WASHINGTON -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi today announced the award of a $2.7-million grant to the state of Minnesota for improvements at the MinnesotaStateVeteransCemetery in Little Falls. The grant will provide roads, an assembly area and installation of nearly 2,000 pre-placed grave liners, or crypts.
"This award, and an increasing number like it for state veterans' cemeteries, recognize the contribution of America's aging veterans," said Principi. "I appreciate the president's leadership in supporting a 28-percent boost in next year's VA budget for state veterans' cemeteries."
Established in 1994, the 38-acre cemetery serves veterans in central Minnesota. It is about 110 miles northwest of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ nearest national cemetery, Ft.SnellingNationalCemetery, in Minneapolis. The state cemetery provided 184 interments to veterans and family members last fiscal year. The state received one earlier VA grant of $344,000 for construction of a maintenance building.
As a complement to VA’s system of national cemeteries, the State Cemetery Grants Program has helped establish, expand or improve 48 operational state veterans cemeteries. Three additional cemeteries are under construction. The state veterans cemeteries provided 15,409 burials in fiscal year 2001. Since the program began in 1980, VA has awarded 113 grants for nearly $119 million to 28 states and Guam.
Information about the grants program is available by contacting VA’s State Cemetery Grants Service at (202) 565-6801. Eligibility for burial in a state veterans cemetery varies for each state. Details about eligibility for the MinnesotaStateVeteransCemetery may be obtained at (320) 616-2527.
Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices, from VA web sites on the Internet at http://www.va.gov or http://www.cem.va.gov or by calling VA regional offices toll-free on 1-800-827-1000.
