Did your family just lose a loved one who spent at least a portion of their life serving in the military? If you did, there is a good chance that they’re going to be entitled to receive military honors during their upcoming funeral services. But in order for them to receive these honors, you and your family are going to have to take the right approach to making funeral arrangements for them. Check out some tips for families planning veteran services at funeral homes in Riverdale, NY below.

Look for a funeral home that specializes in setting up veteran services.

Since there are so many veterans who are laid to rest each year, most funeral homes are capable of setting up Riverdale, NY veteran services for families these days. But there are some that are more skilled and experienced when it comes to veteran services than others. You should do your homework on the funeral homes in the area and try to track down one that has been arranging veteran services for a long time now. It’ll ensure that they know what they’re doing from start to finish.

Make sure you have all your loved one’s military paperwork handy.

You can’t just walk into a funeral home and tell them that your loved one was in the military and that you would like to set up veteran services for them. You have to prove that you were a military member and that they were honorably discharged in order for you to get started. To do this, you’re going to need to have some paperwork for your loved one handy. Ideally, you should be able to provide a funeral home with a DD-214 or Separation of Service record. This will give them the paperwork that they’ll need to move forward with planning veteran services for your loved one.

Decide where you would like to lay your loved one to rest.

If you’re going to cremate a loved one’s body and take their remains home with you, you obviously won’t need to worry about laying them to rest anymore. But if your plan is to bury them, then you’re going to need to decide which cemetery you’re going to lay them to rest at. You should be able to bury your loved one in any of the veterans cemeteries scattered throughout the country. It’ll be up to you and your family to decide which one will work best for them.

Obtain a case for the flag that you’ll get at the end of your loved one’s military services.

At the conclusion of your loved one’s veteran services, you’re likely going to be presented with the flag that was used during the services. You’ll be able to bring the flag home with you so that you can keep it to honor your loved one’s legacy. When you do, you should be prepared to stick it directly inside of a special flag case to keep it safe. You can purchase an ordinary flag case without anything on it or choose to have a flag case customized so that it’s specific to your loved one. The choice will be yours.

Is your family going to be planning veteran services for a loved one sometime soon? Riverdale-on-Hudson Funeral Home, Inc. can walk you through the entire process and handle every aspect of your loved one’s Riverdale, NY funeral arrangements. Reach out to us today to get started.