State, Tribal Veterans Cemeteries Help VA Close In on Burial Site Goals

To meet its goal to ensure that nearly all former service members can be buried in a veterans cemetery close to home, the Department of Veterans Affairs is relying on states, U.S. territories and tribal nations to contribute space, funding and oversight, with a little help from the VA.

The department has set an objective to provide burial space within a 75-mile radius for 95% of the nation's veterans. Currently just shy of that goal at 94%, the department needs assistance from regional, non-federal cemeteries, a VA official said last week.