SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News)- Are there enough burial sites close to home for veterans?
Veterans in Utah can be buried at the Salt Lake City cemetery. However, what if you live in southern Utah? Veterans in that part of the state face a dilemma faced by thousands of others nationwide. Get buried far from home in a veteran's cemetery or close to home in a local cemetery
The Utah Department of Veterans Affairs says compared to the northern part of the state there's just not enough veterans in southern Utah to justify a veterans cemetery there.
The federal government opened three new veterans' cemeteries around the country this year, but thousands of military veterans still find they live hundreds of miles away from a possible final resting spot alongside fellow vets.
Meanwhile the US Department of Veterans Affairs says they're still two years away from their goal of offering burials to 90% of veterans within 75 miles of their homes.
