member. The only requirement we make is that any individual or American Legion or Spanish American War veterans' organization, or any other service organization, submit an application to our office giving the information to the best of their knowledge. We will check it against the official records to insure that the service of the man was proper and that he was honorably discharged, and then we will order the marker and have it sent to that organization, or if they request, to a cemetery superintendent or other appropriate person who will be responsible for receiving it and effecting the erection.

Senator HAYDEN. The grave does not necessarily have to be in a cemetery?

Colonel MARTZ. No, sir. Any unmarked grave of a former service member may be provided with a marker at Government expense.

Senator HAYDEN. The last instance of that kind I had was with respect to a veteran of the Civil War who became a famous Indian scout, and a marker was sent out there. I have heard of some other cases which I perhaps will have to take up.

INCREASE IN REQUEST

Senator DwORSHAK (presiding). Colonel, you have an overall increase of $528,000, is that right?

Colonel MARTZ. Yes, sir, that is correct.

Senator DwORSHAK. What is primarily the increase? I see lands and structures are increased materially. It would seem to me that in view of the administration program for greater economy that every effort should be made to hold down the appropriations instead of increasing them.

Colonel MARTZ. These items for lands and structures, sir, have been studied very, very carefully with that specific object in view. The items in the specific cemeteries in which we have proposed to spend this particular sum are items where, in practically every case, it is absolutely necessary that we expand in order to have adequate grave space. We find that the constantly increasing rate of deaths of the veteran population is increasing our number of burials each year, as was indicated in the general's opening statement. We find that in several of these large cemeteries which have a large amount of business, we must continue to make new areas available in order to eliminate any possibility of having to turn anybody down.

Senator HAYDEN. The average age of Spanish American war veterans would be in the 70's.

Colonel MARTZ. That is about right.

Senator HAYDEN. There are not very many of them left. Of the World War I veterans, they are getting along in years, too.

Colonel MARTZ. That is where we are getting one of our biggest increases now, sir, from our World War I veterans. Of course, we have had a certain amount of increase from deaths attributable to the larger size Armed Forces which we have had in the last 3 years, over what we normally had prior to the Korean situation.

Senator HAYDEN. Of course, there are casualties and then there are men who have lost their health and came home and passed away. Colonel MARTZ. And that contributed to a gradual increase.

Senator HAYDEN. That load should go down since we are not in active combat.

CASUALTY RATES

Colonel MARTZ. That is right. Our casualty rates have stopped insofar as actual battle deaths are concerned. We are finding that our World War I veterans are getting older and we are having a larger increase in the number of deaths from that group. Thus, our burial rate is increasing even without considering the battle casualties from Korea.

Senator HAYDEN. It might be well, Mr. Chairman, to put in the record a statement for the last 5 years showing the number of deaths of the Spanish American War veterans, which I understand are declining, and the number of burials, and the number of burials of the World War I veterans which I understand are increasing. You can do that over a 5-year period to show the trend.

1 Data from U. S. Veterans' Administration, based on mortality tables.

• Possible requirements for grave sites for World War II and Korean returnees have not been included in budget estimates for fiscal years 1954 or 1955.

SUPPORT OF BUDGET ESTIMATE

Senator ROBERTSON. May I ask if the testimony of the Quartermaster General and his assistants is just in support of the budget estimate and in explanation of the needs that are covered by the budget estimates?

Colonel MARTZ. Yes, sir.

Senator ROBERTSON. Are you just supporting the budget estimate?
Colonel MARTZ. Yes, sir.

Senator ROBERTSON. You are not asking for any increase in it?
Colonel MARTZ. That is right, sir.

Senator HAYDEN. They confessed to me that they asked for more money from the budget, but they did not get it.

Senator ROBERTSON. I see. Under the new look, they do not step out of place.

Senator DwORSHAK. Colonel, will you give me the details on the specific cemeteries where you propose to spend the $528,500, showing the graves and burials in each one of those? How many cemeteries are affected by that?

BEVERLY NATIONAL CEMETERY, N. J.

Colonel MARTZ. Yes, sir. We have, first, the Beverly National Cemetery in New Jersey, which probably can best be explained by a small chart which we have here.

Senator DwORSHAK. That is all right. But on the others just put in the numbers. Just go ahead and show it.

Colonel MARTZ. The ascending line shows our rate of burials in this particular cemetery. The area below the black line is the space available for burials at the present time. At the end of fiscal year 1954, you see we will be almost out of grave space. We recovered some additional burial space by a drainage project which is being completed at the present time, and will carry us through until the end of fiscal year 1955. But in October of 1955, we again will run out of burial space unless we make some additional expansion.

This cemetery has 11,308 developed gravesites of which 9,200 will be used by June 30, 1954.

I might mention that in all of the requests we have here, there is no acquisition of land involved. It is only for the development of land which is presently within the existing boundaries of the cemeteries.

In the case of Beverly, we have at the present time 27.7 acres which have been developed. We have an additional 36.84 acres within the cemetery which can be developed for future years. We are asking for the development of approximately 20 acres with the funds indicated here.

Senator DwORSHAK. That is for Beverly?

Colonel MARTZ. Yes, sir. It is based on the fact that our experience indicates the development of a burial area for 5 years is more economical from an engineering standpoint than the development of a small area each year.

FORT LOGAN NATIONAL CEMETERY, COLO.

