KILLEEN — The Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery is getting a $2,650,880 grant from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to improve cemetery grounds. For some military families, that will mean more options for how their loved ones are buried.
Located in Killeen, the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery has plenty of room for expansion, but many soldiers are laid to rest in its 16 columbarium walls after cremation. The Veterans Land Board, which oversees the cemetery, told Channel 6 those walls were almost out of room for more soldiers. Deputy Director of the Texas State Cemeteries Program Eric Brown said the walls would have been out of space in as little as 6 months.
"There has been a transition in the last couple years from standard burials with caskets to cremated remains," Brown said. "They are going to fund about seven walls which will hold the remains of about 3000 veterans and their family members."
Brown said that around a third of families seeking internment for loved ones currently ask for cremation. For veterans who are considering those spaces for themselves or their family members, the expansion was good news.
The grant will also go towards upgrading roads at the cemetery's entrance. Brown said the base layer of those roads are damaged due to the many funeral processions the cemetery hosts and had to undergo repairs.
"Often we would have to go in and make temporary repairs, putting a Band-Aid on the problem," Brown said. "This will be a more long-term solution to the problem."
Additionally, the grant will pay for more landscaping along the walkways at the front of the cemetery. Brown told Channel 6 the construction projects are already in motion and the sites for the new columbarium walls have been marked. A cemetery representative told Channel 6 construction was expected to start in November 2018.