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Veterans cemetery set to be completed next month
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Posted on May 18 2006
The construction of a CNMI Veterans Cemetery in Marpi is nearing completion.
Rep. Ray Yumul said yesterday the project would be completed next month. The veterans cemetery has been in construction since September 2005.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs provided nearly $1.7 million in August 2005 for the project. The cemetery will be owned and operated by the Commonwealth.
Yumul, himself an Iraq war veteran, proposed guidelines for the operation, maintenance and funding of the new cemetery.
According to the measure, the cemetery should be used for CNMI residents who served honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces, as well as their spouses and dependents. Eligible veterans include CNMI residents when they entered the armed forces or when they died and veterans who have lived in the CNMI for at least 20 years.
Any U.S. soldier who fought in the Battle of Saipan during World War II may also be buried at the CNMI Veterans Cemetery, Yumul said.
He also proposed that the Office of Military Liaison and Veteran Affairs be tasked to operate and maintain the cemetery.
Yumul said eligible U.S. veterans should be buried without charge in the Marpi cemetery. But the military affairs office should be allowed to establish fees for the burial of spouses and dependents.
