He wanted to be buried in a veterans cemetery. But that’s not possible in Raleigh.

Frank Marshall, a Vietnam veteran who served for six years in the Army, always dreamed of being buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

When he was told there was no more room, he was willing to settle for Raleigh’s veterans cemetery on Rock Quarry Road — one of four national cemeteries for veterans in North Carolina.

With his wife and son still living in Raleigh or nearby, Marshall thought it would be a good spot that was close enough for them to visit. But that national cemetery is also full — and has been for years.

“I wouldn’t be raising this up, but it’s going to happen to a lot of people,” Marshall said. “I am highly decorated, and I was supposed to be buried with no questions. But they’ve got that one clause that says ‘if space available.’ And there is no space in Raleigh, North Carolina or anywhere else. Even in Arlington.”

The New Bern and Wilmington national cemeteries also are full. The only national cemetery in North Carolina with space is the Salisbury National Cemetery, which recently was expanded to offer more than 8,000 burial spaces for veterans.

The Raleigh cemetery’s website states that veterans with a reservation and their eligible family members are able to be buried there.

Space does periodically become available because of a cancellation.

“Since there is no way to know in advance when a gravesite may become available, please contact the cemetery at the time of need to inquire whether space is available,” the website states.

Marshall’s doctors warned him he likely wouldn’t see August after his aggressive liver cancer spread to his lungs. He’s treated his cancer for five years, going through tests, procedures and therapies. He thinks his health problems and cancer are from his exposure to Agent Orange, a herbicide that was used by the United States military.

Marshall decided to stop treatment for an aggressive liver cancer that has since spread to his lungs to focus on his quality of life instead of quantity. He was told he wouldn’t make it to August.

“This is where I’m at,” he said of his doctors’ prediction. “This is the week. This is the week the doctors said I am dying.”

Maybe, he quipped, he’s too mean to die.

Limited spots

North Carolina is one of seven states where there are either no federal veteran cemeteries or where a majority of the cemeteries are full. In nine other states, half of the national veteran cemeteries are full. The New York Times reported earlier this year that Arlington is considering tightening the restrictions on who can be buried there, to the frustration of several veteran groups.

“(The) VA is committed to providing veterans and eligible family members with reasonable access to a burial option,” said Jessica Schiefer, a public affairs officer within the national cemetery administration.

More than 95 percent of veterans within North Carolina have a burial option in a national or state veteran cemetery, she said. New national cemeteries are only created in areas where 80,000 veterans who live in a 75-mile radius don’t have “reasonable access to a burial option either in a VA national cemetery or in a VA grant-funded state veterans cemetery.”

Marshall said he’s frustrated the federal government “will get out of” paying for a portion of the burial costs because there isn’t space for him in a nearby national cemetery.

It took weeks, Marshall said, to go through the process of getting approved to receive burial benefits, and the entire responsibility was on the veteran. He said he finally found a helpful VA employee in Missouri after not getting help locally.

The benefits and the amount veterans receive can depend on whether the death was connected to their time in the military, when the person died or served and whether the person was hospitalized by the VA. And that’s assuming you meet certain qualifications to get benefits.

For veterans who don’t want to be buried in Salisbury, the state has another option.

North Carolina has four VA-supported state cemeteries for veterans: Sandhills in Spring Lake, Coastal in Jacksonville, Eastern in Goldsboro and Western in Black Mountain. The federal government pays for the development of those cemeteries, but the state has to cover the operation costs.

All except Eastern were built in the 1990s, and each has less than a few thousand gravesites left open. Eastern was opened in 2016 and has 50 acres available.

The N.C. Department of Military and Veterans Affairs just received two grants from the VA to help expand and improve the cemeteries in Spring Lake and Black Mountain. A nearly $6 million grant to Sandhills will help add more than 3,000 different graves, including cremation sites and crypts. A $3 million grant will go toward the Western cemetery for more than 3,000 graves.

“North Carolina is proud to be the most military and veteran friendly state in the nation, and I want to thank our federal partners at the Department of Veterans Affairs as well as North Carolina’s Congressional delegation for working to ensure that we can continue to serve our veterans and their loved ones,” said Larry Hall, secretary of the department.

It’s unlikely the state would receive more funding for a national or state cemetery until space is full at all of the facilities, said Angella Dunston, director of communications for the state department.

A change of plans

After living in Raleigh all his life, Marshall said he didn’t want his wife to have to drive two hours to Salisbury to visit his gravesite. He also said he had concerns about the distance and maintenance of the state’s veterans cemeteries.

Marshall has decided he will be cremated and buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh.

He and a friend suggested that the city of Raleigh set aside a portion of the 300-plus acre Dix Park for a veteran cemetery, but the VA won’t provide funding for nonprofits, cities or counties.

“The grave people at Oakwood will give you more help than the United States government, the state government or the county government,” he said.

Anna Johnson; 919-829-4807; @anna_m_johnson

This story was originally published August 2, 2018 at 12:55 PM.