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A member of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment places flags at the headstones of military personnel buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The Department of Veterans Affairs will host more than 130 Memorial Day ceremonies at its national cemeteries to honor those who gave their lives for the nation.
Veterans, their families, caregivers, survivors and members of the public are invited to attend the wreath-laying services, held between May 24 and May 30. Find the ceremony closest to you; dates and times may change due to inclement weather.
“We are forever indebted to the service members who gave their lives in service to our country, and we will never forget their sacrifice,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough in a statement.
National cemeteries with full staff typically conduct wreath-laying events accompanied by speeches, music, a moment of silence and the playing of taps.
The VA is encouraging Americans to honor fallen service members by leaving a tribute on the Veterans Legacy Memorial website, which includes 10 million pages of information about veterans buried in national, state, territorial and tribal VA cemeteries.
VA Burial Benefits
Almost all veterans who received an honorable discharge are eligible for a burial benefit, even if they did not serve in combat. Although federal burial grounds are long established, many veterans and military families are unaware of the broad eligibility and benefits available to them. Click here to learn more.
To view live streams, recorded videos and photographs from many of these observances, visit the National Cemetery Administration’s Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) pages.
All VA national cemeteries will be open from dawn until dusk on Memorial Day. Some observances of note include:
- Secretary McDonough will preside over a wreath-laying ceremony on May 27 at New York Veterans Cemetery Finger Lakes in Waterloo.
- VA Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher will speak on May 30 at Baltimore National Cemetery in Maryland.
- VA Chief of Staff Kimberly Jackson will speak at a ceremony on May 27 at Wood National Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
There are 155 national cemeteries and 34 soldiers’ lots and monument sites across 44 states and Puerto Rico. The VA’s Veterans Cemetery Grant Program also funds 121 additional state, territorial and tribal cemeteries, many of which are also holding Memorial Day ceremonies.
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