PRESS RELEASE: Fort Sill National Cemetery to hold Memorial Day ceremony May 27


The Department of Veterans Affairs sends this information as posted below:


WHAT: 2024 Memorial Day Commemoration Ceremony

Keynote Speaker: MAJ Lisa Northway

WHEN: Monday, May 27, 10 a.m. Ceremony will last approximately 1 hour.

WHERE: Fort Sill National Cemetery, 2648 NE Jake Dunn Rd., Elgin, OK 73538

WHO: All members of the community and our media partners are invited and welcome to attend.

The U.S. Department of Veterans’ Fort Sill National Cemetery will host a solemn Memorial Day wreath laying ceremony, accompanied by speeches, a moment of silence, and the rendering of military honors.

“Memorial Day allows us to remember our fallen heroes: our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters who have selflessly served our nation,” said David Van Meter, director, Fort Still National Cemetery. “As men and women continue to risk their lives around the world, we pause to remember the legacy of excellence of America’s service members.”

Dedicated on November 2, 2001, the Fort Sill National Cemetery was the second national cemetery to be constructed in Oklahoma and became the 120th national cemetery to be administered by the National Cemetery Administration. It has space available to accommodate both casketed and cremated remains. The cemetery also has a designated Scattering Garden for scattering ashes with eligibility to place a memorial marker in the Memorial Section. The Memorial Section is also designated to honor Veterans and their families whose remains have never been recovered, who were buried at sea, donated to science, or ashes scattered.

VA operates 155 national cemeteries and 34 soldiers’ lots and monument sites in 44 states and Puerto Rico. Over 5.4 million people — including 4.1 million Veterans from the Revolutionary War to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — are buried in VA national cemeteries.VA also provides headstones, markers or medallions for Veterans buried in state, territorial and tribal Veterans cemeteries or interred in private cemeteries.

Burial in a VA national cemetery is open to all members of the armed forces and Veterans who have met minimum active-duty service requirements, as applicable by law and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. Members of the reserve components of the armed forces who die while on active duty under certain circumstances or who die while on training duty are also eligible for burial, as are service members and former service members who were eligible for retired pay at the time of their death. Spouses, minor children and, under certain conditions, dependent unmarried adult children are also eligible for burial even if they predecease the Veteran. For more information, call 800-535-1117 or visit www.cem.va.gov.


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