Tester: Crow cemetery ‘will be a monument to courageous men and women’

(U.S. Senate) – Senator Jon Tester today released the following statement after the Department of Veterans Affairs awarded Montana’s Crow Tribe more than $1.2 million to establish the Apsaalooke Veterans Cemetery in Crow Agency:

“Native Americans serve in our nation’s military at a higher rate than any other group, and we must continue to honor their sacrifice even after they’re gone. This cemetery will be a monument to courageous men and women and their families, and the role they played in preserving our freedom and protecting the land we call home.”

The grant award will fund construction of a three acre development that will include over 200 burial spots for Crow veterans and their families.

Tester recently honored Crow’s contribution to America’s military history by presenting descendants of Crow World War II Code Talkers with Congressional Gold Medals. He also recently helped designate the Yellowstone County Veterans Cemetery in Laurel as a National Veterans Burial Ground.

Tester serves as Vice Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and Montana’s only member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.