Military Funeral Options

Obtaining Military Records

For al services provided for veterans, you will need to have the military records of the deceased veteran. Military records can be requested on the National Archive and Records Administration (NARA) website (www.archives.gov) or by contacting the Department of Defense, National Personnel Record Center, 9700 Page Boulevard, St. Louise, MO 63132

Please 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.

Talk to you funeral director for more information.

Request for burial in 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 document 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 grave-site 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 US Armed Forces. Generally, the flag is given to the next-of-kin, as a keepsake, after its use during the funeral services. 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 fags of their lived ones to be flown on patriotic holidays.

To obtain a burial flag, contact you local VA regional office to complete an Application for United States Flag for Burial Purposes. These applications are also available at any US Post Office. Funeral Directors can also help you go through this process.

Government Headstone or Maker

The Department of Veterans Affairs at www.va.gov 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 burial in a national, military poles/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 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, go to www.cem.va.gov/mhg.htm.