Sierra Vista’s Southern Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery will be expanding, thanks to a $3.1 million grant.
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration announced the award on Wednesday.
The cemetery serves more than 104,000 veterans and their eligible family members in the region. The grant will fund the construction of 2,600 columbarium niches, or structures that house and memorialize cremated remains. It will also fund hardscape, landscape, irrigation and supporting infrastructure.
"These grants enable the states to better serve Veterans and their families where they live," said VA Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Sam Brown in a press release.
Brown said the program allows about 94% of veterans living in the U.S. to have access to the burial benefits they have earned at a cemetery within 75 miles of where they live.
Burial is open to all members of the Armed Forces discharged from active duty under Honorable conditions, according to the cemetery’s website. Certain dependents, including spouses, minor children, widower, widows and unmarried adult children, may also be eligible for burial.
Also eligible for burial are members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces, National Guard and Reserve Officer Training Corps who die while on active duty for training or performing service, or who have 20 years of service in reserve components of the Armed Forces creditable for retired pay.
The Arizona Department of Veterans' Services broke ground at Southern Arizona Veterans' Memorial Cemetery on October 2, 2001. The first interment at the cemetery was December 3, 2002.
