Commission to Study Veteran Burials at Boscawen

CONCORD, N.H. - A new bill recently created a commission to study several issues with the Boscawen cemetery in Concord, including “whether non-veterans should be eligible to be interred at the cemetery at no expense.” According to the Concord Monitor, the question is whether the veterans cemetery in Boscawen is open to all people who served in the National Guard, even if they were never called to active duty.

The commission will also study how much the cemetery should charge spouses and minor children, who are eligible to be buried there and share the veteran’s gravesite. The first two interments when the cemetery opened in 1997 were Navy veteran Ernest Holm and his wife, Hilda.

Eligible veterans are buried for free, while dependents are charged $350. The Veterans Administration pays a plot allowance as part of regular VA benefits, which is currently at $762. One question is whether charges for dependents should be made closer to the plot allowance.

Almost 10,600 people have been interred in the cemetery since it opened 20 years ago. Last year, there were 889 internments, including dependents.

To read the full story, visit the Concord Monitor.

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