VA Rule to Allow Parents to be Buried with Children in National Cemeteries

The Department of Veterans Affairs will now allow parents of fallen service members to be buried alongside their children in National Cemeteries. 

The new rule authorizes the burial of a parent when there is no eligible spouse or child and will allow the parent to know their wishes will be honored ahead of time. 

Part of the Veterans Benefits Act of 2010, the rule applies to parents of veterans who die on or after Oct. 7, 2001. Parents must have died on or after Oct. 13, 2010 to be eligible.

, D-Dix Hills, introduced similar legislation in 2008, and has long supported this change to the VA’s interment rules based on input from Long Island military families, according to a press release.

“For these families, who have made the ultimate sacrifice, it’s the least we can do. I hope that this decision will give them some peace of mind, knowing that they can be laid to rest with their loved one,” said Israel."

In the release, Israel said Dorine Kenney, the mother of Army Pfc. Jacob S. Fletcher who died in an IED explosion in Iraq in 2003, applied for a waiver from the VA to be laid to rest alongside her son at the Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, but was told that no decision would be made prior to her death. She worked with Rep. Israel to bring attention to the issue and supported his legislation.

“My heart feels settled knowing that I now have the opportunity to be laid to rest with my son,” said Kenney after hearing of the VA’s decision. "I am glad that military parents now have the same option as non-military parents to be buried with our loved ones.”

Before the VA amendment, burial in national cemeteries was only available for eligible veterans, their spouses and dependants. A family member who was not a spouse or dependent could put in a request for a waiver, but often, the decision was not made until the family member’s time of death, according to Israel.