Oregon Public Broadcasting

Washington will break ground Monday on its first state-run cemetery for veterans. The grounds will stretch across 80 acres near the town of Medical Lake.

Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports the ceremony will end a long quest to find a resting place for Inland Northwest veterans.

Veterans from eastern Washington and northern Idaho have to go far away if they want to be buried in a veterans’ cemetery. The closest ones are the Tahoma National Cemetery, south of Seattle, or the Idaho State Veterans’ facility in Boise.

Richard Cesler, who’s in charge of building the new cemetery near Spokane, says vets here have argued they should have a resting place closer to home.

Richard Cesler: “Just to give you an idea, there are 143,000 veterans in eastern Washington that will be served by this cemetery.”

And, he says, another 30,000 in northern Idaho.

The veterans appealed to the federal government, which told them that’s not  enough people to trigger a new national cemetery here. But the Veterans’ Administration  did pony up the money to build a facility and turn it over to the state of Washington.

Cesler hopes it will be ready for next Memorial Day.

Online:

Eastern Washington Veterans Ceremony