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VA
recognizes author of Cemetery picture
book...Proceeds going to charity for Vets'
kids
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Gordon H. Mansfield today presented a
Commendation Award to Tom Ruck, the author
of Sacred Ground: A Tribute to America's
Veterans, a book highlighting the national
cemeteries operated by the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA).
"Tom Ruck has brought honor and recognition
to America's heroes and to VA," said
Mansfield. "His respect and admiration for
the service and sacrifices of our veterans
and their families is reflected on every
page of his book."
Ruck conceived the idea to publish the book
after several visits to his parents' graves
at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in
St. Louis.
"I wanted the citizens of this country to
realize what beauty and serenity lies within
VA's national cemeteries," Ruck said.
"Americans need to know how well their
veterans are being cared for in these
national shrines."
All royalties from the book are being
donated to the Freedom Alliance Scholarship
Fund, which provides educational
scholarships to the children of Americans in
the armed forces who have been killed or
wounded.
Veterans who receive a discharge under
conditions other than dishonorable, their
spouses and dependent children are eligible
for burial in a national cemetery. Other
burial benefits for eligible veterans
include a burial flag, a Presidential
Memorial Certificate and a government
headstone or marker - even if they are not
buried in a national cemetery.
VA, now in the midst of its largest cemetery
expansion since the Civil War, operates 125
national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto
Rico, 33 soldiers' lots as well as monument
sites. More than 3.3 million Americans,
including veterans of every war and conflict
-- from the Revolutionary War to the current
war in Iraq -- are buried in VA's national
cemeteries.
Information on VA burial benefits can be
obtained from national cemetery offices,
from the VA Web site on the Internet at
http://www.cem.va.gov
or by calling VA regional offices toll-free
at 1-800-827-1000.