Veterans’ cemetery to be named after region
The name of the new national veterans’ cemetery in Washington County will reflect the regional nature of the facility. The new cemetery, which won’t be ready for the first burials until sometime late next spring, has officially been named the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies. The 292-acre site on the Washington-Allegheny county line along I-79 will serve approximately 329,000 veterans and their families living within a 75-mile radius in southwestern Pennsylvania. It is approximately 45 miles northwest of Uniontown and less than 20 miles from Pittsburgh.
Jo Schuda of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said many of the new VA cemeteries being developed are being named for the region they will serve, such as the Great Lakes National Cemetery near Detroit that had its groundbreaking last month.
There are two VA cemeteries in Pennsylvania, with the nearest at Indiantown Gap in central Pennsylvania, several hundred miles to the east. The other is located in Philadelphia and it is no longer open for burials. Five out-of-state veterans cemeteries are closer to southwestern Pennsylvania veterans, including two in Grafton, W.Va., the Winchester National Cemetery and Staunton National Cemetery, both in Virginia and the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery.
The National Cemetery of the Alleghenies is one of six new cemeteries ordered by the federal government to be built to meet veterans’ needs. The Pittsburgh area was included in the list of the areas with the greatest need for a veterans cemetery. The new cemetery is designed to meet the needs of the area for the next 50 years.
The plans for the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies call for about $40 million in total development, done in several phases. The cemetery was supposed to have been completed by late 2005, but the completion date has been pushed back to 2007, Schuda said.
“We’ve had construction delays,” Schuda said.
A Pittsburgh-area firm, Eagle Designs, has been selected to fast track a five-acre portion of the new cemetery to open next spring.
“There will be about 5,000 burial spaces, a temporary shelter for equipment, an administrative trailer and an interment shelter,” Schuda said.
The remainder of Phase I will include development of 80 acres, including 15,000 gravesites, a facility to house up to 3,000 urns above ground and 1,000 sites for in-ground cremated remains. The site will also include an administration and maintenance complex, two committal service shelters, a public information center with electronic gravesite locator and restrooms, and a cemetery entrance area. There will also be a flag assembly area, a memorial walkway and donations area, and infrastructure including roads, landscaping, utilities and irrigation.
The new cemetery will be under the direction of Gerald Vitela. He previously was the director of the national cemeteries at Fort Logan, Colo. and Fort Bliss, Texas. He has also served at several other national cemeteries since joining the VA’s National Cemetery Administration in 1977. Vitela is an Air Force veteran who received the Air Force Commendation Medal and other awards for aiding Italian communities following a devastating earthquake.
Veterans who were not dishonorably discharged, their spouses and dependent children are eligible for burial in national cemeteries, though Schuda noted that pre-arrangements cannot be made for the national cemeteries.
Other burial benefits for veterans include a burial flag, a Presidential Memorial Certificate and a government headstone or marker, whether the veteran is buried in a national cemetery or a private cemetery.