Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) announced that the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) is soliciting name recommendations from veterans and military organizations for the Elko veterans cemetery, which is set to begin construction this year. Senator Cortez Masto was instrumental in the approval of this rural national cemetery, which will for the first time provide burial benefits in the Elko region to approximately 3,700 Veterans and their eligible family members.
Name recommendations can be submitted to the NCA through December 17, 2021 and must help identify the location of the cemetery, have broad appeal to the veteran population, and be relevant to local history, geography, or other community features.
Recommendations may be provided via email to NCA.PacificDistrictOffice@va.gov or to:
National Cemetery Administration Pacific Office
1301 Clay Street, Suite 1230 N
Oakland, California, 94612
Nevadans can also reach out to Senator Cortez Masto’s office at (775) 686-5750 for additional guidance and assistance.
Before being approved earlier this year, Elko had been under consideration for a veterans cemetery since 2011, when the VA’s Rural Initiative identified the area as in need of a National Veterans Burial Ground. The closest veterans cemeteries for regional veterans and their families are currently over 200 miles away – in either Fernley or Salt Lake City. Senator Cortez Masto’s efforts have been instrumental in speeding up the process and securing a final commitment from the VA to begin construction on the Elko site. She’s called on both the VA and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to support her efforts to create the Elko Veterans Cemetery, and she previously introduced legislation to authorize the creation of the burial ground.
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