WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) held a dedication ceremony today in Arvin, Calif., for the new BakersfieldNationalCemetery.
“To build a national shrine for the veterans in this rapidly growing region of the GoldenState is a top priority,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake. “With this new cemetery, we are keeping our commitment to provide a lasting tribute to the men and women who have kept their commitment to defend our nation.”
VA’s Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs William F. Tuerk provided the keynote address and was joined by elected officials as the dedication plaque was unveiled. Military honors included a firing detail and the ceremony ended with the playing of “Taps.”
The new cemetery is located on a 500-acre site donated by Tejon Ranch, a 426-square-mile agricultural and industrial complex along Interstate 5 in KernCounty. The new cemetery will serve approximately 200,000 veterans in central California who are not currently provided burial space by a nearby national or state veterans cemetery.
VA selected Wesley R. Jones as the first director of the new cemetery. Jones began his career with VA in January 2004. Before his selection, Jones was the director at Santa FeNationalCemetery and the Bath/Woodlawn (New York) National Cemetery Complex. Before joining VA, Jones served as the director of the state of Delaware’s Veterans Memorial Cemetery System and managed two cemeteries that interred more than 800 people each year. Jones retired from the Army in 1990 and is a Vietnam veteran.
VA anticipates construction of the first phase of the cemetery to begin late in 2008, with burials beginning in the summer of 2009.
In October 2007, VA awarded approximately $2.3 million to Huitt-Zollars Inc. of Irvine, Calif., for a master plan and design of the project’s first phase. Initial construction will prepare a 20-acre burial area to ensure that veterans’ burials can take place before all of the Phase I facilities are completed.
Phase I consists of approximately 50 acres including roadways, an entrance area, an administration and public information center, a maintenance complex with buildings, a maintenance yard and parking, a flag assembly area, a memorial walkway and a committal service shelter. Interment areas will include approximately 4,800 full-casket gravesites, 4,000 pre-placed crypts, 4,000 in-ground cremated burial sites and 3,000 columbarium niches. Other infrastructure improvements will include grading, drainage, fencing, planting, irrigation system and utilities.
Veterans with a discharge other than dishonorable, their spouses, and dependent children are eligible for burial in a national cemetery. 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 cemetery expansion since the Civil War, VA operates 125 national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico, 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 Global War on Terror — are buried in VA’s national cemeteries.
Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices, from the Internet at www.cem.va.gov or by calling VA regional offices toll-free at 1-800-827-1000.
Information about the BakersfieldNationalCemetery is available by calling the cemetery at (661) 632-1894. To make burial arrangements at the time of need, call the national cemetery scheduling office at (800) 535-1117.
