Veterans cemetery director visits Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE - The state Department of Veterans Affairs is working to improve access to benefits for vets living on this side of the state.

Rudy Lopez, director of the Eastern Washington State Veterans Cemetery, said the WSDVA has several programs available for veterans statewide. Two of the initiatives directly benefit veterans and their families in the Eastern region, he said.

Lopez was in Moses Lake recently as the guest speaker for a Columbia Basin Job Corps meeting.

Lopez said the agency operates the veterans cemetery in Medical Lake as well as a veterans home in Spokane. WSDVA broke also broke ground on another veterans home in Walla Walla in late May, he said.

The new facility will add about 72 beds to the collective 397 long-term care beds in the agencies' other homes in Retsil (near Port Orchard), Orting and Spokane, according to the WSDVA website.

In terms of veteran population, Washington is ranked 12th nationwide, Lopez said.

"We're working hard to make us the number one state in terms of veteran benefits," he said. "It's a lofty goal but we have the right level of leadership to get us there."

Lopez said helping veterans on both sides of the state gain access to benefits is a priority for WSDVA.

"The Eastern side of the state has been an area that has been somewhat under-served over the years, so the state is working extremely hard to provide more and more benefits on this side of the state," Lopez said.

Lopez said the construction of the veterans cemetery in Medical Lake was another initiative to help veterans and their families in this region.

The 120-acre cemetery was built in 2010 through an $8 million federal grant. The federal government turned the property over to the state to manage after construction, Lopez said.

Lopez said building the Eastern Washington veterans cemetery provides a resource that was lacking on this side of the state.

The only other veterans cemetery is a federal cemetery, the Tahoma National Cemetery, in Kent. The cemetery in Medical Lake is a lot closer for Eastern Washington's veteran population, said Lopez.

"About half the year it's tough to go through that pass to get to the federal cemetery on the west side of the state," he said. Lopez took over as director of the cemetery in March. Since then, he said he is working on meeting with veterans in various communities to let them know about the cemetery.

"It's a fairly new benefit to the community, something we have not had on this side of the state before," he said.

Veterans, their spouses and their qualified children are eligible to be buried at the veterans cemetery, he said. One thing veterans can do at the Eastern Washington cemetery is pre-register, a service not available at the federal cemetery, Lopez said.

"It allows them to gather all their documents at a time that's less stressful for the family and get verified at that time," he said.

Lopez said he sees his job as an important one.

"I view it as an opportunity to serve veterans and take care of their families at a time they probably need it the most," he said. "It's an honor to be able to do that."

Lopez said the cemetery isn't just a place to bury veterans. It's also a place to honor the sacrifices they've made for their country, he said.

For more information on the Eastern Washington Veterans Cemetery, or other WSDVA programs, visit www.dva.wa.gov.