On Wednesday, Aug. 24, at 9:15 a.m., a ceremony will be held at Bakersfield National Cemetery, 30338 E. Bear Mountain Blvd., Arvin, California, to memorialize those veterans who were interred here without known family over the past year. This is the first ceremony held since 2019, that has no restrictions to the number of attendees permitted to assist in honoring veterans that are recognized in this type of ceremony.

This ceremony will honor the brave servicemen and women who served and were interred without family over the last year. The service will include an honor guard team that will conduct military honors, including a rifle salute and the playing of Taps. The public is welcome to attend and pay their respects to these veterans.

Sometimes our nation’s heroes die with no known next-of-kin or insufficient resources. While VA’s goal is to help veterans and their loved ones before they die or become indigent, sometimes veterans outlive both their families and their financial means. As hard as the VA works to avoid this, and as difficult as it is to accept, at least now we can help ensure that veterans who die unclaimed are given the dignified burials they deserve.

Eligible individuals are entitled to burial in any open VA national cemetery that includes opening/closing of the grave, a grave liner, perpetual care of the gravesite and a government-furnished upright headstone or flat marker or niche cover all at no cost to the family. veterans are also eligible for a burial flag and Presidential Memorial Certificate.

VA operates 155 national cemeteries and 33 soldiers’ lots in 40 states and Puerto Rico. More than 4 million Americans, including veterans of every war and conflict, are buried in VA’s national cemeteries. VA also provides funding to establish, expand, improve and maintain 121 veterans cemeteries in 47 states and territories including tribal trust lands, Guam and Saipan. For veterans buried at private and other cemeteries, VA provides headstones, markers or medallions to commemorate their service.

Information on VA burial benefits is available from local VA national cemetery offices, from the Internet at http://www.cem.va.gov, or by calling VA regional offices toll-free at (800) 827-1000. To make burial arrangements at any open VA national cemetery at the time of need, call the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at (800) 535-1117.

In 2019, NCA launched an individual Veteran profile page, veterans Legacy Memorial | U.S. Department of veterans Affairs (va.gov), that has an interactive feature that allows family, friends and others to preserve their Veteran’s legacy by posting tributes (comments), uploading images, the sharing of their Veteran’s military service timeline and achievements, biographical information, historical documents and more.