El Paso Herald-Post El Paso News & Opinion
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Cemetery Administration (NCA) announced Ft. Bliss National Cemetery will offer Saturday burials as part of a weekend burial initiative.
This initiative will accommodate cremated remains burials the first Saturday of each month at six national cemeteries, beginning November 4, 2017.
“We pride ourselves on improving access to burial benefits while meeting individual needs of families,” said James Porter, Ft. Bliss National Cemetery Director. “We want Veterans and their families to choose VA. Our burial services should be convenient for families, loved ones, funeral homes and community members.”
NCA is implementing this program based on feedback from Veterans and families provided on its annual customer satisfaction survey, which identified an interest in weekend burials at national cemeteries.
Ft. Bliss will also continue its practice of honoring special requests for weekend burials for religious purposes, in cases of service members killed in action and on at least one day of any three-day Federal holiday weekend.
NCA will assess adding other options and national cemeteries in the future.
The other national cemeteries offering Saturday burial services are: Florida National Cemetery, Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Ft Snelling National Cemetery, Riverside National Cemetery and Calverton National Cemetery.
Those wishing to schedule a Saturday service should call the National Scheduling Office at 1-800-535-1117. Scheduling agents are available seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Central Time.
