May. 25th, 2025
By Cassandra Day, Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN — Local veterans are encouraged the governor has proposed $7.5 million to expand the State Veterans Cemetery after the Department of Veterans Affairs had to decline a $4 million National Cemetery Administration grant for lack of suitable land late last year.
They also want to keep the “impending crisis” — the grounds rapidly running out of space for burials — at the forefront of people’s minds.
Charles Pickett, of New Haven, senior vice commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Department Connecticut, is hopeful the money will remain in the final spending package after budget negotiations are complete.
In November, Middletown officials voted unanimously not to sell 90 or so acres of open space on Bow Lane near Connecticut Valley Hospital to the DVA for a much-needed annex.
Many residents and neighbors spoke passionately at the time about not being informed of the state’s intention, as well as the potential for chemicals, including those involved in the embalming process, leaching into the land along with pesticides and herbicides used to maintain the grounds.
The agency went through a very competitive national process to apply for a limited amount of money through the National Cemetery Administration’s Veterans Cemetery Grants Program, Deputy DVA Commissioner Joseph Danao has said.
The $7.5 million is a new request, according to Lamont’s budget office spokesperson Chris Collibee. Veterans and their families “sacrifice so much for our state and nation, and they deserve a dignified final resting place,” he continued.
It would pay for purchasing land and making improvements, Collibee added.
Save Our Cemetery, a grassroots campaign of war veterans led by Pickett, is asking Connecticut lawmakers to address the “impending crisis.”
Locally, the Veterans of Foreign Wars 583 and Middletown Council of Veterans have adopted the effort, according to the website.
Pickett is asking supporters to “stay vigilant,” as the allocation may be reduced or dropped during budget negotiations.
“Connecticut Veterans Affairs continues to work with our state agency partners on property procurement to meet the needs of our cemetery services program,” DVA Manager of Community Advocacy Lindsay Jesshop said.
The five-year average is 273 burials per year, she added. As of May 1, there were 643 available plots. The estimated exhaustion date is September 2027.
In April, Connecticut Veteran Affairs posted on Facebook that members of the department, along with representatives from the Office of Policy and Management and Department of Administrative Services Office of Property and Leasing, were visiting several properties in southeastern Connecticut to create a new state veterans cemetery.
“The sites are among the almost two dozen proposals submitted in response to Connecticut Veterans Affairs’ request for available properties for the establishment of new state veterans cemetery,” April 4 post read.
When Pickett saw it, he said was surprised to learn acquisitions are being considered so far away from the current cemetery.
“While we’re happy there’s movement on looking for a new cemetery, and there’s money allocated for it in the governor’s proposed budget, we still would like to have it in a central location, and really like to have it near the existing cemetery in Middletown,” said Pickett, who grew up in the city.
Maintaining momentum for the project is crucial, he said.
“Because it’s gotten quiet again, you have to wonder if this is going to happen,” he said.
Things need to get moving soon, Pickett added.
“The true concern is, you can’t just open a cemetery the next day,” he said. “It’ll take a year or two to prepare the land. In-ground cremains are going to run out of space first, and they could conceivably have to go out of state or to another cemetery.”
Earlier in the session, state Rep. Christie Carpino, of Cromwell, introduced a bill that would require the DVA to designate or acquire one or more parcels of land as an “appropriate final resting place” for veterans by July 1, 2026. It was not taken up.
The Save Our Cemetery message is being heard though, Pickett said.
“There’s been a glorious chorus of voices expressing concern, and I really appreciate everybody who have raised their voices and contributed to this effort,” he said.
He hopes veterans organizations support the effort and contact their elected officials about the matter.
Cassandra Day is an assistant managing editor with the Middletown Press. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist and resident of the North End of Middletown who has been reporting nearly every facet of the city for over two decades.