Upper Cumberland’s request for funding for a veterans cemetery has been denied once more by the National Cemetery Administration as they are said to believe there are no veterans in the area that would benefit from the cemetery.

Upper Cumberland State Veterans Cemetery Association (UCSVCA) Chair Donna Fare said federal officials don’t officially recognize 25,000 veterans who live in the Upper Cumberland region, and she doesn’t understand why.

Fare said she hopes that ‘every veteran in the Upper Cumberland sends an email or a letter to Senator Blackburn and Senator Hagerty and Representative Rose and Representative DesJarlais, and explain to them that there’s twenty-five thousand veterans in the Upper Cumberland, not zero.’

She continued, saying the UCSVCA is working with lawmakers to hopefully get state funding for the project, though the plan is only in concept stages currently.