VA broadens online memorials for Veterans buried overseas

WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today it has expanded its Veterans Legacy Memorial website to add 210,000 additional pages for American Veterans interred and honored in cemeteries and memorials managed by the American Battle Monuments Commission overseas. The collaboration between VA’s National Cemetery Administration and ABMC brings the total number of VLM pages to more than 10 million.

VLM is the nation’s largest online memorial space dedicated to Veterans and Service Members interred in VA national cemeteries, Department of Defense-managed cemeteries, VA grant-funded state/tribal/territory cemeteries, National Park Service cemeteries, and private cemeteries around the world. VLM offers family and friends a way to share lasting memories of a Veteran by uploading written tributes, photos, biographies, documents, and other information. Living Veterans who have been approved for pre-need burial in a VA National Cemetery can tell their own stories on VLM through the “Your Life, Your Story” feature.

“The brave Americans resting in American Battle Monuments Commission cemeteries and whose names are inscribed on ABMC memorials around the world sacrificed their lives to liberate allied countries and to protect our nation’s interests,” said Acting Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Ronald Walters. “It’s our honor to preserve their legacies.”

“We are proud to be a part of this partnership, which adds new resources to honor our nations veterans from all wars and brings their stories to those who aren’t able to visit our ABMC sites overseas,” said ABMC Acting Secretary Robert Dalessandro.

Learn more about ABMC and visit their cemeteries and memorials via virtual 360 tours online.

In 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order that shifted the management and maintenance of the eight permanent military cemeteries in Europe from the War Department to ABMC. Today, ABMC administers, operates and maintains 26 American cemeteries on foreign soil while providing perpetual care for the gravesites of 30,973 Veterans from World War I, 92,958 from World War II and 750 from the Mexican American War. ABMC also memorializes more than 94,000 Americans who went missing in action or were lost or buried at sea.

Since the VLM website launched in 2019, nearly 200,000 submissions have been made to Veteran profile pages. NCA moderators review all content submitted to VLM before being posted to a Veteran’s page to ensure it conforms to the VLM User Policy.

For information about VA burial benefits, visit one of VA’s 156 National Cemetery locations in-person, online at VA burial benefits and memorial items, or call toll free at 800-827-1000. To plan for you and your family, visit NCA’s pre-need eligibility website.