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Suffolk state veterans cemetery marks grant award

Posted at 10:11 PM, Oct 23, 2012
and last updated 2012-10-23 23:10:20-04

The Virginia Department of Veterans Services held a check presentation and ground breaking at the Albert Horton Jr. Memorial Veterans Cemetery in Suffolk Tuesday morning.

The grant for $3.3 million will be used to retrofit the cemetery with pre-installed outer burial containers.

The cost of those containers was previously put on families and would run anywhere from $400 to $1,200.

Related: 

Suffolk veterans cemetery receives federal grant

"When these preinstalls are in, there will be no charge what so ever," explained Paul Galanti, the Department of Veterans Services Commissioner.

Once the pre-installs are completed, the Suffolk state cemetery will be nearly identical to national veterans cemeteries.

"The State Veterans Cemeteries fill a need that we can't fill with our national cemeteries - we have 131 national cemeteries - but they are not everywhere," explained David Schettler, the Deputy Undersecretary for Management for the National Cemetery Administration.

The installation work will begin in mid-November and is expected to be complete by late Spring or early Summer 2013.