Senator DWORSHAK. The next important one is Fort Logan, Colo. Colonel MARTZ. Yes, sir. Fort Logan, Colo., is a cemetery which was established in 1950 by act of Congress and at the present time consists only of 3.2 acres of an old post cemetery where we have 1,582 gravesites of which 980 will be used by June 30, 1954. We have acquired an additional 156.8 acres of land from the former Fort Logan Military Reservation, which has now been reserved for future expan

sion of that cemetery. However, since this cemetery was designated a national cemetery, no funds have been expended for any development. In other words, we have a little old post cemetery; we have no facilities; there are no public comfort rooms; there is no building in which our cemetery superintendent can keep his equipment out of the weather, except a little wooden shed which was constructed in one corner. What we propose to do is to round off the old cemetery to an area of just 5 acres, putting in the necessary facilities, including plumbing, heating, and lighting and a small building, which I assure you is a very modest type. We have been getting increasing pressure from the veterans in the Denver area to develop this cemetery, and while our rates of burial have been fairly low, we anticipate they will go up rather rapidly as we make the cemetery an attractive place in which those veterans would like to be buried.

GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL CEMETERY, CALIF.

In the Golden Gate National Cemetery, where we have 54,689 developed gravesites of which 29,765 will be used by June 30, 1954, the item of $47,300 is basically for rehabilitation of our water system. In that particular area we find that the cemetery must be watered for at least 6 months out of the year in order to maintain our turf. We have our own water supply, which consists of three deep wells. In the last several years we have found that these wells are rapidly filling up with sand due to the geological formation of that area, and it is necessary that one well in particular must be completely cleaned out, since we are getting practically no water from it at the present time. The expense here involves the installation of the necessary sand traps and piping at all of these wells in order to eliminate the sand from the outflow of water, which of course will also eliminate the difficulty we have with the nozzles of the sprinklers clogging up with sand, a situation which has become serious in the last several years.

ACTUAL EXPENSE

Senator ROBERTSON. Colonel, in connection with the charts showing the increase in the number of burials in Government cemeteries, will you tell us what expense the Government has when the veteran is buried in a Government cemetery?

Colonel MARTZ. The actual expense which we have at that particular time is limited to the opening of the grave, the services of the superintendent or his assistant in arranging for the funeral, the closing of the grave, replacing the sod, installing a temporary marker, and then at a later date the permanent marker as soon as one can be obtained. Senator ROBERTSON. The family purchases the casket?

Colonel MARTZ. For a veteran, sir, that is true. A man who is a veteran does receive an allowance from the Veterans' Administration to help defray the cost of the actual funeral expenses.

Senator ROBERTSON. How much is that?

Colonel MARTZ. Approximately $150, I believe it is, at the present time.

Senator ROBERTSON. Is there any Government agency that furnishes caskets at Government cost to families of veterans?

Colonel MARTZ. To the veterans, no, sir; in the case of men who are on active duty, the situation is a little different. A man dying on

active duty is provided with necessary embalming services, casket, and transportation of remains and escort, at Government expense. This expense is paid from appropriated military funds, not cemeterial funds.

Senator ROBERTSON. I remember distinctly when I was assistant camp adjutant at Camp Lee when 500 men were dying per day, and the Commanding General told me to write the travel orders-I had never written one-and I called a field clerk of the Headquarters Company to write the orders. They evidently were in proper form as we furnished the caskets.

Colonel MARTZ. That is correct. A man on active duty has all expenses taken care of by the Armed Forces. If he is a veteran, he gets an allowance from the Veterans' Administration.

Senator ROBERTSON. But if he dies when he is not on active duty, the family buys the coffin and pays the transportation.

Colonel MARTZ. That is correct, sir.

Senator ROBERTSON. What option do they have as to where he will be buried?

Colonel MARTZ. That is entirely at the option of the family.

Senator ROBERTSON. Anybody who wants to be buried in Arlington can secure that privilege?

Colonel MARTZ. Yes, sir, providing he is a veteran with an honorable discharge, or providing he is a member of the active forces. Senator ROBERTSON. That is all, Mr. Chairman.

LONG ISLAND NATIONAL CEMETERY, N. Y.

Colonel MARTZ. I will proceed with the Long Island National Cemetery, sir. The Long Island Cemetery is the most active of all of our national cemeteries, because it covers the greater New York area. At the present time we have 124.82 acres developed, except for certain access roads, with 69,919 gravesites of which 42,840 will be used by June 30, 1954. We have an additional 239.18 acres of land which is available for future development. At our present rate of burial, which at Long Island in 1953 was 3,835 burials, plus 883 reservations, we find that we will run out of accessible grave space by the end of fiscal year 1955, due to the fact that 5 to 6 areas must be available for funerals at the same hour. The only items we are requesting here are for the addition of a portion of the road system, which is needed to make additional space in the cemetery available for burial purposes.

A small amount of that item is also involved in the necessary drainage and catch basins in connection with the development of the road network.

Senator DwORSHAK. Why do you feel that all of these particular improvements are necessary at this time? Did you ask for them last year and preceding years?

Colonel MARTZ. In certain cases some of these were asked for in preceding years and were eliminated, when it was determined that we could get along for another year, in order to conserve funds. But the time has arrived when we can no longer do that.

Senator DwORSHAK. Has the Budget Bureau approved these items? Colonel MARTZ. Yes, sir. The Budget Bureau has approved all these items, including a study of the engineering drawings and so forth. Senator DwORSHAK. Continue.