Portland, Oregon
Funeral Benefits for Portland Area Veterans
The 2000 census showed 231,895 civilian veterans in the Portland metropolitan area encompassing Salem and Vancouver, Wash. If honorably discharged from service, they are entitled to extensive death benefits.
Benefits extend to individuals who served full-time with the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, or as commissioned officers of the Public Health Service, Environmental Science Services Administration or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or its previous version, the Coast and Geodetic Survey.
One of the first benefits is burial fo casketed or cremated remains at national or state veterans cemetires. As Oregon doesn't have any state veterans cemeteries, that leaves national cemeteries near Portland, Roseburg and Medford.
Willamette National Cemetery sits on state-donated land 10 miles southeast of Portland in Clackamas County. It is home to the Oregon Korean Veterans Memorial, a series of polished black granite walls that memorialize 283 Oregon servicemen and women who died in that as yet unresolved conflict. Designated a national cemetery in December 1950, Willamette National is a Blue Star Memorial Highway site. Blue Star Memorial Highway sites are dedicated to members of the U.S. armed forces.
Vancouver vets are entitled to be buried at Tahoma National Cemetery in King County, of course, but in another year's time, they will be able to choose a Washington state veterans cemetery. Plans are under way to begin construction on a state cemetery near Medical Lake in Spokane County in May. Opening is anticipated Memorial Day 2010.
Among services and benefits provided at national cemeteries are: opening and closing of the grave, perpetual care, government headstone or marker, burial flag, and Presidential Memorial Certificate -- all at no cost to the family. Some veterans may be eligible for burial allowances. Cremated remains are buried or interred in national cemeteries in the same manner and with the same honors as casketed remains.
Regardless of cemetery -- and your government offers kindly advice for dealing with private cemeteries -- a government headstone or a grave marker and a burial flag can be provided at no cost. As with all such things, certain fine-print points apply to headstones and markers: Service after Sept. 7, 1980, must be for a minimum of 24 consecutive months unless special circumstances apply, that is, the individual is killed on active duty. National Guard or Reserves personnel with limited active duty are not eligible unless special circumstances apply, that is, the individual is killed on active duty or while in training. Persons with 20 years service in National Guard or Reserves who are eligible for retirement pay are eligible for headstone or marker (supply a copy of the Reserve Retirement Eligibility Benefits Letter). Active-duty service while with National Guard or Reserves also establishes eligibility. Applications take 30 to 60 days to process. Only eligible veterans, not family members, are entitled to government-provided headstones or markers.
The government also provides burial flags for honorably discharged vets. Eligibility covers: wartime veterans, vets who died on active duty after May 27, 1941; vets who served after Jan. 31, 1955; peacetime vets discharged before June 27, 1950; persons who served in the organized military forces of the Commonwealth of the Philippines while in the U.S. armed forces who died after April 25, 1951, and certain former members of the select reserves. Burial flags go to next of kin. If no next of kin exist, a friend may apply. Families of vets buried in cemeteries that have Avenues of Flags may donate the flag for display on patriotic holidays. Burial flags are made of cotton that can be easily damaged by weather. They are not suitable for outdoor display.
Any family requesting military funeral honors for an eligible veteran is entitled by law to receive the ceremony. The ceremony includes a detail of at least two uniformed military members, folding and presentation of the burial flag, and playing of taps -- though taps might be a recording played on a so-called digital bugle because vets eligible for funeral honors die at a daily rate of 3-to-1 to the military's available buglers. The VA has provided funeral homes with "honors kits," information and forms required to request a funeral with honors. Funeral directors can coordinate necessary steps with the VA's area coordinator to ensure an eligible veteran receives funeral honors. Funeral directors will want to see proof of service.
The Navy provides burial at sea and remains scattering from USN vessels. Active-duty personnel, honorably discharged or retired, civilian marine personnel of the Military Sealift Command, and dependent family of active-duty personnel are eligible. Eligible individuals should make known their desire for such disposition in writing; vets will be surprised to learn the Navy has a form for this. Burial at sea of casketed or cremated remains is performed during deployment, thus family members cannot attend. Bremerton, Wash., is the closest embarkation point to Portland.
Beyond benefits for a vet's disposition, the government provides benefits to survivors. Burial allowances are partial reimbursement for the eligible vet's funeral and burial expenses. The VA pays up to $2,000 on expenses incurred for a veteran who died of a service-related cause on or after Sept. 11, 2001. The amount is $1,500 for deaths before Sept. 10, 2001. All or some transportation costs for vets buried in national cemeteries can be reimbursed. If cause of death is not service-related, payments are allotted in two versions: funeral and burial expense, and plot interment allowance. Nonservice-related deaths are reimbursable at a rate of $300 for funeral and burial expenses, and $300 plot-interment allowance. If the vet died at a VA hospital or a VA-contracted nursing home, some or all transportation costs may be reimbursed. Of course, conditions exist.
Other survivor benefits include death pensions, that is, benefits paid to eligible dependents of deceased wartime veterans, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, that is, a monthly benefit to eligible survivors, and Parents' Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, that is, an income-based monthly benefit to the parent or parents of military service members or veterans. Education benefits are available for deceased veterans' children. Special benefits are available to veterans' children age 14 or older who have physical or mental disabilities. Medical benefits are available. Home-loan guaranties are available, even no-fee passports are offered to veterans' survivors who wish to visit gravesites of veterans buried overseas.