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Secretary Shinseki Announces $7 Million for Mississippi Cemetery

First State Veterans Cemetery to be Established in Newton

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Veterans living in central Mississippi will soon have a final resting place that will honor their service to the nation. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki has announced a grant of $6,990,115 to establish Mississippi's first state Veterans cemetery in Newton.

"VA and the Mississippi Department of Veterans Affairs are working together to ensure that Mississippi Veterans receive the benefits they have earned," said Secretary Shinseki, who leads the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). "The nation and the state of Mississippi hold their Veterans in high esteem, and this new cemetery will commemorate their service and sacrifice."

The project will provide construction of a main entrance, a committal shelter, pre-placed crypts, standard burial areas, a columbarium for cremation remains, in-ground cremation burial areas, scatter burial areas, a memorial walkway, roads, a maintenance facility, an assembly area and supporting infrastructure. Interment areas will include 1,091 standard burial plots, 1,000 pre-placed crypts and 192 columbarium niches.

The cemetery will serve approximately 50,000 Mississippi Veterans and their families. The nearest national cemetery is VA's Biloxi National Cemetery, approximately 145 miles away.

The 75-acre site is in south central Mississippi, about 50 miles east of Jackson. The first phase of the project will develop approximately 18 acres.

VA's State Cemetery Grants Program is designed to complement VA's 130 national cemeteries across the country. Since 1980, the program has awarded grants totaling more than $389 million to establish, expand or improve 74 Veterans cemeteries in 38 states or territories, including Guam and Saipan. These state cemeteries provided nearly 25,000 burials in 2008.

Residents of Mississippi who are Veterans with a discharge issued under conditions other than dishonorable, their spouses and eligible dependent children can be buried in the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Newton. For more information about the state cemetery, contact the Mississippi State Veterans Affairs Board by calling (601) 576-4850 or visit their Web site at www.vab.state.ms.us.

Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices, from the VA Web site on the Internet at www.cem.va.gov or by calling VA regional offices toll-free at 800-827-1000.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs