WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration (NCA) has announced it has awarded a grant of up to $243,467 to the Commonwealth of Virginia for the expansion of Southwest Virginia Veterans Cemetery in Dublin.
The cemetery serves more than 108,000 veterans and their eligible family members in the region. The grant will fund the construction of the installation of survey grid monuments at an existing turfed area for 482 in-ground cremation gravesites, irrigation, and the addition of the Space Force service branch emblem at the existing assembly area.
“These grants enable the states to better serve veterans and their families where they live,” said VA Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Sam Brown. “Because of this program, more than 94% of veterans living in the United States have access to the burial benefits they have earned at a cemetery within 75 miles of where they live.”
“Honoring our veterans is part of the cultural heritage of Virginia’s Ninth District,” said U.S. Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA). “The Southwest Virginia Veterans Cemetery does a magnificent job at honoring our revered veteran communities.”
“This NCA grant for as much as $243,467 should help the cemetery construct new features, including nearly 500 gravesites and irrigation,” he continued. “I am proud that the Southwest Virginia Veterans Cemetery, by virtue of the good work it does, has put itself in a position to contend for these funds.”
Since 1980, VA has awarded 525 grants totaling over $1 billion to establish, expand, improve, operate, or maintain 125 veterans cemeteries.
In 2025, VA grant-funded cemeteries interred more than 44,705 veterans and eligible family members, which is approximately 25% of the 174,398 total annual interments in all national and VA grant-funded Veterans cemeteries.
Staff report
