The Department of Veterans Affairs cares for those who served in our nation’s military and their families, caregivers and survivors. Every eligible veteran deserves a dignified burial and memorialization to commemorate their service.
VA offers burial benefits to veterans and their family members, including a grave in a national, state or tribal cemetery, grave liner or vault, and perpetual care and maintenance. Whether interred in a national cemetery or elsewhere, every veteran is entitled to a government headstone, marker or medallion; military honors; Presidential Memorial Certificate; burial flag; and Veterans Legacy Memorial.
If a veteran does not have any next of kin to claim their remains and arrange for their interment after their death, VA can help coordinate a final resting place that is a lasting tribute to their service.
“We are the voice of these veterans who don’t have a voice or an advocate,” said Nathan Sanfilippo of VA’s Veterans Experience Office (VEO), who co-led the Unclaimed Veterans Remains (UVR) Team.
In December 2021, VA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report titled, “Improvements Needs to Ensure Final Disposition of Unclaimed Veterans’ Remains,” with 11 recommendations. To address the OIG report’s findings, VA established a UVR Team with stakeholders from across VA. The team’s goal was to improve VA’s management and oversight of UVR benefits and services. Ten of the 11 OIG recommendations have been resolved, with the final recommendation nearing resolution.
VA’s Pension and Fiduciary Service was designated as the UVR program office responsible for coordinating across VA offices to ensure every veteran receives a dignified burial, including those whose remains are unclaimed.
VA collaborated with the National Funeral Directors Association, National Association of Medical Examiners, and Cremation Association of North America on a survey to estimate the number of unclaimed veterans awaiting burial, including those held at locations other than funeral homes. In 2018, VA estimated there were between 11,500 and 52,600 UVR at funeral homes nationwide, and the survey results now estimate there are approximately 20,298 UVR awaiting burial. In fiscal year 2023, VA interred more than 2,300 UVR in VA national cemeteries and VA grant-funded state and tribal veterans cemeteries.
During OIG’s assessment, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) sent OIG a list of 9,283 individuals whose remains were unclaimed. NamUs, overseen by the Department of Justice, is a national database of missing, unidentified and unclaimed persons. VA received this list in November 2023 and identified 480 UVR in the NamUs data. VA contacted known custodians of eligible UVR to offer interment in a national cemetery or, if remains had been otherwise interred, to update VA records accordingly. As a result of this effort, VA continues to work with partners to identify more UVR and provide them with dignified burials.
VA also works with local coroner and medical examiners’ offices on better processes for identifying indigent decedents to determine whether they are veterans and eligible for UVR benefits and services. VA also successfully changed federal regulations to simplify reimbursements for costs incurred for caskets or urns for unclaimed veterans.
Sometimes it may be difficult for UVR custodians to know where to start with arranging for burial, so VA established several resources to help.
VA’s UVR webpage for benefits and memorials provide custodians and others with helpful information, resources, and links to apply for burial benefits. VA conducts outreach and coordinates across VA teams to ensure dignified UVR burials. VA Regional Benefits Offices in each state have an Indigent Veterans and Unclaimed Remains Coordinator; VA’s Office of Patient Care has a Survivors Assistance and Memorial Support (SAMS) program to help with information on available UVR benefits and to ensure unclaimed veterans using VA health care receive dignified burials at a national or VA grant-funded cemetery.
National and VA grant-funded cemeteries routinely hold “unaccompanied” ceremonies for unclaimed veterans and veterans whose family are unable to attend an interment service. While there may not be next of kin at these ceremonies, they are usually well attended by the local military and civilian community. Many times, local community leaders and members also attend to respect those who have served.
“The great thing is these veterans and their service are not forgotten,” said Thomas Spahr from VA’s National Cemetery Administration.
VA established a system to process and track all requests for UVR burial and it coordinates across VA for burial arrangements. VA also modernized its system to more efficiently track UVR interment requests and burials, and facilitate efficient burial by reducing duplicate requests. VA teams are now coordinating more efficiently to ensure payments of UVR benefits are dispersed quickly and accurately.
If you are a UVR custodian — or helping someone who is — contact VA at 1-800-MyVA411 (1-800-698-2311) or the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 1-800-535-1117 to determine eligibility for burial in a VA national cemetery.