Planning a military funeral for a veteran comes down to four things done in roughly this order: confirm the veteran’s discharge status with the DD Form 214, decide where the burial will take place, ask the funeral director to request a military honors detail at least 48 hours before the service, and file for each Department of Veterans Affairs benefit the family qualifies for. Federal law requires the Department of Defense to provide funeral honors when the family of an eligible veteran asks for them, and the honors themselves cost the family nothing.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 1491 – Funeral Honors Functions at Funerals for Veterans
What to Do in the First Day or Two
Two documents drive almost every decision that follows: the veteran’s DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) and the death certificate. Find the DD-214 first. Many veterans kept a copy with their important papers. If yours did, pull it out before you call the funeral home, because the funeral director will use it to arrange the honors detail and to help the family apply for VA benefits.2National Archives. DD Form 214 Discharge Papers and Separation Documents
If the DD-214 isn’t where you thought it would be, don’t stop planning. Tell the funeral director. Experienced veteran-services funeral homes can often work with the military honors coordinator using other proof of service while the formal records request is pending.
Confirming Eligibility
Three groups qualify for military funeral honors: service members who die on active duty, veterans discharged under honorable or general (under honorable conditions) terms, and members or former members of the Selected Reserve with the same discharge status.3Military OneSource. Military Funeral Honors Eligibility The character of discharge on the DD-214 is the deciding factor. An honorable or under-honorable-conditions discharge qualifies. A dishonorable discharge does not.
Eligibility for honors is a legal entitlement, not a courtesy. Under 10 U.S.C. ยง 1491, each military department must provide a funeral honors detail on family request.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 1491 – Funeral Honors Functions at Funerals for Veterans The ceremony can take place at a national cemetery, a private cemetery, a funeral home, or a church.
If You Can’t Find the DD-214
The next of kin can request a copy from the National Personnel Records Center. The fastest way is through the online eVetRecs system at vetrecs.archives.gov, which requires identity verification through ID.me. You can also mail or fax Standard Form 180 to the NPRC at 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138.4National Archives. Request Military Service Records
For records purposes, next of kin includes a surviving spouse who has not remarried, parents, children, and siblings. You’ll need proof of the veteran’s death, such as a death certificate or a letter from the funeral home.5U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Request Your Military Service Records Requests can take weeks, and some Army and Air Force records were lost in a 1973 fire at the NPRC, which adds time when the request has to be reconstructed from alternate sources.
Requesting the Honors Detail
In most cases the funeral director makes this call. Funeral homes that serve veteran families already have contacts at the local military installation or the branch’s casualty and mortuary affairs office. Hand over the DD-214 and death certificate, and the funeral home reaches out to the appropriate branch.
Give at least 48 hours’ notice before the service. The Navy explicitly asks for 48 hours, and the other branches operate on similar timelines.6Commander, Navy Installations Command. Funeral Honors More lead time improves your chances of getting a live bugler and a detail from the veteran’s own branch rather than a combined-service detail. If your funeral director isn’t experienced with military services, the family can contact the branch directly or call the VA at 1-800-827-1000 for guidance.
What the Ceremony Will Include
At a minimum, the honors detail folds a United States flag, presents it to the family, and plays “Taps.” The detail consists of at least two uniformed members of the armed forces, with at least one from the veteran’s parent service branch.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 1491 – Funeral Honors Functions at Funerals for Veterans If a live bugler isn’t available, the detail brings its own audio equipment and plays a high-quality recording. The flag is folded into a triangle and presented to the next of kin with words along the lines of, “On behalf of the President of the United States and a grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one’s honorable and faithful service.”7Military OneSource. Military Funeral Honors Flag Presentation Protocol
Higher-ranking veterans, Medal of Honor recipients, former prisoners of war, and those killed in action may receive a larger ceremony that adds pallbearers, a firing party, a bugler, and in some cases a military band or a horse-drawn caisson. At Arlington National Cemetery this is called full military funeral honors with escort.8Arlington National Cemetery. Military Honors Outside Arlington, what’s available depends on the branch and the local installation.
