VA Establishes Waiting List for Washington Crossing National Cemetery
October 9, 2008
WASHINGTON
– The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is accepting applications for interment of deceased military veterans and deceased eligible family members at the
Washington
Crossing
National
Cemetery being developed in
Bucks County,
Pa.
The first phase of construction for the 205-acre cemetery near
Washington
Crossing
Historic
Park is expected to start next spring, with burials expected to begin in late 2009.
Families who are temporarily keeping the remains of loved ones in cremation urns or in other cemeteries should call the National Cemetery Scheduling Office in
St. Louis at (800) 535-1117 for more information. The office is open daily from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Central Time.
When complete, the first construction phase will consist of approximately 60 acres and include facilities needed to provide burials for approximately 10 years.
More than 580,000 veterans live in the region served by the new facility.
Indiantown
Gap
National
Cemetery, the nearest open national cemetery in
Pennsylvania, is 120 miles from the new cemetery site.
Veterans with a discharge under conditions other than dishonorable, their spouses and dependent children are eligible for burial in any national cemetery with burial space. Other burial benefits for eligible veterans include a burial flag, a Presidential Memorial Certificate and a government headstone or marker – even if they are not buried in a national cemetery.
In the midst of the largest expansion since the Civil War, VA operates 125 national cemeteries in 39 states and
Puerto Rico, as well as 33 soldiers' lots and monument sites. More than 3.4 million Americans, including veterans of every war and conflict -- from the Revolutionary War to the current Global War on Terror -- are buried in VA’s national cemeteries.
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