The cemetery dedication ceremony began with an invocation, followed by the posting of the Colors by the Fort Riley Color Guard, and the singing of the National Anthem. Fort Riley First Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, featured a flyover to include a Schnook, Blackhawk, and two Apache helicopters. The welcome and introduction was given by Executive Director of the Kansas Commission on Veterans’ Affairs, Jack Fowler.

Other guest speakers included Colonel Richard G. Piscal, Garrison Commander of Fort Riley; former Kansas Senator Lana Oleen; US Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins; US Congressman Jerry Moran; and NCA Director of State Cemetery Grants Frank Salvas. The ceremony ended with the playing of Taps, benediction, and retirement of the Colors.

The cemetery will serve 51,253 veterans located within a 75-mile radius. The project was a collaborative effort between the state of Kansas and the Department of Veterans Affairs State Cemetery Grants Program, which fully funded the construction of the project.

The site is located four miles north of Interstate Highway 20 on 63 acres of land donated by the City of Abilene. It is adjacent to Lake Fort Phantom Hill and is just a few miles from the ruins of Fort Phantom Hill, a historic military installation dating from 1851 and established to protect the westward-moving frontier of Texas settlement. Dyess Air Force Base, the home of the 7th Bomber Wing, is also nearby in Abilene.

The cemetery serves approximately 32,000 veterans within the 75-mile radius service area in west-central Texas. When it is fully developed, the cemetery will be able to accommodate approximately 20,000 gravesites. The Texas State Veterans Cemetery at Abilene is the third State Veterans Cemetery in Texas and was made possible through the cooperation and efforts of the City of Abilene, The State of Texas, and The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.