Tennessee has rewritten the rules on who gets to rest in its state veterans cemeteries, expanding eligibility to cover more National Guard and Reserve members who had long been shut out despite years of service. The change means veterans like Richard Norment, who was previously told he did not qualify for burial at the Middle Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery, may now have a path to being laid to rest there alongside fellow service members.
Tennessee enacted a law expanding eligibility for burial in state veterans cemeteries, broadening the field beyond the standard that had excluded some National Guard and Reserve members for decades, according to News Channel 5 Nashville. Under the new law, National Guard and Reserve members may qualify if they served honorably for at least eight years collectively, or if they were called to duty under state orders regardless of how long that service lasted. Gov. Bill Lee signed the measure, known as the Guard and Reserve Expansion Eligibility Agreement, on April 27, 2026, according to WBBJ.
Norment, a Tennessee National Guard veteran, was activated in Memphis in 1968, with his service supporting the Memphis Police Department during the unrest surrounding Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. Despite that service, a cemetery director told him he did not qualify for burial under the prior rules, and he was found ineligible for burial at the Middle Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery. Norment still visits the cemetery regularly and hopes to be buried there himself.
A Veteran's Long Wait for Recognition
“Just drive through and stop and meditate,” Norment said, per the same News Channel 5 report, describing the grounds he has returned to even while being told he could not be interred there. He added that the eligibility change represents respect and equal honor for those who served, regardless of whether their activation checked every box under the old standards.
That sentiment echoes what supporters argued throughout years of discussion in the state legislature: that service to the state and nation should be recognized regardless of whether a particular activation qualified under previous standards. Tennessee lawmakers had discussed changing veterans cemetery eligibility requirements for years before finally approving the legislation that increases the number of Guard and Reserve members eligible for burial in the state's cemeteries.
First Burials Under the Expanded Law
The practical effect of the law showed up quickly on the ground. Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery in Parkers Crossroads conducted the first interment of its kind under the new law, and only the second such interment statewide, the station reported. The honoree of that service was Spc. 5 Gary Wayne Hill, whose burial marked the new eligibility standard moving from statute into practice.
At the service, one speaker framed the shift in personal terms, noting that National Guard and Reserve members who served a contract or more but never deployed or went on active duty can now receive the same quality and honorable service given to all veterans at every one of Tennessee's five state veterans' cemeteries, according to the same WBBJ account. That framing captures the core complaint the law was designed to fix: troops who trained, drilled and in some cases responded to state emergencies, but whose paperwork never cleared the bar for a dignified burial alongside their peers.
Paperwork Veterans Will Still Need
Expanded eligibility does not mean the process is paperwork-free. Applicants need documentation that can include an honorable discharge certificate, such as DD Form 256, 256AF or 257, along with an NGB Form 22 covering their National Guard separation record, per News Channel 5's reporting. Those with active-duty periods need a DD Form 214, and in some cases a DD Form 215 correction to that form or an NGB Form 438 or 439 covering reserve retirement eligibility. Applicants activated under a state call-up need their state activation orders, and married applicants seeking joint burial need a marriage certificate.
Despite the added documentation, the financial barrier remains nonexistent for those who qualify: eligible veterans and their spouses may be buried in Tennessee state veterans cemeteries at no cost. Beyond Tennessee's own system, federal VA burial eligibility separately includes several categories covering National Guard and Reserve members, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, though that federal framework operates apart from the state's newly expanded standard.
