WAYNESVILLE, Mo.- A dedication ceremony was held Monday for a new veterans cemetery at Fort Leonard Wood. The military donated 229 acres on Highway H in Waynesville for the state cemetery. Missouri is first in the nation in the amount of cemetery acreage devoted to veterans, and second, behind Hawaii, in the number of veterans cemeteries in the state, with a total of five.
"This cemetery is dedicated to the veterans who made us free, the veterans who kept us free, those who serve as role models to the ones that wear the uniforms today," said Rep. Ike Skelton, speaking at the dedication ceremony.
The initial construction on the land covers 25 acres and should last the next 25 to 30 years. A $7.5 million grant for development came for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
