State officials plan veterans cemetery

State officials are considering three possible locations for a veterans cemetery in Eastern Washington, a group of veterans and their families were told Thursday afternoon. But the cemetery might not open for nearly three years.

Veterans were urged to be patient, but persistent.

“We need to keep working to get this done,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who attended the information session on the cemetery. “An ideal site for a cemetery is not easy to find.”

All three locations are west of Spokane, and all three have pluses and minuses, Gary Condra of the state Department of Veterans Affairs said.

The state selected two possibilities after an extensive study, Condra said. One is on McFarland Road near Fairchild Air Force Base, and the other is on Salnave Road off Interstate 90, close to Medical Lake. The county is also offering to donate 141 acres near Willow Lake.

The cemetery would serve Eastern Washington, North Idaho and northeastern Oregon, where an estimated 170,000 veterans now live. As many as 15,000 veterans could be buried there in the 20 years after it opens.

“Those who served in the armed services deserve to be buried honorably,” said Don Newbold, a World War II veteran.

The federal government will reimburse the state for the cost of designing and constructing the cemetery, but the state has to spend the money first. Some of the money to operate and maintain the cemetery would be covered by the sale of special license plates with the veteran’s branch of service on them.

– Jim Camden