Choosing Where to Bury the Veteran
VA National Cemeteries
The VA operates more than 150 national cemeteries, and burial there costs the family nothing. The benefit includes the gravesite, a government-furnished grave liner, opening and closing of the grave, a headstone or marker, and perpetual care.9U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. What Does Burial in a VA National Cemetery Include Eligible veterans, their spouses (including remarried surviving spouses), and dependent children all qualify.10Veterans Affairs. Eligibility for Burial in a VA National Cemetery
If the veteran is still living, apply for a pre-need eligibility determination now using VA Form 40-10007. Having that decision on file removes one hard task from the days after a death.11U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Pre-Need Eligibility for Burial in a VA Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington’s rules are stricter. In-ground burial is generally limited to service members who died on active duty, veterans retired from active duty and receiving retirement pay, former prisoners of war, and recipients of decorations such as the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, or Purple Heart.12Arlington National Cemetery. Establishing Eligibility Most honorably discharged veterans with at least one day of active service (other than training) qualify for above-ground inurnment in the columbarium.13My Army Benefits. Burial in Arlington National Cemetery
Private Cemeteries
Military honors can be arranged at any private cemetery or funeral home; the detail will travel to the location. The family pays for the plot and burial services, but several VA benefits offset those costs.
Burial at Sea
The Navy performs burials at sea aboard naval vessels for active duty and retired service members, honorably discharged veterans, civilian Marine personnel of the Military Sealift Command, and dependents of service members. Only cremated or casketed remains are accepted, and scheduling depends on vessel availability, which can push the ceremony out by months.14MyNavy HR. Burial at Sea Families interested in this option should contact the Navy’s Mortuary Affairs office early.
VA Benefits to Claim
Several benefits are available, but the family has to ask for each one.
Burial Allowances
For a service-connected death, the VA pays up to $2,000 toward burial and funeral expenses. For a non-service-connected death, the allowance is up to $978. If the veteran is not buried in a national cemetery, the VA also pays a separate plot allowance of up to $978.15U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Burial Benefits – Compensation These amounts change over time, so check the VA’s current schedule when you file.
Transportation Reimbursement
The VA may reimburse some or all of the cost of transporting the veteran’s remains to a national cemetery. It also applies when the veteran died while hospitalized by the VA or while traveling to VA-authorized care.16U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans Burial Allowance and Transportation Benefits Long-distance transportation can run into thousands of dollars, so this reimbursement is worth pursuing.
Burial Flag
The VA provides a free American flag to drape the casket or accompany the urn, then given to the next of kin after the ceremony. To get one, submit VA Form 27-2008 through the funeral director, a VA regional office, or a post office that stocks burial flags.17U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Burial Flags to Honor Veterans and Reservists Most funeral directors handling veteran services take care of this, but confirm it rather than assume.
Headstone, Marker, or Medallion
A government headstone or marker is included with burial in a national cemetery. Veterans buried in private cemeteries can also receive a free government headstone or marker, either as the sole marker or as a supplemental one alongside a privately purchased stone (for veterans who died on or after November 1, 1990).18U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans Headstones, Markers, Plaques and Urns If the family prefers to keep an existing privately purchased headstone, the VA offers a bronze medallion that can be affixed to it, provided the veteran was discharged under honorable conditions and is buried in a private cemetery with a permanent private headstone already in place.19Veterans Affairs. Medallions
Presidential Memorial Certificate
Any veteran eligible for burial in a national cemetery also qualifies for a Presidential Memorial Certificate, an engraved certificate signed by the sitting president. For veterans buried in a national cemetery, the VA presents one automatically at the burial. Otherwise, family members and close friends can apply using VA Form 40-0247, submitted online, by mail, by fax, or in person at a VA regional office.20U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Presidential Memorial Certificates Multiple family members can each request their own copy.
Replacing Missing Medals and Awards
If the family wants to display the veteran’s medals at the service and the originals are lost, the next of kin can request replacements through the National Personnel Records Center by mail or through the medals request portal at archives.gov.21National Archives. Replace Veterans Medals, Awards, and Decorations There is no expedited process for funerals, so if the service is days away, consider displaying photographs or a shadow box with printed citations instead. Mailed requests go to the NPRC at 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138. Who counts as next of kin varies by branch: the Army runs from surviving spouse to eldest child to parents, while other branches define it as the unremarried widow or widower, then children, parents, and siblings.
The most common mistake families make is not knowing what they’ve earned. A veteran’s funeral can include honors, a burial flag, a headstone or medallion, a burial allowance, transportation reimbursement, and a Presidential Memorial Certificate, but each one has to be requested. Locate the DD-214 as early as possible, apply for pre-need burial eligibility if a national cemetery is the plan, and give the honors coordinator as much lead time as you can.