VA Opens Columbarium at Long Island National Cemetery

Veterans in the New York region can again be interred at Long Island National Cemetery with the opening of a new columbarium on September 19.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has operated the Long Island National Cemetery since 1936. The facility ran out of space for casket burials in 1978 and for in-ground interment of cremation remains in 2003, although family members of veterans already buried there and veterans who had burial reservations under an old system were still interred.

The new columbarium -- a niched wall system holding cremation urns -- provides 6,000 additional niches for cremation remains.

The $2.2 million project also made infrastructure improvements, including sidewalks and landscaping.

Long Island National Cemetery has the largest number of people buried in a VA national cemetery in the United States, with more than 325,000 veterans and family members interred during its nearly 70-year history.

Despite space restrictions, the facility provided 1,700 burials last year.

Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices, from the VA Website, or by calling VA regional offices toll-free at 1-800-827-1000.