VA Names New National Cemetery near Pittsburgh
December 4, 2004
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has named the national
cemetery being constructed near Pittsburgh the "National Cemetery
of the Alleghenies."
The 292-acre site is approximately 35 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.
When the cemetery opens in mid-2005, it will provide burial options
to approximately 329,000 veterans and their families living within
75 miles of the site.
"The new National Cemetery of the Alleghenies will help VA
meet the needs of veterans in the greater Pittsburgh area well into
the future," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J.
Principi.
The cemetery’s 80-acre initial construction phase will contain
15,000 gravesites, plus a 3,000-unit columbarium and 1,000 sites
for in-ground cremated remains. The new cemetery will also include
an administration and maintenance complex, two committal service
shelters, a public information center with electronic gravesite
locator and public restrooms, a cemetery entrance area, a flag assembly
area, a memorial walkway and donations area, and infrastructure
elements including roadways, landscaping, utilities and irrigation.
Construction has begun and burials are expected to start in mid-2005
in a small section during construction. The cemetery staff will
work initially from a temporary office and committal service shelter
until the construction project is completed.
The only open national cemetery in Pennsylvania is Indiantown
Gap National Cemetery, located approximately 215 miles east
of Pittsburgh in Annville. VA plans to open another national cemetery
in 2008 in the Philadelphia area.
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.
Information on the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies is available
by calling the VA Memorial Service Network in Philadelphia at (215)
381-3787.
Source: Veterans Affairs, National Cemetery Administration
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