The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs began construction on the Alabama State Memorial Veterans Cemetery at Spanish Fort in October 2011. The $7 million project is a culmination of many years of detailed planning by the State Board of Veterans Affairs and through a partnership between the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs and the Federal VA Veterans Cemetery Grants Service. The first phase of the cemetery covers 22.8 acres that includes an administration building, maintenance facility, committal shelter, memorial walk, scattering garden and 2,776 grave sites.
Administrative Building
On December 7, 2012, the Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Spanish Fort was dedicated as a final resting place for our veterans. “This cemetery will provide the final act of honor, dignity and respect that our veterans have earned through their service and sacrifice while defending our nation and guaranteeing its freedom for future generations,” said Clyde Marsh, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs at the groundbreaking ceremony on October 11, 2011.
Scheduling an Interment
Committal services are conducted Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00
The Committal Shelter
p.m. Services are held in the committal shelter. The cemetery does not offer graveside services. Veterans, spouses and dependent children may pre-register to establish eligibility for interment. The cemetery coordinates Military Funeral Honors for veterans and military retirees.
Burial Benefits Types of Interment Offered The Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Spanish Fort provides for in-ground casket burial sites and cremation interments. Columbarium niches, in-ground cremation inurnment and a scattering garden are available for cremation interments.
Interment Costs
For spouses or dependent children, a $375.00 fee will be charged on the day of interment. For veterans, the cemetery provides the following at no cost:
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Burial plot or columbarium niche
Columbarium Niches
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Concrete liner for casket burials
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Opening and closing of the grave
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Perpetual care of the gravesite
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Inscribed gravestone
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30 minute committal service
All other funeral expenses are paid by the veteran’s family or estate. Eligibility for interment in the State Veterans Cemetery follows National Cemetery Administration eligibility requirements. In general, U.S. Veterans discharged under conditions other than dishonorable and their spouses and dependent children are eligible.
Alabama state residency requirements for burial in the State Veterans Cemetery must meet one of the following: Legal resident of Alabama at the time of death; or Legal resident of Alabama when he or she entered the Armed Forces of the United States; or Legal resident of Alabama for a period of 10 or more years (any cumulative period of 10 or more years, regardless of residency at the time of death).
Eligibility for Veteran’s Family
The surviving spouse of an eligible veteran that has been interred who remarries retains his or her eligibility for burial. Unmarried children who are under 21 years of age, or who are under 23 years of age and are pursuing full-time education at an approved institution; or an unmarried adult child of an eligible veteran of any age if the child became physically or mentally disabled and incapable of self-support by reason of mental or physical disability before reaching 21 years of age or before reaching 23 years of age if pursuing full-time education at an approved institution are eligible.
