![](media/image1.jpeg){width="6.433333333333334in" height="1.0in"}

> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> November 24, 2004

### State Cemetery Opening in Idaho Marks VA Milestone

> WASHINGTON -- In the midst of the largest expansion of the veterans
> cemetery system since the Civil War, Idaho has added a landmark event
> by opening a state veterans cemetery in Boise. The state was the only
> one that did not have a veterans cemetery. It gave up that distinction
> on Nov. 16 with the aid of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) grant
> of \$8.2 million for construction.
>
> There is now an operational national or state veterans cemetery in
> every state of the union, as well as Puerto Rico and Guam.
>
> "This new state veterans cemetery means that Idaho veterans no longer
> have to go out of state to receive the burial benefits promised to
> them by a grateful nation," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony
> J. Principi.
>
> The VA grant to building the cemetery was awarded in 2002. A
> dedication ceremony occurred July 31, 2004, before construction was
> finished. The initial construction plan calls for development of 30
> acres of the 77-acre site and includes a total of 8,640 gravesites.
> That includes 2,930 traditional casket gravesites, 2,226 pre-placed
> crypts, 2,204 in-ground cremation niches and 1,280 columbarium niches.
> Other elements include a committal service shelter, an administration
> and maintenance building and an assembly area.
>
> Approximately 122,000 veterans reside in Idaho. Before the state
> opened its cemetery, the closest open national cemetery for local
> veterans was Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Ore., about 425
> miles northwest of Boise.
>
> One burial took place while the new cemetery was under construction.
> Governor Dick Kempthorne gave special approval to inter Army
> Specialist Brandon Titus, a Boise resident who was killed by a
> roadside bomb in Baghdad, Iraq.
>
> **- More --**
>
> **Idaho Cemetery 2/2/2**
>
> VA\'s State Cemetery Grants Program complements VA's national
> cemeteries. The grants have helped establish, expand or improve 57
> state veterans cemeteries that provided more than 19,000 burials in
> fiscal year 2004. Five additional state cemeteries are under
> construction. Since the program began in 1980, VA has awarded 137
> grants of more than \$209 million to 32 states and Guam.
>
> Information about the grants program is available by contacting VA's
> State Cemetery Grants Service at (202) 565-6801 or visiting its
> website at <http://www.cem.va.gov/grants.htm>.
>
> Eligibility for burial in the Idaho States Veterans Cemetery is based
> on the same criteria as burial in a VA national cemetery. More details
> may be obtained by calling the Idaho Department of Veterans Affairs at
> (208) 334-4796.
>
> VA operates 120 national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico, 33
> soldiers\' lots and monument sites. More than three million Americans,
> including veterans of every war and conflict --- from the
> Revolutionary War to the current war in Iraq --- are buried in VA's
> national cemeteries.
>
> Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national
> cemetery offices, from the VA Web site on the Internet at
> [http://www.cem.va.gov](http://www.cem.va.gov/) or by calling VA
> regional offices toll-free at 1-800-827-1000.

#   #   #

People wishing to receive e-mail from VA with the latest news releases
and updated fact sheets can subscribe at the following Internet address:

> <http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/opalist_listserv.cfm>