The Department of Veterans Affairs is falling far short of achieving a 2017 goal to expand cemeteries because of significant problems finding land for new burials, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
The Army is proposing dramatic new restrictions to the eligibility criteria for burial at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
If approved, the new criteria would tightly limit the number of service members eligible for below-ground interment at the cemetery and restrict even farther those who would qualify for above-ground inurnment.
Arlington National Cemetery’s southern expansion project, which will add 37 acres of burial space and extend its status as an active burial ground, has enough funding to complete planning and design.
Karen Durham-Aguilera, executive director of Army National Military Cemeteries, told the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on military construction, veterans affairs and related agencies that the expansion project’s budget is partially funded at $219.1 million of its $350 million requirement.
A proposed 70-acre expansion of Arlington National Cemetery would make room for 40,000 to 60,000 additional graves while requiring relocation of the southern entrance to Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall.
The expansion would absorb the Air Force Memorial and former Navy Annex property into the cemetery grounds, closing a portion of a major road, Columbia Pike. Roadway changes are required so the new property is within the cemetery borders.
A White House government reform plan would transfer 11 Army-run cemeteries—all but one located at now closed forts—to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration in a move aimed at improving efficiency and freeing up Army funds for more critical needs.
High-profile locations like Arlington National Cemetery, the cemeteries at the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home, and cemeteries at 18 other Army installations would remain in the Army’s hands, as would Air Force-funded cemeteries at former Army bases.
Arlington National Cemetery is approaching a day when it will have to further restrict burial eligibility.
Space shortages aren’t unexpected. While cemetery boundaries have expanded in recent years, there were 7,100 interments in 2017 of eligible service members, veterans and family members.
Arlington National Cemetery will reach its burial capacity in about 30 years unless the Army makes some tough choices now.
A report to Congress about the cemetery’s capacity offers a dire prediction that veterans of current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and the fight against terrorism, and those killed in action and recipients of the Medal of Honor, may not be buried there “within approximately three decades due to the lack of space.”
The sentinels at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery are the subject of “The Unknowns,” a behind-the-scenes documentary created by veterans and good friends Ethan Morse, a former tomb guard, and Neal Schrodetzki.
After screening their film in 45 theaters across the U.S. earlier this year, Morse and Schrodetzki will release it on DVD and Blu-ray Disc and via digital download on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. It will be available through iTunes, Amazon.com and Google Play in December.
A Nevada lawmaker is advocating on behalf of Vietnam War helicopter pilots and crew members for a memorial in Arlington National Cemetery.
Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., is sponsoring a bill that would direct Army officials to approve something more substantial than a small tree plaque and “virtual memorial” concept that has received the green light as a space-saving alternative.
At a recent hearing before the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee, Amodei said he understands and appreciates “the necessity of saving all available land for grave space” at Arlington.
