For all services provided for veterans, you will need to
have the military records of the deceased veteran. Military
records can be requested on the National
Archives and Records Administration (NARA) web site or by contacting the Department of Defense, National Personnel Record Center, 9700 Page Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63132.
Please follow the instructions and note that it may take up to six months for a reply from NARA after your written request is received.
The Veterans Administration provides full burial services to honorable veterans at no charge to the family. Burial benefits include a gravesite; opening and closing of the grave; perpetual care; a government headstone or marker; a grave liner for casketed remains; a burial flag; and a Presidential Memorial Certificate—all at no cost to the family.
Cremated remains are buried or inurned in national cemeteries in the same manner and with the same honors as casketed remains.
Requests for burial in a Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA) national cemetery cannot be made via the
Internet, but no special forms are required when requesting burial in
a VA national cemetery. Simply have your funeral home contact the national
cemetery which you've selected.
If possible, the following information concerning the deceased should be provided when the cemetery is first contacted:
- Full name and military rank
- Branch of service
- Social Security number
- Service number
- VA claim number, if applicable
- Date and place of birth
- Date and place of death
- Date of retirement or last separation from active duty
- Copy of any military separation documents, such as the Department of Defense Form 214 (DD-214).
The discharge documents must specify active military duty and show that release from active duty was not under dishonorable conditions.
Viewing facilities are not available and funeral services cannot be held at VA national cemeteries, but a final committal service may be performed. For safety reasons, these committal services are held in committal shelters located away from the gravesite. Burial will take place following the committal service.
United States Flag
The Veterans Administration provides a United States flag to drape the
casket or accompany the urn of a deceased veteran who served honorably
in the U.S. Armed Forces. Generally, the flag is given to the next-of-kin,
as a keepsake, after its use during the funeral service. When there is
no next-of-kin, the VA will furnish the flag to a friend who may request
it.
For those VA National Cemeteries with an Avenue of Flags, families of veterans buried in these national cemeteries may donate the burial flags of their loved ones to be flown on patriotic holidays.
To obtain a burial flag, contact your local VA regional office to complete an Application for United States Flag for Burial Purposes. These applications are also available at any U.S. Post Office. Funeral Directors can also help you through this process.
Government Headstone or Marker
The Department of Veterans Affairs will also provide a government headstone or marker to mark the unmarked grave of an eligible veteran in any cemetery around the world. Headstones and markers are provided for eligible spouses and dependents of veterans only when buried in a national, military post/base, or State veterans cemetery. Spouses and dependents buried in a private cemetery are not eligible for a Government-provided headstone or marker.
Flat bronze, granite or marble markers and upright granite and marble headstones are available. The style chosen must be consistent with existing monuments at the place of burial. Niche markers are also available to mark columbaria used for inurnment of cremated remains.
Military Funeral Honors
The Department of Defense (DOD) is responsible for providing military funeral honors. The VA's National Cemetery Administration cemetery staff will assist with military funeral honors at VA national cemeteries.
Upon the family's request, the government will provide every eligible
veteran with a military funeral honors ceremony, to include folding and
presenting the United States burial flag and the playing of Taps. "Military
funeral honors" consists of two or more uniformed military persons with
at least one being a member of the veteran's branch of the Armed Forces.
Funeral home directors may request military funeral honors on behalf of
the veteran's family, and veterans organizations may assist in the provision
of military funeral honors. When military funeral honors at a national
cemetery are desired, they are arranged by the funeral home prior to the
committal service.
If you have questions about military funeral honors, click here.
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