{"id":7484,"date":"2025-01-16T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484"},"modified":"2025-01-16T14:30:00","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T14:30:00","slug":"va-expands-access-to-veterans-legacy-memorial-allowing-veterans-to-chronicle-their-life-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484","title":{"rendered":"VA expands access to Veterans Legacy Memorial, allowing Veterans to chronicle their life story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published:<\/strong> 2025-01-16T14:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Today, the Department of Veterans Affairs expanded the Veterans Legacy Memorial<\/a> (VLM) \u2014 the nation\u2019s largest digital platform dedicated to the memory of Veterans and service members \u2014 to allow Veterans to tell their own story before they pass away. The new \u201cYour Story, Your Legacy\u201d feature will allow Veterans who have been approved for VA\u2019s pre-need eligibility determination for burial in a VA national cemetery <\/a>to log in to a secure website where they can privately submit images, autobiographies, military and life milestones, and historical documents.<\/p>\n

VLM already offers family, friends, and others a way to chronicle the life of a Veteran by uploading written tributes, photos, biographies, documents, and other information. It contains nearly 10 million interactive VLM pages for those interred in VA national cemeteries, Department of Defense-managed cemeteries, VA grant-funded state\/tribal cemeteries, National Park Service cemeteries, and private cemeteries around the world.<\/p>\n

VA will keep a Veteran\u2019s content secure until they pass away and VA approves a request for a burial or memorial benefit. Following approval, the content the Veteran submitted will become public and appear on their VLM page on the public-facing website.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe legacies we leave behind come in many forms,\u201d said Acting Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Ronald Walters<\/strong>. \u201cProviding 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veterans who have provided their email address and been approved for pre-need eligibility will receive an email directing them to the \u201cYour Story, Your Legacy\u201d landing page. Here\u2019s where to apply online<\/a>. For more information about the feature. visit the Your Story, Your Legacy landing page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since the VLM website launched in 2019, more than 165,000 submissions have been made to Veteran profile pages. NCA moderators review all content submissions before being posted to a Veteran\u2019s page to ensure it conforms to the VLM User Policy.<\/p>\n

For information about VA burial benefits, visit one of VA\u2019s\u00a0National Cemetery Locations<\/a>\u00a0in-person, visit online at\u00a0VA burial benefits and memorial products<\/a>, or call toll free at 800-827-1000. To plan for you and your family, visit NCA\u2019s\u00a0pre-need eligibility<\/a>\u00a0website.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n

Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VA expanded the Veterans Legacy Memorial \u2014 the nation\u2019s largest digital platform dedicated to the memory of Veterans and service members \u2014 to allow Veterans to tell their own story before they pass away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-veteran-stories","category-history-remembrance"],"yoast_head":"\nVA expands access to Veterans Legacy Memorial, allowing Veterans to chronicle their life story - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"VA expanded the Veterans Legacy Memorial \u2014 the nation\u2019s largest digital platform dedicated to the memory of Veterans and service members \u2014 to allow Veterans to tell their own story before they pass away.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VA expands access to Veterans Legacy Memorial, allowing Veterans to chronicle their life story - Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"VA expanded the Veterans Legacy Memorial \u2014 the nation\u2019s largest digital platform dedicated to the memory of Veterans and service members \u2014 to allow Veterans to tell their own story before they pass away.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-16T14:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7484#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7484\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\"},\"headline\":\"VA expands access to Veterans Legacy Memorial, allowing Veterans to chronicle their life story\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-16T14:30:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7484\"},\"wordCount\":434,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7484#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-74.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Community & Veteran Stories\",\"History & Remembrance\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7484\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7484\",\"name\":\"VA expands access to Veterans Legacy Memorial, allowing Veterans to chronicle their life story - Its Veterans\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7484#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7484#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-74.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-16T14:30:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"VA expanded the Veterans Legacy Memorial \u2014 the nation\u2019s largest digital platform dedicated to the memory of Veterans and service members \u2014 to allow Veterans to tell their own story before they pass away.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7484#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7484\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7484#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-74.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-74.png\",\"width\":793,\"height\":793},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7484#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"VA expands access to Veterans Legacy Memorial, allowing Veterans to chronicle their life story\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Its Veterans\",\"description\":\"Veterans news, benefits, health and community resources\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Its Veterans\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg\",\"width\":2172,\"height\":724,\"caption\":\"Its Veterans\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"VA expands access to Veterans Legacy Memorial, allowing Veterans to chronicle their life story - Its Veterans","description":"VA expanded the Veterans Legacy Memorial \u2014 the nation\u2019s largest digital platform dedicated to the memory of Veterans and service members \u2014 to allow Veterans to tell their own story before they pass away.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"VA expands access to Veterans Legacy Memorial, allowing Veterans to chronicle their life story - Its Veterans","og_description":"VA expanded the Veterans Legacy Memorial \u2014 the nation\u2019s largest digital platform dedicated to the memory of Veterans and service members \u2014 to allow Veterans to tell their own story before they pass away.","og_url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484","og_site_name":"Its Veterans","article_published_time":"2025-01-16T14:30:00+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668"},"headline":"VA expands access to Veterans Legacy Memorial, allowing Veterans to chronicle their life story","datePublished":"2025-01-16T14:30:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484"},"wordCount":434,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-74.png","articleSection":["Community & Veteran Stories","History & Remembrance"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484","name":"VA expands access to Veterans Legacy Memorial, allowing Veterans to chronicle their life story - Its Veterans","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-74.png","datePublished":"2025-01-16T14:30:00+00:00","description":"VA expanded the Veterans Legacy Memorial \u2014 the nation\u2019s largest digital platform dedicated to the memory of Veterans and service members \u2014 to allow Veterans to tell their own story before they pass away.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-74.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-74.png","width":793,"height":793},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7484#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"VA expands access to Veterans Legacy Memorial, allowing Veterans to chronicle their life story"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/","name":"Its Veterans","description":"Veterans news, benefits, health and community resources","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization","name":"Its Veterans","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg","width":2172,"height":724,"caption":"Its Veterans"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/itsveterans.com"],"url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/91"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}