Posted on Jun 16, 2015
Elderly veteran who shoots sick wife and self; is he eligible to be buried at a National Cemetery?
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We have yet to file any paperwork or get things started, but I am looking to get some insight on what may be in store for my extended family.
An 80 year old retired CWO2 who was suffering from some medical issues, and his wife was suffering from very serious medical issues (cancer among other things...pretty late stage and bad from what I have heard) decided to stop the suffering. He shot and killed his wife, and then shot and killed himself in what we think was an attempt to end their suffering. My question is, will they still be able to be buried in a National Cemetery?
Now I know that under 38 U.S.C. § 2411, interment or memorialization in a VA cemetery or in Arlington National Cemetery is prohibited if a person is convicted of a Federal capital crime and sentenced to death or life imprisonment, or is convicted of a State capital crime, and sentenced to death or life imprisonment without parole. Federal officials are authorized to deny burial in veterans cemeteries to persons who are shown by clear and convincing evidence to have committed a Federal or State capital crime but were not convicted of such crime because of flight to avoid prosecution or by death prior to trial.
But is says "Federal officials are authorized to deny burial". Does that mean they can allow it? If so, what all can the family try and do to see that the two are buried in a National Cemetery as is their wish. Or is this the type of thing that will prevent any such burial?
I realize I probably won't be able to get a definite answer here and it will come down to the VA, but just wondering the chances and if there is any special actions the family can take to help matters.
Thank you for your time and input
An 80 year old retired CWO2 who was suffering from some medical issues, and his wife was suffering from very serious medical issues (cancer among other things...pretty late stage and bad from what I have heard) decided to stop the suffering. He shot and killed his wife, and then shot and killed himself in what we think was an attempt to end their suffering. My question is, will they still be able to be buried in a National Cemetery?
Now I know that under 38 U.S.C. § 2411, interment or memorialization in a VA cemetery or in Arlington National Cemetery is prohibited if a person is convicted of a Federal capital crime and sentenced to death or life imprisonment, or is convicted of a State capital crime, and sentenced to death or life imprisonment without parole. Federal officials are authorized to deny burial in veterans cemeteries to persons who are shown by clear and convincing evidence to have committed a Federal or State capital crime but were not convicted of such crime because of flight to avoid prosecution or by death prior to trial.
But is says "Federal officials are authorized to deny burial". Does that mean they can allow it? If so, what all can the family try and do to see that the two are buried in a National Cemetery as is their wish. Or is this the type of thing that will prevent any such burial?
I realize I probably won't be able to get a definite answer here and it will come down to the VA, but just wondering the chances and if there is any special actions the family can take to help matters.
Thank you for your time and input
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Suicide
Murder
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 1
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http://www.vetadvocates.org
Wow...uhh...purely as a suggestion, and I of course entirely realize you're completely serious, I'd quite honestly run this past all three local Congress ofc mil/vet staffs by you...we've also been able to call over to many VA Central Ofc (VACO) units, among them, VBA, VHA, and also Natl Cemetery Admin (NCA), which has numerous toll-free phone lines...candidly, I've never seen anything even removely close to and/or like what you'd asked, though, in all equal seriousness, I'd most definitely have all three Congress ofcs submit the whole thing, get them their Privacy Act (PA) releases, they of course can't do anything till you'd get them those...I'd also find the closest VA cemetery by you, and ask to chat with the director, we were able by us, to get the headstone for my wife's Dad amended to include his Bronze Star, we also got that amended to include a "V"...honestly, they're quite human at VA, for real, at least, we've found that to be so, truly...look also at the site here, NOVA does mainly VA disability stuff, we used them for my total perm disability after transferring from a vet group, they tried, my thing was way too involved, look at their search engine, and call their main ofc, their attorneys are hooked into a lot of stuff in their areas where they are, there are also law school vet law clinics, though those can't always take all cases, that's up to the law school faculty supervising their students, if you wanna chat more, just lemme know, no rush, whenever you want, OK?
Wow...uhh...purely as a suggestion, and I of course entirely realize you're completely serious, I'd quite honestly run this past all three local Congress ofc mil/vet staffs by you...we've also been able to call over to many VA Central Ofc (VACO) units, among them, VBA, VHA, and also Natl Cemetery Admin (NCA), which has numerous toll-free phone lines...candidly, I've never seen anything even removely close to and/or like what you'd asked, though, in all equal seriousness, I'd most definitely have all three Congress ofcs submit the whole thing, get them their Privacy Act (PA) releases, they of course can't do anything till you'd get them those...I'd also find the closest VA cemetery by you, and ask to chat with the director, we were able by us, to get the headstone for my wife's Dad amended to include his Bronze Star, we also got that amended to include a "V"...honestly, they're quite human at VA, for real, at least, we've found that to be so, truly...look also at the site here, NOVA does mainly VA disability stuff, we used them for my total perm disability after transferring from a vet group, they tried, my thing was way too involved, look at their search engine, and call their main ofc, their attorneys are hooked into a lot of stuff in their areas where they are, there are also law school vet law clinics, though those can't always take all cases, that's up to the law school faculty supervising their students, if you wanna chat more, just lemme know, no rush, whenever you want, OK?
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