LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - An Arkansas veterans cemetery nearly tripled its size with land donated from a military post, officials said.
The Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock on Tuesday celebrated its 141-acre expansion, which enlarged it from 82 acres to 223 acres.
The Camp Robinson military post donated the land to the state Department of Veterans Affairs. It will provide enough space to continue military burials at the site for another 100 years, officials said.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson had planned to speak at Tuesday’s official land transfer ceremony, but he didn’t attend because he said he came in contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
Steve Eggensperger, a retired Air Force colonel and Hutchinson’s liaison to the Department of Veterans Affairs, read a statement at the ceremony that Hutchinson had written.
“This project represents Arkansas’ continued commitment to honoring our veterans,” Eggensperger said. “Today and every day, we recognize and remember our veterans with gratitude and respect.”
More than 9,800 veterans are buried in the cemetery, which opened in 2001.
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