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What types of Federal burial benefits are available to veterans, their dependents and survivors of veterans?
The United State Department of Veterans Affairs 2009 Booklet on Federal Benefits for Veterans, Dependents and Survivors reads:
Burial in a VA national cemetery is available for eligible veterans, their spouses and dependents at no cost to the family and includes the gravesite, grave-liner, opening and closing of the grave, a headstone or marker, and perpetual care as part of a national shrine. For veterans, benefits also include a burial flag (with case for active duty) and military funeral honors. Family members and other loved ones of deceased veterans may request Presidential Memorial Certificates.
VA operates 125 national cemeteries, of which 65 are open for new casketed interments and 21 are open to accept only cremated remains. Burial options are limited to those available at a specific cemetery but may include in-ground casket, or interment of cremated remains in a columbarium, in ground or in a scatter garden. Contact the nearest national cemetery to determine if it is open for new burials and which options are available.
New national cemeteries in Birmingham, Ala., and Sarasota, Fla., are scheduled to open in 2009.
Read the entire section on Federal Burial Benefits at www.va.gov…