North Carolina Association of County
Veteran Service Officers
John Spruyt
Director
April 18, 2012
1
Our History
• First national cemeteries
established in 1862
• Prior, soldiers buried
where they fell
• “To care for him who
shall have borne the
battle, and for his widow
and his orphan.”
Commander in Chief Lincoln
Our Mission
• The National Cemetery Administration
honors Veterans and their families
with final resting places
in national shrines and
lasting tributes that commemorate their
service and sacrifice to our Nation.
Our Vision
• To be the model of excellence
for burial and memorials for
our Nation’s Veterans and their
families.
Standard of Excellence
• 2010 American Customer Satisfaction
Index: Achieved the highest ranking of any
public or private organization…for the 4th
consecutive time in 10 years!
Our Responsibilities
• Provide burial space for Veterans and eligible family
members and maintain national cemeteries as national
shrines
• Administer the Federal grants program for construction
of State and Tribal Veterans cemeteries
•
Furnish headstones, markers and medallions for the
graves of Veterans around the world
• Administer the Presidential Memorial Certificate program
• Administer the First Notice of Death program
Burial Benefits
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Gravesite
Opening and closing of the grave
Grave liner
Perpetual care of the gravesite
Headstone, marker or medallion
U.S. Flag
Presidential Memorial Certificate
Use of outdoor committal shelter
Military Honors (provided by DOD)
Headstones and Markers
Bronze Veteran Medallion
• In lieu of headstone or marker
Death on or after November 1, 1990
• Features branch of service
Presidential Memorial Certificate
• For honorably
discharged Veterans
• Inscribed with
the Veteran’s name
• Bears the
President’s signature
Eligibility Criteria
• Any member of U.S. Armed Forces who dies on active
duty
• Any Veteran who was discharged under conditions other
than dishonorable
• National Guard members and Reservists with 20 years of
qualifying service, who are entitled to retired pay
• Spouses and minor children, adult dependent.
• Certain eligible parents (Corey Shea Act)
NCA Fast Facts
• 131 National Cemeteries
• 20,000 acres
• 3.1 million gravesites
• 8.1 million visitors/yr
• 1,700 employees
• In FY11:
- 117,426 burials
- 372,659 markers and
headstones
- 779,666 Presidential
Memorial Certificates
Fort Custer National
Cemetery, Augusta, MI
% of Veterans Served
Fiscal Year
*By an open national, state or tribal Veterans cemetery within 75 miles of home
Strategy to Meet
Burial Needs of Veterans
Extend the
service life of
existing
cemeteries
•
Columbarium
Willamette National Cemetery, Portland, OR
Strategy to Meet
Burial Needs of Veterans
• Develop new
national cemeteries
• Five new national
cemeteries planned
• Urban initiative
Fort Jackson
National Cemetery, Columbia, SC
Future
National Cemetery Construction
Omaha NE
area
Chicago
area
San Francisco
area
South Central
CO area
Los Angeles
area
New National Cemetery
Urban
UrbanInitiative
Initiative
Tallahassee
FL area
Buffalo NY
area
Indianapolis
area
New York
City area
Melbourne
FL area
Operations Overview
National Cemetery Scheduling Office
1-800-535-1117
Now serving all
cemeteries except
Puerto Rico
Committal Shelters
• Brief
memorial
services and
military honors
Great Lakes National Cemetery, Holly, MI
Full Casket Burial Area
San Francisco National Cemetery, CA
Cremated Remains Burial Area
South Florida National Cemetery, Lake Worth, FL
Columbaria
Jacksonville National Cemetery, FL
Memorial Wall
Bakersfield National Cemetery, CA
National Gravesite Locator
Available at cemetery kiosks
and on the Web and handheld devices
Burial of Homeless Vets
Calverton National Cemetery, Long Island, NY
January 2011
National Training Center
New Caretaker Course
•
Cemetery Director
Intern Program
•
Caretaker
•
Administrative/
Cemetery Representative
•
Supervisory
•
Landscaping/Gardening
•
Heavy Equipment
•
NCA Leadership Institute
Assistance to Arlington NC
• At the request of the Secretary of the Army,
VA/NCA continues to provide assistance to
ANC in the areas of:
– Personnel
– Information technology
– Training
National Shrine Commitment
An initiative to maintain the appearance of VA cemeteries
in a manner befitting their status as National Shrines
The North Carolina
National Cemetery
Complex
The North Carolina Complex is
composed of Salisbury,
Raleigh, New Bern,
Wilmington and Danville
National Cemeteries.
Raleigh, New Bern and
Wilmington National
Cemeteries are closed to first
interments. Danville is
opened to first interment
cremations. Salisbury is
opened to casketed and
cremation burials.
North Carolina State Veteran
Cemeteries
• Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery,
Black Mountain, NC
• Coastal Carolina State Veterans Cemetery,
Jacksonville, NC
• Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery,
Spring Lake, NC
Salisbury National Cemetery
• Established in 1865
• First burials from the
Salisbury Confederate prison
during the Civil War. Mass
burials of 11,000 unknown
Union troops in trenches.
• 24,500+ veterans and
family members interred at
the cemetery @ FY 2011
• FY 2011
• 707 interments
• 445 casketed
• 262 cremations
(141 in-ground and
121 columbarium)
1,000 Niche Columbarium
3,400 Preplaced Crypts
CRYPT
Thank you for your interest!
• I invite you to stay in touch with NCA by:
Visiting our Website www.cem.va.gov
Following us on Twitter @VANatCemeteries
Becoming a fan on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/NationalCemeteries