Plans are being unveiled for a national veterans cemetery to be built just south of Omaha that would offer plots to veterans in both Nebraska and Iowa. Will Ackerman, a spokesman for the Department of Veterans Affairs, says the cemetery would be large enough to initially accommodate more than 55-hundred graves.

Ackerman says, “This is good news for veterans because the VA is very interested in providing not only health care and other benefits when they’re alive but also honoring them through the national cemetery when they have passed away.” There is already an Iowa Veterans Cemetery located just south of Interstate 80 in Dallas County which opened in 2008. Ackerman says that facility near Van Meter is state-owned while the new facility near Omaha would be federally-owned and operated.

“The site is a 230-acre parcel in Sarpy County,” Ackerman says. “The only other national VA cemetery is at Fort McPherson here in Nebraska. This is different from the state cemeteries. These are national VA cemeteries by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs.” A meeting is planned to discuss the new cemetery tomorrow (Tuesday) at 1 P-M at the Homewood Suites in downtown Omaha.

(Radio Iowa)