AUSTIN — The Texas Veterans' Land Board broke ground today on the Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery. Nueces County and the City of Corpus Christi donated the 54-acre site off Carbon Plant Road, which will be the final resting place for 31,500 veterans.

The 54-acre site will feature a public information center, a computer system for locating specific graves or interments, and an assembly area for special occasions. The State Veterans Cemetery will provide for in-ground casket burial sites, cremation interments as well as columbarium niches.

"The groundbreaking of the Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery in Corpus Christi has been a much-anticipated event for more than 53,000 veterans and their families living in this area," Hinojosa said. "This will be the final resting place for those brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for America."

The construction of State Veterans Cemeteries is funded entirely by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). The Texas Veterans Land Board will own and operate the Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery under VA guidelines. The Coastal Bend State Cemetery will coordinate with Department of Defense units or Veterans Service Organizations in nearby communities for military honors at burials.

On November 6, 2001, Texas approved a constitutional amendment to authorizing the creation of the Texas State Veterans Cemeteries Program. The 77th Texas State Legislature passed a law to authorize the Veterans Land Board of the State of Texas to operate and maintain up to seven veterans' cemeteries throughout the state. The Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery will be the fourth state cemetery to be constructed.

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