When : Friday, October 26 (11 a.m.)

Where: Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Angel Fire (34 Country Club Rd.)

(ANGEL FIRE, NM) – The New Mexico Department of Veterans Services will host a Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Angel Fire State Veterans Cemetery on October 26 at 11 a.m.

The cemetery, which will be built in the meadow below the south side of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, will be the third state veterans cemetery resulting from Governor Susana Martinez’s State Cemetery Initiative launched in 2013 to seek U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) funding for VA-funded but state-managed veterans cemeteries.

Last month, the VA approved a $3.2 million grant to build the 1.3-acre, 400-gravesite initial phase of the cemetery. It will have 100 pre-placed crypts, 100 cremains burial areas, 200 columbarium niches, and a memorial wall in a beautifully landscaped setting in accordance with existing standards set by the VA for its national cemeteries.

For more information, contact DVS Public Information Officer Ray Seva at ray.seva@state.nm.us or (505) 827-6352.