Every veteran who left service with an honorable discharge, regardless of age or era, is entitled to a free burial inside any national cemetery along with a military grave marker. In order to be eligible, the veteran must have left service under honorable conditions, or had to have been in active service when death occurs. There are some civilians who qualify for military burials, and this includes those that provided certain military related service, public health service personnel as well as some dependent children and spouses of veterans. These qualified persons will receive a lot and marker only when buried inside of a national cemetery. In most all cases, the family of the deceased veteran is required to pay for all other funeral costs expenses including but not limited to the transportation of the body and guests to the cemetery, as well as embalming services and any other additional services not covered.
There are cemeteries that offer themselves as a veterans’ cemetery and offer specials for the burials of veterans. Some of these cemeteries will give a free plot to the veteran, but do not offer this for spouses or children and will commonly charge outrageous funeral costs for an adjoining plot for a spouse. On top of these fees, there are additional fees required for opening and closing a grave, which some cemeteries will charge on top of other fees. It is best to look at all the fees associated with all of your choices and make the best informed choice for your situation.
In order to find out if a veteran is entitled to free burial in a national cemetery, you can contact the Department of Veterans Affairs for your area. If you are unsure of the local office, you can contact someone at the national office at 1-800-827-1000. You will need the social security number and full name of the veteran as well as the branch of service they served in. If there are copies of the DD form 214 in the home, this will tell you the nature of the discharge, and is helpful in determining burial costs for the funeral director.
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