Veterans in northern Minnesota will be able to choose a final resting place closer to home, after plans for a new state veterans cemetery received a financial boost last month when the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded an $8.3 million grant to establish the cemetery near Duluth.
Officials had previously announced that the cemetery would be on a 104-acre parcel along U.S. Highway 53 south of Pike Lake in Grand Lake Township. The grant is expected to pay for the development of buildings, facilities, burial spaces and supporting infrastructure on 19 acres of the new cemetery.
"It's been in the works for a long time, much longer than we would have hoped, but it's definitely not something that's been put on the back burner," state veterans cemeteries director David Swantek said last year.
Carlton County Veterans Service Officer Duane Brownie was thrilled to hear the news, even though it means the cemetery won’t be located in Carlton County, which had been discussed in the past. Brownie had been working with others to get a cemetery in the Northland for about seven years
Just getting a cemetery in this part of the state is a good thing, he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
“It will be easier access for people from the [Iron] Range and Duluth,” said Brownie. “And it will cover a lot of Carlton County veterans too. That will be nice.”
U.S. Army veteran and Duluth Honor Guard Capt. John Marshall it will help the loved ones the veterans leave behind.
"Many of these widows, they're not capable of traveling great distances or can't deal with that kind of traffic, so by having their loved ones interred here, they will be able to visit them more frequently," Marshall said.
There is a state veterans cemetery in Little Falls, 150 miles from Duluth, and a new state veterans cemetery opened recently near Preston in southeastern Minnesota. A national veterans cemetery is at Fort Snelling in the Twin Cities.
“Veterans find it to be more honorable (to be buried in a veterans cemetery) and family members find it more rewarding,” Brownie said, guessing that the cemetery will be ready to go sometime next year.
Brownie added that there are veterans and widows of veterans who have died and been cremated but which were waiting for a local cemetery to be created so they could be buried closer to loved ones. As well, families who have buried a veteran in a different veterans cemetery can have them moved, but there will be a cost associated with that.
Marshall noted that a fundraiser will begin in the coming months to create and install a monument honoring veterans at the new Duluth veterans cemetery.
ADVERTISEMENT
In a statement, Minnesota's congressional delegation applauded the funding announcement. U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken noted that the grant will better serve and honor veterans, and that it shows that the Department of Veterans Affairs listened to residents. U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan said serving veterans is an important duty.
"This Duluth cemetery for military veterans will help us continue honoring and recognizing our brave men and women after they have passed away, and will allow families to keep them close while paying tribute to their service," Nolan said in a statement.
“I’m very happy,” said Brownie.
