Some benefits you may be eligible for:
- Burial Flag, covered by funeral home
- Flag Holder
- VA Federal Headstone or VA Federal Marker
- Burial Benefits
- Presidential Memorial Certificate
- Burial in VA National Cemetery or VA State Cemetery
- Eligibility for VA Surviving Spouse/dependent children benefits
Please contact our office for questions or eligibility regarding the above listed benefits.
Military Funeral Honors
The Department of Defense (DOD) is responsible for providing military funeral honors. Honoring Those Who Served is the title of the DOD program for providing dignified military funeral honors to veterans who have defended our nation.
Upon the family’s request, Public Law 106-65 requires that every eligible veteran receive a military funeral honors ceremony, to include folding and presenting the United States burial flag and the playing of Taps.
The Department of Defense began the implementation plan for providing military funeral honors for eligible veterans as enacted in Section 578 of Public Law 106-65 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 on Jan. 1, 2000.
Questions or to arrange military funeral honors through the State or a Local Post/Honor Guard, contact your funeral home director.
Presidential Memorial Certificates
A Presidential Memorial Certificate is an engraved paper certificate, signed by the current President, to honor the memory of a deceased Veteran.
History
This program was initiated in March 1962 by President John F. Kennedy and has been continued by all subsequent Presidents. Statutory authority for the program is Section 112, Title 38, of the United States Code.
Eligibility
Eligible recipients include the deceased veterans next of kin and loved ones. More than one certificate may be provided.
Application
Contact our office for assistance.
VA Headstones, Markers & Medallions
The Department of Veterans Affairs furnishes upon request, at no charge to the applicant, a Government headstone or marker for the unmarked grave of any deceased eligible Veteran in any cemetery around the world, regardless of their date of death.
A Government-furnished headstone or marker may be provided for eligible Veterans who died on or after Nov. 1, 1990 and whose grave is marked with a privately purchased headstone. A Government-furnished medallion may be provided for eligible Veterans who served on or after Apr. 6, 1917 and whose grave is marked with a privately purchased headstone or marker.
Flat markers in granite, marble, and bronze and upright headstones in granite and marble are available. Bronze niche markers are also available to mark columbaria used for inurnment of cremated remains. The style chosen must be permitted by the officials in charge of the private cemetery where it will be placed.
When burial or memorialization is in a national cemetery, state Veterans’ cemetery, or military post/base cemetery, a headstone or marker will be ordered by the cemetery officials based on inscription information provided by the next of kin or authorized representative.
Spouses and dependents are not eligible for a Government-furnished headstone or marker unless they are buried in a national cemetery, state Veteran’s cemetery, or military post/base cemetery.
Note: There is no charge for the headstone or marker itself, however arrangements for placing it in a private cemetery are the applicant’s responsibility and all setting fees are at private expense.