At West Point cemetery, preparations begin to expand hallowed military grounds
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The West Point Cemetery has taken in graduates of the Long Gray Line from the age of the cavalry charge to the dawn of drone strikes. Headstones etched with names like Custer and Westmoreland stand near plots with freshly turned earth.
And after almost two centuries, the 12-acre cemetery is close to full.
The U.S. Military Academy and its graduates are taking steps to make more room at the cemetery with new niches for cremated remains and an eventual expansion of the burial grounds.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The work will update a resting place for more than 8,000 people that is the most hallowed ground at the nation's the most venerable military academy.
Work on a double-sided wall with niches for remains will begin this year.