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Americans have always valued certain rights and freedoms. In order to protect these rights, brave men and women have fought and died for this country. Neil O’ Donnell Funeral Home is honored to provide final arraignments to the brave men and women who have valiantly served this nation. To learn more about the services provided to American veterans by this firm, please visit their site here: https://www.neilodonnellfh.com/or contact Neil O’ Donnell Funeral Home here: (801) 363-6641
Prior to funeral accommodations being made for a veteran. It is important for veterans to keep a record of their honorable discharge from military service. Any veteran who was dishonorably discharged cannot receive any funeral benefits from the VA. The DD Form 214 is the form that proves that a veteran has been honorably discharged and is therefore entitled to VA funeral benefits. If a family does not have the veteran’s DD Form 214, then a family can request a “clearance” from the VA. Once a clearance has been requested, then the veteran’s discharge information and status are located by different agencies including the branch of the Armed Forces the veteran served in. This will cause a delay of a few days or a few weeks for the correction information to be located, reviewed, and authorized. A veteran cannot be buried in a VA cemetery until this process can occur. This can increase the stress and emotional grief associated with planning a funeral for a loved one. Again, it is important to keep a veteran’s DD Form 214 in a secure location.
One of the many burial benefits given to veterans who honorably served is the right to be buried in either a national or state-owned VA cemetery. Those who can be buried in a VA cemetery are the veterans, service members, the veteran’s spouse, and the veteran’s dependents. Currently, there are 148 national cemeteries in 42 states and Puerto Rico as well as 33 soldier’s lots and monument sites in the United States. The VA state cemetery in Utah is Utah Veterans Memorial Cemetery and the national cemetery is Fort Douglas Post Cemetery
Other burial benefits provided to veterans are a Veteran Burial Allowance, Memorial Items, a Presidential Memorial Certificate (PMC), a Burial Flag, and Survivors Benefit.
Memorial items headstone, like a marker or medallion, are at no cost to the veteran or the surviving family. A family can also request the playing of Taps at a veteran’s funeral. A PMC is an engraved paper certificate, signed by the current President. A burial flag is a United States flag provided by the government, free of cost, to drape or accompany the veteran’s casket. The VA will offset some of the cost of a veteran’s funeral. Finally, survivor’s benefits are paid by the VA to the veteran’s surviving family.
Neil O’Donnell Funeral Home has proudly served local communities with exceptional care for years. With compassion and sympathy, the team guides the family through funeral etiquette, individualizing memorials, funeral costs, directions to cemeteries, the guestbook, online obituary creation, and telling a life story, families know that Neil O’Donnell Funeral Home is here for them. People can have peace of mind knowing that the legacies of their loved ones will be appropriately preserved and celebrated. In a recent glowing review, Molly wrote “Neil O’Donnell Funeral Home have been so wonderful to the family, during the hardest time. Steve has helped the family along the years, and recently he was there when father passed away. Neil O’Donnell Funeral Home were so kind and very professional during the saddest moments. Steve made the process seamless, and father’s service was beautiful. Highly recommend Neil O’Donnell Funeral Home to family and friends.”
Release ID: 88990489