QUANTICO, Va. — The unclaimed ashes of veterans may now have a proper burial thanks to new legislation that will be signed today at Quantico.
Virginia Delegate Richard Anderson, R-51, Prince William, will join Gov. Robert F. McDonnell at the Marine Corps base where he’ll sign a new bill that requires funeral home directors and crematory owners to use a computer database through Virginia’s Department of Veterans Services to check the military status of the names of unclaimed cremains, or unclaimed ashes. If the cremains belong to a military veteran, the state will now claim those ashes and give them a full military burial.
“There’s a fairly sizable quantity of these remains that are typically sitting on shelves at crematories, and some of them have been there as long as a decade,” said Anderson. “Many families don’t claim the ashes because they can’t afford to pay cremation costs.”
Identified cremains will be buried at one of three Virginia veterans’ cemeteries, one in central Virginia, one in the southwestern portion of the state, and the other in Suffolk.
Anderson said any costs to the funeral home or crematory director for using the computer database were not discussed, and he added he’s received no negative comments about the program from such facility directors.
Anderson co-sponsored with Delegate Bob Tata, R-85, Virginia Beach.
This will be the second trip to the Potomac Communities in as many weeks for McDonnell. The governor came to the Stafford County Public Safety Center July 18 to sign new legislation that protects public safety workers.
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Compared to gas, electric lawn equipment can reduce emissions, noise pollution, health risks and maintenance costs and time. The program aims to remove about a hundred gas-powered polluting tools from yards in the greater Baltimore-Washington region.
The exchanges will take place the weekends of May 17-19, 2024, and May 31-June 2, 2024, at A Few Cool Hardware Stores network of employee-owned Ace Hardware stores in the DC and Baltimore metro areas. To participate and get your free Ego Power+ lawn tool, sign up at https://qrco.de/CAPExchange to reserve your tool and select your trade-in date and location.
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Free Irish Music Concert
Welcoming Spring with music from the Emerald Isle, the New Dominion Choraliers offer a FREE concert on Saturday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the First United Presbyterian Church of Dale City.
Joined by Legacy Brass and members of Old
Spring Ceili: An Irish Music Festival
The New Dominion Choraliers of Prince William County and McGrath Morgan Academy of Irish Dance invite you to join them at our Ceili, a grand celebration of Irish music and dance.
A gathering of performance groups throughout Prince William County
