Northwoods National Cemetery currently under construction

By Jalen Maki

Tomahawk Leader Co-Editor

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced the name of the veterans cemetery currently being constructed at 4520 Lakewood Road in Harshaw.

“Northwoods National Cemetery” was chosen by the VA after suggestions from local veterans and community leaders were submitted. Title 38 United States Code § 531 requires VA property, including national cemeteries, to be named for the geographic area in which the facility is located.

The cemetery will serve more than 38,000 veterans, their spouses and eligible children within a 75-mile radius of Rhinelander.

The VA also chose a name for a veterans cemetery currently under construction in Idaho. That cemetery will be called “Snake River Canyon National Cemetery.”

“We are pleased to expand burial services to Veterans and their families in these two states,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “These cemeteries will help us reach Veterans in the rural parts of Wisconsin and Idaho who have not previously been served by a burial option.”

The closest burial option for Veterans currently living in the Northwoods is state-run Central Wisconsin Veterans  Cemetery, located in King, about 114 miles from Harshaw.

VA purchased the six-acre property in Harshaw allocated for the cemetery for $24,712 on Sept.24, 2015. The cemetery will be the second Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) national cemetery in the state, with Wood National Cemetery in Milwaukee being the other. Wood National Cemetery is currently closed to first interments.

Cemetery construction is currently underway. When completed, Phase I will offer more than 3,380 casket and cremation spaces to accommodate burials for the next 10 years. The cemetery will provide casket burials, in-ground cremation burials, columbarium niches for cremation burials and a memorial wall, according to the VA.

Kimberly Wright, Executive Cemetery Director, will oversee Northwoods National Cemetery. For more information about Northwoods Nation Cemetery, call Ft. Snelling National Cemetery at 612-726-1127.

For more information about VA National Cemetery Administration, visit www.cem.va.gov.