VLM for Living Veterans
Where Veterans use their own words and imagery to tell their military and life story.
How To Get Your Living Veteran Page
Start with Pre-Need Eligibility application - Required before you can create your Living Veteran page.
Apply For Pre-Need
Step 1: Go to the Pre-Need eligibility application and submit your information.
Wait For Approval
Step 2: We’ll review your application. If approved, your eligibility will be added to our system and you will be notified by email.
Sign In And Share Your Story
Step 3: After approval, sign in to your account to create your Living Veteran page and submit your story.
Note: Approval is not guaranteed. You must start with Pre-Need first. Your Living Veteran page becomes available after your Pre-Need eligibility is approved and your information is entered into our system.
Need Help Getting Started?
This short questionnaire will help explain what you need and where to begin.
Document Your Legacy
The legacies we leave behind comes in many forms whether it be a fulfilling career, an extended family, contributions to communities, financial assets, and more. The memorials that accompany a Veteran’s life are also an important legacy, so that family members, friends, and others can understand and appreciate the unique Veteran experience.
Provide Self-Authored Content
VA's Veterans Legacy Memorial, the largest online memorial site dedicated to America's Veterans, now offers the opportunity for you, the Veteran, to privately provide your own images, autobiographies, military and life timelines, and historical documents. After you have passed away, if you are interred in a national or State/Tribal/Territory Veterans cemetery or receive a VA headstone or other memorial benefit, the content you've submitted will appear on your publicly-visible VLM Memorial Page as content authored by you.
FAQ
What is the National Cemetery Administration's Pre-Need Program?
Veterans can apply to find out in advance if they can be buried in a VA national cemetery. This is called a pre-need determination of eligibility, and it can help make the burial planning process easier for your family members in their time of need. Veterans can apply online here.
Who can use this feature?
Currently this feature is open to those Veterans who have been approved for pre-need eligibility for burial in a VA national cemetery. Pre-need is a process where you can apply to find out in advance if you can be buried in a VA national cemetery, and it can help make the burial planning process easier for your family members in their time of need.
What happens after I apply?
After you have applied for Pre-Need, you will receive an email on the status of your application. For more information, please visit the VLM After You Apply page.
What happens if I am not eligible?
You will receive a decision letter in the mail explaining why you’re not eligible for burial in a VA national cemetery, as well as a document explaining your options for requesting a decision review.
Customer Support
By phone:
Monday to Friday (excluding Federal Holidays) from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Central Time
By email:
vlm@va.gov