North Dakota Veterans Cemetery conducts 10,000th interment

MANDAN, N.D. (KVRR) – The North Dakota Veterans Cemetery conducted its 10,000th interment Friday.  Interments include both burials and cremation.

The cemetery was built in 1992.  It serves as the site of the North Dakota National Guard’s annual Memorial Day ceremony and each December, the North Dakota Civil Air Patrol sponsors the Wreaths Across America event.

“As North Dakotans, we are eternally grateful for the incredible service and sacrifice of our military members and their families, as well as the cemetery staff and volunteers who maintain the beauty and serenity of these hallowed grounds to honor them,” said Gov. Doug Burgum.

“Nearly three decades after its creation, the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery continues to give our military heroes and their families the proper final resting place they deserve for defending our freedom.”

Among those interred are Civil War Veteran John A. Murray, who died in 1916. There are two Spanish-American war Veterans, 14 Veterans who served during World War I, 2,458 of World War II, 1,861 of the Korean War, 1,400 of the Vietnam War, 100 of the Persian Gulf conflict, and 38 Veterans who served in the military during the Global War on Terrorism era.

The cemetery is a state-funded facility, administered by the office of the North Dakota National Guard adjutant general.