WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has introduced a groundbreaking feature to its Veterans Legacy Memorial (VLM), the nation’s largest digital platform commemorating the lives of Veterans and service members. The new addition, titled “Your Story, Your Legacy,” enables Veterans to craft their personal narratives while they are still alive, offering a remarkable way to preserve their history and contributions for future generations.
The “Your Story, Your Legacy” feature is available to Veterans who have received pre-need eligibility determination for burial in a VA national cemetery. Veterans can access a secure website where they can upload images, autobiographies, military achievements, life milestones, and historical documents, ensuring their voices are preserved in their own words.
Once the content is submitted, the VA securely stores it until the Veteran passes and a burial or memorial benefit is formally approved. At that point, the submitted materials will be made public and added to the Veteran’s VLM page on the agency’s public-facing platform. This ensures that legacies are not only preserved but also shared with family, friends, and the broader public.
“The legacies we leave behind come in many forms,” said Acting Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Ronald Walters. “Providing Veterans with resources to document their stories while they are still with us ensures their voices are heard and allows family members, friends, and others to appreciate the experiences of those who served.”
The VLM platform, launched in 2019, already serves as an interactive space where loved ones can commemorate the lives of Veterans and service members. With nearly 10 million interactive pages, the VLM allows users to upload written tributes, photos, and documents to honor individuals interred in VA national cemeteries, Department of Defense cemeteries, state or tribal cemeteries funded by VA grants, National Park Service cemeteries, and private cemeteries around the world.
Since its inception, the VLM platform has received more than 165,000 content submissions to veteran profile pages. The “Your Story, Your Legacy” feature builds upon this foundation, giving Veterans the unprecedented opportunity to ensure their personal experiences are preserved in an authentic, secure, and meaningful way.
Veterans approved for pre-need eligibility who have provided their email addresses will be contacted directly with instructions for accessing the “Your Story, Your Legacy” landing page. Submissions are moderated by National Cemetery Administration (NCA) reviewers to ensure compliance with the VLM User Policy before publication.
The new feature aims to honor and celebrate the sacrifices made by Veterans, while also serving as an educational tool for future generations.
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