The Upper Cumberland is once again applying for federal funding for a veterans cemetery.
Donna Fare chairs the Upper Cumberland Veterans Cemetery Association. She said funding was denied in the past due, in part, to poor record of the area’s veteran population. Fare said veterans should register with their county veterans service officer to improve the recorded veteran population.
“And in doing so, if they choose, can register to be buried in a state veterans cemetery,” Fare said. “And that would show the demand that we would have in the Upper Cumberland to support a veterans cemetery in our area.”
Fare said some veterans who have moved to the Upper Cumberland have never received VA benefits, further impacting the recorded veteran population. Fare said veterans service agencies do not share lists, meaning the federal list of veterans may not match the state list.
Fare said the National Cemetery Administration would like to have veterans within 75 miles driving distance of a veterans cemetery. The nearest veterans cemeteries are west of Nashville, east of Knoxville, and in Chattanooga, which Fare said are too far away from Upper Cumberland veterans.
“We are working with our state and U.S. representatives and senators to make sure that we are recognized as an area of need for veterans in Tennessee,” Fare said.
Fare said some state and local funding routes may be available, but she would rather try for federal funding since the National Cemetery Administration historically funded cemetery construction.
“The state of Tennessee has purchased the land in White County needed to build the cemetery,” Fare said. “So the state of Tennessee has made their due diligence on getting the land prepared. Now we’re just waiting on the grant funding application from the National Cemetery Administration.”
Fare said the grant application must be submitted by June, and approval or denial will be announced in September or October.
Fare said fewer cemeteries have been funded in recent years.
