WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs is accepting applications for interment of deceased military veterans and deceased eligible family members at the WashingtonCrossingNationalCemetery being developed in Bucks County, Pa.
The first phase of construction for the 205-acre cemetery near Washington Crossing Historic Park is expected to start next spring, with burials expected to begin in late 2009.
Families who are temporarily keeping the remains of loved ones in cremation urns or in other cemeteries should call the National Cemetery Scheduling Office in St. Louis at (800) 535-1117 for more information. The office is open daily from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Central Time.
When complete, the first construction phase will consist of approximately 60 acres and include facilities needed to provide burials for approximately 10 years.
More than 580,000 veterans live in the region served by the new facility. Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, the nearest open national cemetery in Pennsylvania, is 120 miles from the new cemetery site.
Veterans with a discharge under conditions other than dishonorable, their spouses and dependent children are eligible for burial in any national cemetery with burial space. Other burial benefits for eligible veterans include a burial flag, a Presidential Memorial Certificate and a government headstone or marker – even if they are not buried in a national cemetery.
In the midst of the largest expansion since the Civil War, VA operates 125 national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico, as well as 33 soldiers' lots and monument sites. More than 3.4 million Americans, including veterans of every war and conflict -- from the Revolutionary War to the current Global War on Terror -- are buried in VA’s national cemeteries.
