Burial for District Veterans Without a State Veterans Cemetery

The District runs no veterans cemetery and has no burial allowance for veterans in its Code. The cemetery in the District. The United States Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National Cemetery, next to the Armed Forces Retirement Home, is one of two national cemeteries run by the Department of the Army, not by VA. It holds more than 14,000 veterans, including 21 Medal of Honor recipients. The Army benefits library says "The VA National Cemetery Administration maintains one national cemetery in Washington, D.C."; VA's National Cemetery Administration runs none in the District. Quantico. The nearest open VA national cemetery is at Triangle, Virginia, long called Quantico National Cemetery and now listed by VA as the National Memorial Cemetery at Quantico. It has space for casketed and cremated remains. VA national cemetery burial is open to any veteran who met the minimum active duty requirement and was discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, and to spouses and dependent children, with no residence rule. VA provides the grave, opening and closing, the headstone or marker and perpetual care at no cost. Arlington. Arlington National Cemetery, across the river, is run by the Army under its own rules, which are narrower than VA's for in-ground burial and require an honorable character of service on the last DD-214. Check the cemetery's eligibility page before planning on it. Maryland's state cemeteries. Maryland's Department of Veterans and Military Families follows VA's national cemetery eligibility for its veterans cemeteries, including Cheltenham in Prince George's County, the nearest to the District. On top of that it requires proof of two years of Maryland residence only from members of the reserves and National Guard whose eligibility rests on that service. A District veteran with qualifying active duty service and a discharge other than dishonorable is therefore eligible without living in Maryland, and so are the spouse and dependent children. A District Guard member or reservist whose only qualifying service is Guard or reserve service would need Maryland residence. Ask the cemetery about any fees for family members. Who helps. The Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs helps families file VA burial benefit claims, and VA's pre-need eligibility determination settles national cemetery eligibility in advance.