Veterans cemetery still on schedule
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on June 24, 2015 1:46 PM
The new program manager for the N.C. Division of Veterans Affairs revealed more details on the county's new veterans' cemetery during a speech to a local civic group Tuesday.
James Woodard discussed the progress of the project with the Golden K Kiwanis Club.
The cemetery will be built at 164 Longs Plant Farm Road.
The club, which is predominantly made up of veterans, was the first group Woodard addressed since taking the helm.
The Eastern Carolina State Veterans Cemetery -- the cemetery's official name -- will straddle both sides of Longs Plant Farm Road and will cost $4.1 million.
It will join the ranks of three other veterans cemeteries in the state, which are located in Black Mountain, Fayetteville and Jacksonville.
Woodard told the group that even though burial at the cemetery is free for veterans, each veteran's family or estate still will be responsible for the cost of the funeral service.
Burials will occur three times per day -- at 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., Woodard said.
Woodard also outlined the guidelines for securing a burial plot in the cemetery.
"The requirements that you get in are basically that you served on active duty and that you have an honorable discharge," he said. "You have to be a resident of the state of North Carolina and you have to qualify by showing some form of proof of that, either paying taxes or a voter registration."
If a veteran would like his or her spouse or widow buried with him or her, it will cost them $400 for now, but Woodard said he expects that amount to increase to $600 before the cemetery is completed.
Woodard said he was not sure whether a person could reserve a plot right now at the $400 cost, but should that practice begin, a trust fund would be required.
"It is open also to spouses, widow and widowers, and even minor children if they're less than 21 and they passed on to death while still under your care," Woodard said.
Woodard said vaults or crypts are currently being installed at the cemetery. Vaults will consist of multiple spaces, which will be separated by concrete dividers.
"Under phase one, we're going to have 1,882 double-depth crypts, 882 in-ground cremations, 480 column-burial niches, for a total of 3,244 in-ground burial sites," Woodard said. "I think in terms of actual bodies that's 6,488."
There will be restrictions on the types of ceremonies that can be performed, Woodard added.
"There are no graveside services like your typical cemetery," he said. "All of it is done at the committal shelter. And after the family leaves, we then take the body and bury it. And again, we operate just like the national cemetery program does. Those are the guidelines we follow. Caskets cannot be open for viewing at the cemetery because we're outside."
Burials are currently scheduled to take place only Monday through Friday, but a bill was recently passed in the North Carolina legislature that would require veterans' burials to be extended into Saturday and Sunday as well.
"But like most bills in the state legislature, it was passed with no funds, so we've got to study and see if they're telling us to stay open and do burials on those days as well," Woodard said.
He said part of the reason spouse burial costs were being raised from $400 to $600 is to preemptively curb the cost that would be incurred by having to operate seven days a week.
The cemetery's construction is expected to be completed right on time, Woodard said.
"It's supposed to be finished Nov. 1," Woodard said. "And right now, the way things are going -- I've worked four projects on four nursing homes and I can tell you that in 20 years only one of them has come in on time -- and I honestly believe this one's going to come in on time. It's possible that come November we'll be in a position where we can actually start handling burials at the site."