When it comes to seeking a new national cemetery site in Jefferson City, we encourage our leaders not to take "no" for an answer.
We recently reported federal officials rebuffed our city's first attempt to get federal backing for a new site.
Our existing site sits on about 2 acres at 1024 E. McCarty St., and contains the remains of 1,792 people from our area who served their country. It's been closed to new burials since 1969.
A local committee studying the issue clearly saw a need for a new national cemetery, and send a letter to Randy Reeves, under secretary for Memorial Affairs within the Department of Veterans Affairs, asking that the feds begin the process of identifying a new local site.
Meanwhile, our local legislative delegation and mayor asked for assistance in the matter from Missouri's U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill and U.S. Reps. Vicky Hartzler and Blaine Luetkemeyer.
Reeves' response says the policy of the National Cemetery Administration is to establish new national cemeteries only in places where 80,000 veterans live within a 75-mile radius of the proposed location. He said an analysis of the Jefferson City area shows it lies within the 75-mile service area of a Missouri State Veterans cemeteries at Jacksonville and at Ft. Leonard Wood.
Furthermore, those living outside Jefferson City are within reasonable reach of the state cemetery in Higginsville (to the west) and the Jefferson Barracks (to the east).
We believe that's too far away to go for the people who want to visit the graves of those who have served our country, and in some cases fought and died for our freedom.
Issues like this are like legislation. Those who follow the Missouri Legislature know that, in any given year, around 10 percent of the proposed bills might make it into law. Even legislation that clearly benefits Missourians might take years to pass.
It's often the tenacity of its supporters that determines whether it fails or succeeds in the long run.
With that in mind, we encourage our local, state and federal leaders - both elected and unelected - to keep up the good fight.