemeteries; two are open for new burials. Eligibility for burial is similar to VA cemetery eligibility. For more information, see www.cem.va.gov/doi/htm .

Shaft Notes
Members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs recently approved two nominees and two pieces of legislation.

The committee's unanimous approval moved the nominations of James Phillip Terry and Charles S. "Chick" Ciccolella to the Senate floor for final approval. Terry was nominated by President Bush to be Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals within the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Ciccolella was nominated by the President to be the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training within the U.S. Department of Labor.

The final vote on the nominations was approved by the Senate prior to their August recess.

Members of the committee also approved two bills sponsored by Chairman Craig (R-Idaho), including a measure (S. 1234) which increases the pay rates for disabled veterans and survivors compensation by an estimated 2.3 percent, and another measure (S. 1235 - as amended) which increases life insurance coverage for military personnel from $250,000 to $400,000. The two bills are expected to be voted on when Congress reconvenes in September.

The increase in life insurance to $400,000 was approved temporarily in May. If Congress does not make the law permanent by October 1 of this year, coverage will revert to $250,000. "Together with our House colleagues, we will work to send the bill to the President before October 1," Craig said.

The Senate's version of the insurance coverage bill (S. 1235) differs in two substantive ways from a similar bill approved by the House of Representatives. "Both House and Senate versions provide for spousal notification when a service member changes coverage. That's important," Craig said. But unlike the House bill, the Senate's bill would not require notification of "next of kin" when an unmarried service member changes coverage amounts.

The Senate's bill also does not include an "opt out" option for coverage available under the new traumatic injury protection insurance provisions - the Wounded Warrior bill - which Craig sponsored earlier this year. Congress approved that legislation in April and President Bush signed it into law.

During the committee markup on S. 1235, senators approved a measure sought by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) which will provide insurance coverage for stillborn children so that they will be covered under the Service members' Group Life Insurance program. Santorum chairs the Senate Republican Conference and the bipartisan compromise that led to that provision earned the praise of the committee's top Democrat.

Additional language sought by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) was also approved by the committee. It will cause the standardization of training and disability compensation assessments for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder claims filed within the Veterans Benefits Administration.

Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax to 301-622-3330; call 202-257-5446 or email sgtshaft@bavf.org.

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