Burial in a National Cemetery is a benefit accorded to most veterans.\u00a0 However, as is the case with most government benefits, it\u2019s not a right guaranteed by the Constitution.\u00a0 Congress created the benefit, and Congress can set the rules as it sees fit.<\/p>\n
Congress occasionally does change the rules about burial in National Cemeteries, or allow the VA to do so.*\u00a0 Today, those rules are considerably more lenient than I’d personally prefer.\u00a0 A veteran with a Dishonorable Discharge is banned by law from burial in a National Cemetery; all others who qualify legally as veterans – including those who accepted discharge in lieu of court-martial or received a Bad Conduct Discharge – can be.\u00a0 (Those with less than an honorable discharge are evaluated on a case-by-case basis and can be buried in National Cemeteries if the VA approves.)<\/p>\n
Congress has placed a number of legal restrictions on burial in National Cemeteries.\u00a0 The aforementioned ban on those with a DD being buried therein is one such legal restriction.\u00a0 Another is the fact that even an honorably discharged veteran loses the benefit if he or she (1) is convicted of a capital crime, (2) dies before they can be tried for a capital crime, or (3) if clear and convincing evidence exists that the individual committed a capital crime.<\/p>\n
However, there is presently no legal authority for the VA to order the removal remains once interred.\u00a0 And that apparent omission in the law has led to the following conundrum.<\/p>\n
A veteran of Afghanistan apparently went \u201coff the rails\u201d in 2012.\u00a0 He murdered one person, injured three others, and then killed himself.<\/p>\n
What actually had happened was apparently not clearly known immediately.\u00a0 And before things could be investigated and sorted out, the individual had been buried in a National Cemetery with full military honors \u2013 without the VA ever knowing he was under suspicion of murder.\u00a0 All agree it would have been virtually impossible for the VA to have known of the issue prior to the burial, so it’s not a case of the VA “screwing the pooch”.\u00a0\u00a0 The situation was simply too murky to sort out prior to the funeral.<\/p>\n
The victim\u2019s family is understandably bothered by this turn of events.\u00a0 They want the VA to remove the murderer\u2019s remains from the cemetery.\u00a0\u00a0 And IMO, they have a point; had the facts been known at the time of the funeral, the National Cemetery burial would never have occurred.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the VA has no legal authority to remove the murderer\u2019s remains.\u00a0 Without such authority, they can\u2019t do so.<\/p>\n