WASHINGTON -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi recently approved the award of a $1,695,000 grant to Wisconsin to expand and improve the Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Union Grove. Union Grove is approximately 30 miles south of Milwaukee.
"I appreciate President Bush's leadership in supporting state veterans' cemeteries and the states’ commitment to honoring America’s veterans through the cemeteries’ perpetual operation and maintenance,” said Principi.
The project will provide the cemetery with a maintenance facility and add approximately 1,770 niches to the existing columbarium. Opened in 1996 when Wood National Cemetery in Milwaukee exhausted its supply of available grave space, the Southern Milwaukee Veterans Memorial Cemetery provided 631 burials last year.
The nearest open national cemetery is Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Ill., approximately 115 miles south. The state also operates the Northern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spooner and the Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery at King in the central part of the state. All three cemeteries have received VA grants.
As a complement to VA’s system of national cemeteries, the state cemetery grants program has helped establish, expand or improve 52 operational state veterans cemeteries. Six additional cemeteries are under construction.
States are managing partners in the program with the federal government, responsible for operating their veterans cemeteries after VA assists with construction. State veterans cemeteries provided 17,177 burials in 2002. Since the program began in 1980, VA has awarded 131 grants for more than $173 million to 30 states, plus Guam.
Information about the grants program is available by contacting VA’s State Cemetery Grants Service at (202) 565-6801.
Eligibility for burial in the Wisconsin Veterans Cemetery at Union Grove is open to state residents. Details may be obtained by calling the cemetery at (262) 878-5660.
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.
