Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, M.D., is inviting Texans to the dedication and ribbon cutting of the West Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Lubbock, the Texas General Land Office said in an Aug. 17 news release.
The site is the fifth Texas State Veterans Cemetery built and operated by the Veterans Land Board under the General Land Office, and the release said it will serve more than 21,000 veterans and their eligible family members. The GLO broke ground on the cemetery in November 2023.
“As Texas Land Commissioner and the Chairwoman of the VLB, I am immensely proud that we have created such a beautiful and special resting place for the men and women who have selflessly served our country,” said Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, M.D. “I thank the Lubbock community for their outpouring of support and our incredible staff at the West Texas State Veterans Cemetery for their commitment to maintaining these hallowed grounds. As we officially dedicate the VLB’s fifth Veterans cemetery, we must never forget that we are the home of the free because of the brave.”
The ceremony is set for 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 4, at the cemetery at 4614 E. 50th Street in Lubbock, and the release said it is open to all media and the public. Community members who plan to attend are asked to RSVP through the GLO.
The cemetery has been in operation for months. It held a soft opening June 1, when it began laying veterans to rest during private interments for families, according to the release. In mid-June it was recognized as part of the National Purple Heart Trail, a symbolic system of roads, highways and monuments honoring service members who have received the Purple Heart. The next day the cemetery held its first Unaccompanied Veteran Burial, laying to rest U.S. Army veteran Specialist 5 Herman Brown Jr.
State veterans cemeteries are built through a partnership between the state of Texas and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and are managed by the Texas Veterans Land Board, the release said. They complement the six national cemeteries in Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston, Kerrville and San Antonio, and burial benefits at the state sites are identical to those at VA national cemeteries.