Summary: In fiscal year 1996, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) spent $73 million to bury 72,000 veterans and their family members in national cemeteries. These burial grounds, however, are rapidly running out of space. As World War II veterans age, the number of deaths and internments in national cemeteries are rising and expected to peak sometime early in the next century. Because of the depletion of available gravesites, more than half of the national cemeteries will be unable to accommodate casket burials of family members before then. VA has several options to deal with this situation, including establishing new national cemeteries, developing space to hold ashes of the deceased, and acquiring additional land adjacent to existing cemeteries. GAO found that increased use of cremation, which is growing in acceptance nationwide, could extend the capacity of existing cemeteries at the lowest possible cost. For example, the cost of a traditional cemetery would exceed $50 million, while the cost of an above-ground columbarium, which holds cremations, would total $21 million.
