Dear Veteran,
It was with great honor that the Texas Veterans Land Board (VLB) and the Texas General Land Office (GLO) held the Dedication and Ribbon-Cutting for the West Texas State Veterans Cemetery (WTSVC) in Lubbock on September 4, 2026. Our Texas State Veterans Cemeteries are special resting places, close to home, where friends, family, and fellow Texans can pay tribute to our Veterans and cherish the memories of their loved ones.
While the ceremony was guided by solemn respect for our Veterans’ final resting place, it was also a moment to applaud the fact that more than 21,000 Veterans and their family members will be served by the VLB’s newest Veterans’ cemetery. The bulk of the funding for this crucial project was supplied by a $15,902,647 grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), with the VLB funding an additional $638,400.
Since breaking ground in November 2023, the GLO, VLB, the City of Lubbock, and key elected officials have been working to bring this benefit to West Texas. Lubbock is the fifth State Veterans Cemetery in Texas and the first new Veterans cemetery built in 15 years. The WTSVC officially opened for interments on June 1, 2026. At that time, more than 2,500 Veterans were pre-registered for burial, demonstrating the community’s need for burial options closer to home.
In mid-June, the WTSVC was recognized as part of the National Purple Heart Trail, a symbolic and honorary system of roads, highways, and monuments honoring military 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 (SP5) Herman Brown, Jr. The City of Lubbock donated 100 acres of farmland for the new cemetery, 32 of which are being developed as part of Phase I and will accommodate 4,110 double burial spaces for Veterans, their spouses, and eligible dependent children. The initial build also includes 510 pre-positioned crypts, 600 columbaria niches, and 1,000 in-ground cremated-remains plots.
Visitors to the cemetery can view the open-air structure for committal services, including Unaccompanied Veteran Burials; the visitor center; the computer kiosk for locating specific graves; the scattering garden; the avenue of flags; and the cemetery’s memorial walkway for future monuments. Veterans and their families can access these amenities and burial benefits, including a gravesite, opening and closing of the grave, perpetual care, a government headstone or marker, a burial flag, and a Presidential Memorial Certificate, all at no cost.
During the dedication ceremony, I was joined by state and local leaders committed to supporting Lubbock’s extensive Veteran population. Texas House Speaker and Representative Dustin Burrows, State Senator Brent Hagenbuch, State Senator Charles Perry, State Representative Carl Tepper, County Judge Curtis Parrish, and Lubbock City Mayor Mark W. McBrayer shared remarks on the WTSVC and its importance to the Lubbock community. While the West Texas State Veterans Cemetery holds special meaning for everyone who helped make it a reality, one sentiment has guided its creation: The men and women who have served our nation deserve nothing less than the very best care and to be laid to rest with the dignity befitting their sacrifices.
For more information about Texas State Veterans Cemeteries and the support available to you, visit the GLO’s website. Here in Texas, we will continue working to preserve the legacies of Texas Veterans and ensure their sacrifices are remembered for generations to come.
For Texas,
Chairwoman Dawn Buckingham, M.D.
Letter From the Chairwoman — A Final Resting Place for West Texas Veterans was originally published in Texas Veterans Blog on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
