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burialstate

Burial Honours — and No State Veterans Cemetery

DMVA pays a stipend to the veterans organisations that render burial honours at Pennsylvania’s three national cemeteries. There is no Commonwealth veterans cemetery — the gravesite itself is a federal benefit.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

DMVA pays a stipend to the veterans organisations that render burial honours at Pennsylvania’s three national cemeteries. There is no Commonwealth veterans cemetery — the gravesite itself is a federal benefit.

What it's worth: A gravesite, headstone, flag and Presidential Memorial Certificate at no cost — through the federal system

  • The Department states that burial benefits at one of Pennsylvania’s national cemeteries include a gravesite, a government headstone, a flag and a Presidential Memorial Certificate.
  • The weight stands for a plot, opening and closing, and a marker a family would otherwise buy commercially. It is not the cost of a funeral, which the family still pays.
  • The Commonwealth’s own money in this programme goes to the organisations that render honours, not to the family. There is no state payment to a survivor here to quantify.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are the veteran, or a family member planning ahead.
  • The character of service is other than dishonorable.
  • Your home is in Pennsylvania.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Contact a funeral director or your County Director of Veterans Affairs — the Department names both as the route into burial at a national cemetery.
  2. 2Know which cemeteries are in play: Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies, and Washington Crossing National Cemetery.
  3. 3Ask for military funeral honours by name. The county director or a local veterans organisation on the State Veterans’ Commission will help plan and arrange them.
  4. 4Do not expect a Commonwealth cemetery. Pennsylvania does not operate one, so a family looking for a state site will be looking for something that does not exist.
  5. 5Find the discharge paperwork before it is needed. Everything in this process — honours, gravesite, marker — turns on producing it quickly.
  6. 6Treat the stipend correctly: it is paid by DMVA to the veterans organisation that provides the honours. It is not a burial allowance to the family, and there is nothing for a survivor to claim from it.
File with
Your funeral director or your County Director of Veterans Affairs
Documents you will need
dd214 · death certificate
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThe stipend in this programme is not money for the family. DMVA pays it to the veterans organisations that provide burial honours. A survivor who applies expecting a burial allowance has misread the programme.
CorrectionPennsylvania operates no state veterans cemetery. The Department names three national cemeteries and no Commonwealth site, so the gravesite, headstone, flag and Presidential Memorial Certificate all come from the federal system.
Known gapThe Department does not publish the amount of the stipend, nor the eligibility criteria for burial in the national cemeteries — it points to the National Cemetery Administration for the latter. An unusual service record should be checked against the federal criteria directly.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.