New National Shrine Will be Tribute to America’s Veterans
WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) held a dedication ceremony today to officially open VA’s 124th national cemetery, the Sacramento Valley VA National Cemetery, located in Dixon, Calif.
“VA national cemeteries honor our commitment to America’s veterans,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson. “They are national shrines to those who have served this nation in uniform.”
The ceremony included remarks by VA Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs William Tuerk and local elected officials. The dedication plaque was unveiled and full military honors were performed with a flyover from Travis Air Force Base of C-17, C-5 and KC-10 aircraft. The ceremony was concluded with the playing of Taps.
The 561-acre site is located in SolanoCounty, approximately 27 miles southwest of Sacramento along Interstate 80 between Dixon and Vacaville. Nearly 346,000 veterans and their families live within the service radius of the national cemetery.
Burials began in October 2006, in an area of approximately 14 acres, which includes one committal shelter and three burial sections. That area has capacity for 8,466 gravesites, consisting of 3,070 pre-placed crypts and 1,642 standard gravesites, as well as 3,754 in-ground cremation gravesites.
Although the cemetery is open for burials, construction will continue until July 2009. When the initial 110-acre construction project is completed, the cemetery will have 17,200 full-casket gravesites, 12,000 pre-placed crypts, a 3,000-unit columbarium for cremated remains, and 765 sites for in-ground cremated remains.
Veterans with a discharge other than dishonorable, their spouses and eligible dependent children can be buried in a national cemetery. Other burial benefits available for all eligible veterans, regardless of whether they are buried in a national cemetery or a private cemetery, include a burial flag, a Presidential Memorial Certificate and a government headstone or marker.
In the midst of the largest cemetery expansion since the Civil War, VA operates 125 national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico, and 33 soldiers' lots and monument sites. More than three million Americans, including veterans of every war and conflict are buried in VA’s national cemeteries on more than 16,000 acres of land.
Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices, from the Internet at http://www.cem.va.gov or by calling VA regional offices toll-free at 1-800-827-1000.
For information on the Sacramento Valley VA National Cemetery, call the cemetery office at (707) 693-2460.
