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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.