The question was never asked
No application was filed, the discharge papers were lost, or the family was told years ago that nothing was available. Records can be found, and the VA decides on the record as it stands today.
Veteran memorials
Honored with full respect, close to home
Not every veteran is buried in a national cemetery. Some do not qualify. Some families want him near home, in the family plot, where they can visit. Either way, his service can be honored properly, and we will handle it.
This page is for the veteran who will not be buried in a national cemetery, and for the family who loves him.
Maybe the VA rules do not cover his service. Maybe the question was never put to the VA at all. Or maybe your family wants him in the plot you already own, in the cemetery you drive past every week. Whatever the reason, a local cemetery is not a second-class resting place. With the right stone, the right words, and the official recognition he earned, it honors him fully.
Here is what is available, in plain order: how to check eligibility before assuming, the official VA plaque and how we get it for you, and what we can build and install in the cemetery you choose. Our main page on veteran memorials covers custom monuments and VA markers in full.
Check first
Do not assume. Ask the VA to decide in writing.
Families often believe a veteran is not eligible when the record was simply never checked. Eligibility is the VA decision to make, and there is a way to get that decision before you need it:
- Fill out VA Form 40-10007, the Application for Pre-Need Determination of Eligibility for Burial in a VA National Cemetery. It is on va.gov. A copy of the DD-214 helps if you have it, and the VA will try to find the records if you do not.
- The VA reviews the service record and writes back with its decision. Keep the letter with the discharge papers, and tell your family where it is.
- Your county veterans service office will help with the form and with finding service records, at no charge.
- Bring the letter and the papers to us. We will go through them at your table and lay out what each path means.
Being found eligible does not commit you to a national cemetery. It only settles the question.
How it happens
Why a veteran may not be in a national cemetery
Sometimes it is the VA rules. Sometimes it is the family choice. Both are common, and neither has to mean less honor.
Guard or Reserve service
Some National Guard and Reserve service, such as training duty on its own, does not meet the VA rules for national cemetery burial. Service that counts toward retirement, and active duty beyond training, often do. The line is in the details, which is why the written check matters.
The discharge
Burial benefits generally require a discharge under conditions other than dishonorable. Where the record is complicated, the county veterans service office is the right first stop.
The family chooses home
Many families could use a national cemetery and still choose the family plot, the churchyard, or the town cemetery, close to the people who will visit. That is not a lesser choice, and it is the one this page is about.
VA approved vendor
The official VA plaque, handled for you
Reserve Memorials is approved by the VA as a vendor. Your family does not have to work the VA system alone. We prepare the claim, we order the item, and we install it in your cemetery.
For an eligible veteran buried in a local cemetery, the VA furnishes one of the following, at no cost for the item itself: a government headstone or marker, or a bronze medallion that attaches to a headstone your family buys. The VA provides one or the other, not both.
- We prepare VA Form 40-1330 for a headstone or marker, or Form 40-1330M for the medallion, and send it with the discharge papers.
- We follow the order and set the finished piece at the grave.
- The paperwork is always free. In a private cemetery the setting is at private expense, and we quote it in writing before anything is ordered.
For ashes kept at home: the commemorative plaque
If a veteran was cremated and his ashes are kept at home, not buried and not placed in a columbarium, the VA offers a commemorative plaque made to hang on a wall, or a commemorative urn to hold the ashes. We can get the plaque for your family.
Decide carefully. Federal law says that once the VA gives a family the commemorative plaque or urn, it cannot later provide a headstone, marker, or medallion, or burial in a national cemetery, for that veteran. The choice cannot be undone. We will talk it through with you before any form is filed.
In your cemetery
What we can do in the cemetery you choose
Engraved veteran memorials
Granite monuments with the branch emblem, rank, service dates, and honors carved in. We verify every detail against the discharge papers before a letter is cut.
Companion monuments
One stone for a veteran and spouse together. A spouse does not receive a separate VA marker in a private cemetery, so the family monument is where her name belongs beside his.
Bronze plaques
Cast bronze plaques mounted on granite or set flush in the lawn, in the tradition of the national cemeteries.
Installed by us
We set every memorial ourselves, on a proper foundation, and we check it at the graveside when the work is done. The big national brands ship a stone and drop it. We install.
Thousands of stones in stock. No office and no showroom, so no overhead hiding in the price. Mark comes to your house and handles everything: the cemetery rules, the permits, the VA papers, and the setting.
Common questions
Questions veteran families ask us
The VA said no, or we never asked. How do we know for sure?
Ask the VA for a pre-need determination with Form 40-10007. The VA decides in writing, and asking costs nothing. Your county veterans service office will help with the form and with finding service records, at no charge. Until you have that letter, do not assume either way.
Can a veteran have both a VA headstone and the bronze medallion?
No. The VA provides one or the other. If the family buys a granite memorial, the medallion attaches to it and marks him as a veteran. If there is no private stone, the VA headstone or marker stands on its own. We will show you both and let you choose.
What will the VA items cost us?
The VA furnishes the headstone, marker, medallion, and commemorative plaque at no cost. In a private cemetery, the setting is at private expense, and the cemetery may charge a foundation or setting fee. We put every charge in writing before anything is ordered, and we never charge for preparing or filing the VA paperwork.
This page gives general information to help families plan. It is not legal advice, and it is not a decision by the VA. Only the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs can decide eligibility for VA benefits. The program facts above are summarized from va.gov and were checked on October 19, 2026.
Here when you are ready
We come to your house and handle everything
One visit is enough to start. Mark will sit at your table, look at the papers with you, and lay out every option and its cost in writing.