WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Veterans Affairs poured more than $77 million into veterans cemeteries across the country in fiscal year 2025, funding expansions, improvements, and the creation of Alaska’s first state-run veterans cemetery in a sweeping investment aimed at preserving final resting places for America’s heroes.
The grants, awarded through VA’s National Cemetery Administration, supported projects at 20 existing state veterans cemeteries and one establishment grant in Alaska. The funding reimburses states for construction and expansion costs tied to pre-placed crypts, columbaria, burial infrastructure, and other improvements needed to continue operations and interments.
In Alaska, the VA awarded $16.7 million to establish the Interior Alaska Veterans Cemetery in Fairbanks, the state’s first veterans cemetery. The facility is expected to serve more than 12,000 veterans and eligible family members, closing a long-standing geographic gap in burial access for Alaskans who served.
Nationwide, VA grant-funded cemeteries interred more than 43,705 veterans and eligible family members in FY 2025, representing roughly one-quarter of the 174,705 total annual interments across all national and VA grant-funded veterans cemeteries.
Since the program began in 1980, the VA has awarded more than $1.1 billion in cemetery grants to 124 veterans cemeteries in 47 states, 14 tribal nations, and three U.S. territories — Guam, Saipan, and Puerto Rico. Working alongside the VA’s 157 national cemeteries, the network now provides more than 94 percent of U.S. veterans access to a veterans cemetery within 75 miles of their home.
VA Secretary Doug Collins said the funding reflects a continued commitment to honoring those who served. He said veterans cemeteries preserve the memory of America’s heroes and that the administration is focused on ensuring these sites have the resources needed to deliver dignified memorial services for veterans and their families.
Major expansion grants were awarded across the country, including $12.8 million for the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery, $8.3 million for Virginia’s Albert G. Horton Jr. Memorial Veterans Cemetery, and $7.3 million for the East Tennessee Veterans Cemetery. North Carolina received multiple awards totaling millions of dollars for expansions at Eastern Carolina, Coastal Carolina, and Sandhills state veterans cemeteries.
Other grants supported cemetery projects in Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Montana, New Mexico, South Carolina, Wisconsin, and additional states, often paired with reimbursements for burial receptacles and related infrastructure.
Federal officials said the grants are designed not only to meet current demand but to ensure long-term capacity as the veteran population ages, reinforcing a national commitment to honor service members long after their final salute.
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