PIERRE, S.D. – The City of Sioux Falls recently bestowed an additional 14 acres of land to the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs. This land is adjacent to the original 60 acres the city gifted to the Department for the construction of a state veterans cemetery.
The cemetery was dedicated on Memorial Day 2021, and since that time, over 400 veterans and their loved ones have been interred and more than 1,600 pre-burial applications have been submitted.
Aaron Pollard, deputy secretary for the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs says ”Serving veterans and their families is a labor of love for the Department’s team. This extends to the mayor, the city council and everyone in Sioux Falls that supports the cemetery and its mission. The gifting of this land is an affirmation that the City of Sioux Falls is committed to veterans and a deep partnership that exists with the State of South Dakota.”
“Our community continues to show strong support for veterans through a variety of avenues—from supporting homeless veterans through the Veterans Community Project to recently hosting the National Veterans Golden Age Games,” said Mayor Paul TenHaken. “Thanks to the vision and collaboration of community leaders and officials, the South Dakota Veterans Cemetery opened last year, offering a dignified final resting place for eligible veterans and their spouses. This year, in honor of veterans and their families, the City is pleased to provide an additional land gift to support the future needs of the South Dakota Veterans Cemetery.”
“With the first endowing of 60 acres of land, the State of South Dakota established a beautiful cemetery that meets the burial needs of our veterans,” said Rick Kiley, former Sioux Falls city councilor. “The intent of this additional gift of 14 acres is to address immediate as well as future needs of our veterans and the South Dakota Veterans Cemetery. This project has been a labor of love. I thank the Mayor and Sioux Falls City Council for their assistance, and I look forward to the City’s continued support of our veterans.”
The South Dakota Veterans Cemetery is the first federally funded, state-owned, and operated, veteran’s cemetery in South Dakota and will provide burial options for more than 28,000 veterans and their eligible dependents. Burial options at the South Dakota Veterans Cemetery include traditional in-ground caskets, in-ground cremains, columbarium/niches, and scatter garden.
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