WASHINGTON – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi has announced an $85,000 grant for improvements to the Montana State Veterans Cemetery at Ft. Harrison.
"By partnering with state veterans cemeteries, the Department of Veterans Affairs is able to honor our commitment to the men and women who have served in uniform," Principi said. "This partnership provides a final resting place for Montana's veterans that meets the high standards of a national shrine."
The grant will pay for 100 percent of costs to make improvements to a Memorial Wall, including installation of new flag poles, replacement of an existing sidewalk for honor guards and construct of a new gravesite locator.
With 108,000 veterans, Montana has a veteran population that is the second highest per capita in the nation. Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) supports two state veterans cemeteries in the state – one in Ft. Harrison and the other near Miles City.
VA's State Cemetery Grants Program complements VA’s national cemeteries. The grants have helped establish, expand or improve 57 state veterans cemeteries that provided more than 19,000 burials in fiscal year 2004. Five additional state cemeteries are under construction. Since the program began in 1980, VA has awarded 139 grants of more than $215 million to 30 states and Guam.
Information about the grants program is available by contacting VA’s State Cemetery Grants Service at (202) 565-6801 or visiting its website at http://www.cem.va.gov/grants.htm.
VA operates 120 national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico, 33 soldiers' lots and monument sites. More than three million Americans, including veterans of every war and conflict — from the Revolutionary War to the current war in Iraq — are buried in VA’s national cemeteries.
Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices, from the VA Web site on the Internet at http://www.cem.va.govor by calling VA regional offices toll-free at 1-800-827-1000.
