Project will create jobs, help ensure final resting place for Nevada veterans

September 26, 2011

Washington, D.C. – Nevada Senator Harry Reid today announced that the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City has received a $3,433,259 grant to expand and serve veterans and their families.  The funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs will go towards developing nearly 5,000 additional burial plots on more than 17 acres of land.

“Veterans Memorial Cemetery offers Nevada families comfort and provides a solemn, quiet place to remember their loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country,” Reid said.  “Each year I join Nevada families on Memorial Day in Boulder City to keep the memory of these brave men and women alive.  This important project will put Nevadans back to work while ensuring that Nevada veterans have an appropriate final resting place near their families.”

The funds will also support construction of an administrative building, roads, a committal shelter, cremains burial areas, landscaping and supporting infrastructure.

BACKGROUND

The Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery is the largest veterans’ cemetery in the Southern Nevada region, making it an important place for veterans and their families.  The closest national cemetery is 245 miles away in Riverside, California, while the closest State cemetery, Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, is 439 miles away in Fernley.
 
This is the latest effort by Senator Reid to support veterans and their families. Reid secured more than $600 million in funding for a new VA hospital in North Las Vegas that is set to open next year.  Veterans in Southern Nevada will no longer be required to leave Nevada to receive vital care.  

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