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Kentucky's State Veterans Cemeteries

The mission of KDVA's Cemetery Branch is to ensure dignified interment for veterans in the sacred space of a shrine that stands as a tribute to their service for the Commonwealth and the nation.
 
KDVA operates four State Veterans Cemeteries and is planning one more.
 
Veterans Day 2011
 
All four Kentucky State Veterans Cemeteries will hold Veterans Day ceremonies on Friday, November 11.
 
KVCNE, Greenup County:  The ceremony began at 12 p.m. EST. Paul Blazer H.S. JROTC posted colors and placed memorial wreaths. Guest speakers were Rep. Tanay Pullin and Senator Walter Blevins. Rev. Phillip Stevens gave the Invocation and Benediction. Paul Blazer H.S. Quarter provided music. Singing Kernels sang the National Anthem.
Photo gallery here.
 
KVCC, Radcliff:  The Veterans Day ceremony at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery Central began at 11 a.m. Eastern on Friday, Nov. 11, 2011. MG (Ret) William E. Barron, Army, was the keynote speaker. He is past commander of the 100th Training division, having risen from an enlisted private in a 38-year career.  The American Legion Post 113 from Elizabethtown sponsored the event and participated with their honor guard and auxiliary.
 
Photo gallery here.
KVCN, Williamstown:  KVCN's Veterans Day ceremony took place at 11 a.m. Eastern on Friday, Nov. 11. Grant County High School Junior ROTC Color Guard posted the colors. Guest Speaker was LTC (USAR) James G. Simpson. Howard Chipman, veteran of two tours in Vietnam, gave the Invocation and Benediction. Daughters of the American Revolution sponsored the wreath-laying ceremony, and Williamstown Women's Clubs provided refreshments.
 
Photo gallery here.
 
KVCW, Hopkinsville: KVCW's Veterans Day ceremony began at 10 a.m. Central time on Friday, Nov. 11. It was sponsored by American Legion Post 233 and Ladies' Auxiliary. Fort Campbell High School Jr. ROTC posted the colors. Guest Speaker was Brigadier General Leslie E. Beavers (USA Ret.), former Commissioner of KDVA. Free luncheon followed provided by American Legion Post 233 Auxiliary at the Post on South 41-A.
 
Photo gallery here.
 
 
Memorial Day 2011
 
All three open Kentucky Veterans Cemeteries held Memorial Day ceremonies on Monday, May 30.
 
View a photo gallery of the KVCN ceremony in Williamstown here.
 
Read about the KVCW ceremony in Hopkinsville here and view a photo gallery of the ceremony here. 
 
Read about the KVCC ceremony in Radcliff here and view a photo gallery of the ceremony here.
 
Open and Planned

The first of these cemeteries, Kentucky Veterans Cemetery West (Hopkinsville) opened in March 2004 and has interred more than 1,723 veterans and dependents, including 26 active-duty service members.

In June 2007, KDVA opened Kentucky Veterans Cemetery Central near Fort Knox (Hardin County.)  It has since interred more than 1,845 veterans and dependents, including 5 active-duty service members.

In August of 2008, KDVA opened Kentucky Veterans Cemetery North in Williamstown (Grant County).  This facility has interred more than 383 veterans and dependents, including 4 active-duty service members.

On October 1, 2010, KDVA opened Kentucky Veterans Cemetery North East (Greenup County). It has interred more than 90 veterans and dependents.

KDVA is currently planning its fifth state veterans cemetery in Leslie County (Southeastern Kentucky). See map below.

State Cemetery Map

Map of veterans cemeteries in Kentucky

National Veterans Cemeteries with space remaining in Kentucky are clustered in the central part of the state, at Camp Nelson, Lebanon and Mills Springs.  To meet the federal mandate of veterans cemeteries within a 75-mile radius of all veterans, Kentucky determined it needed state veterans cemeteries in the western, northern, northeastern and southeastern parts of the state.

Qualifications and Services

Qualifications

Interment in a state veteran's cemetery is based on military service. The eligibility criteria is the same criteria for burial in VA national cemeteries. KDVA staff will direct requests for interment to staff at the cemetery where burial is sought.

Services

Total interment services include:

  • Furnishing grave or columbarium space
  • Opening and closing the grave
  • Providing the interment site with perpetual care
  • Supplying a suitable marker or headstone
  • Furnishing an optional concrete grave liner for all casketed burials

NOTE on markers and headstones:  Although the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs offers flat marble or bronze markers in addition to upright bronze and marble headstones, KDVA permits only upright marble headstones and marble columbarium niche markers at our state cemeteries.

Memorial Bricks

 
Related Content
 

Attention Funeral Directors:

New Law Requires Burial Honors Fact Sheet

Download Fact Sheet [PDF 13K]

Interment Application Form [PDF 32K]

  

Last Updated 11/16/2011
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