Veterans cemetery near Knox receives final funding

[Hannibal]

Construction of the Kentucky Veterans Cemetery Central near Fort Knox officially is paid for.

William Tuerk, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Undersecretary for Memorial Affairs, presented a symbolic check for $8.5 million to the state Friday. The check represents the federal funding set aside for construction of the cemetery.

The cemetery is the second veterans cemetery to be built in Kentucky. Construction began in November and is expected to be finished in the summer of 2007.

The 99-acre site is on land that once belonged to Fort Knox, but was donated to the state for the cemetery. In its early development, the cemetery will feature more than 3,400 casket gravesites, 500 in-ground cremation burial sites, and 1,200 columbarium niches for cremated remains.

The state had to come up with the land and must fund the cemetery’s operating costs, but the federal dollars will pay for construction costs.
“Receiving this money is a wonderful way to honor our veterans who have spent their lives supporting and serving the military,” said state Sen. Elizabeth Tori in a statement. “I speak for the thousands of surviving families in saying thank you.”

The Fort Knox-area cemetery is one of five cemeteries that the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs hopes to construct in each region of the state. The Kentucky Veterans Cemetery West in Hopkinsville opened in 2004, and cemeteries are planned for the north, northeast, and southeast regions.

“State veteran cemeteries are both a crucial benefit for our veterans and their loved ones and an important way for every citizen to honor and memorialize the men and women whose service established and maintained our liberty,” KDVA Commissioner Les Beavers said in a statement.

Members of the community stepped up during the early planning stages of Kentucky Veterans Cemetery Central to ensure that land could be acquired for the cemetery. They also have raised more than $60,000 to fund a golden eagle memorial at the entrance. Other fundraising projects for more memorials are under way.

“We wouldn’t have this cemetery if some dedicated individuals in the Fort Knox community had not worked tirelessly to get the areas of excess training land at Fort Knox transferred to the state—especially retired Sgt. Maj. Don Devine,” state Rep. Mike Weaver said in a statement. “‘Not for themselves, but for their country.’ That describes our veterans who fought in war and that’s what veterans cemeteries are all about.”