VAntage Point
Chris Erbe
August 4, 2015
More than 500 Veterans, family members and patriotic citizens witnessed the ceremonial breaking of ground and dedication of the Tallahassee National Cemetery earlier this summer.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Bob McDonald provided the keynote address. He was joined onstage by Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs Jeff Miller, Ranking Member Corrine Brown, U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, interim Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Ronald Walters and other state and local officials. “Here, we establish another glade of America’s most hallowed ground,” said McDonald, “to pay homage to men and women who so valued America that they placed their lives at risk in the defense of generations yet to come.”
When Tallahassee National Cemetery opens for first burials in a few short weeks, it will be part of the largest expansion of national cemeteries since the Civil War.
In the next few years, VA will open 17 new cemeteries throughout the country.
Later in 2015, VA will dedicate Cape Canaveral National Cemetery, also in Florida. This entire expansion effort will increase or enhance burial access for over two million Veterans and their families.
Once these planned projects are complete, more than 96 percent of Veterans will have access to a burial option within a 75-mile radius of their homes.
VA will build five full-service national cemeteries—the two in Florida and three others planned for Omaha, Neb., western New York and southern Colorado. read more here
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