Former border wall shipping containers find new life at Southern Arizona Veterans' Memorial Cemetery

Staff at Southern Arizona Veterans' Memorial Cemetery in Sierra Vista painting shipping containers purchased from ADOA
July 27, 2023
Blog Entry

SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. - Two shipping containers from Arizona’s former border wall will soon have a new home at the Southern Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery.

The two 20-foot metal containers will provide the cemetery with some much needed space to store additional equipment and other materials used in day to day operations. Now, items that have been traditionally left outside in the hot Arizona sun due to a lack of space will have a covered and secure place to go.

“We are super excited about the additional space,” said Southern Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery administrator Joe Larson. “They have allowed us a lot more space and breathing room inside our Maintenance Building. They are helping us to organize our equipment and parts inventory.”

SAVMC’s new storage solutions were two of over 2,000 shipping containers bought by several government entities and Arizona non-profits recently. They have been painted and spruced up by the cemetery’s maintenance staff.

The containers came from the wall of shipping containers that was built on the Mexico border by former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. When the wall of shipping containers came down in December, the state’s administrative agency put them up for sale.

The Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services bought nine total shipping containers that will be used for general storage across various department facilities.

  • Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery at Camp Navajo will receive 2
  • Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery at Marana will receive 2
  • Southern Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery will receive 2
  • Arizona State Veteran Home- Tucson will receive 1
  • Arizona State Veteran Home-Flagstaff will receive 1
  • Arizona State Veteran Home- Yuma will receive 1

SAVMC sits on 145 acres of land in Sierra Vista that was previously part of the Ft. Huachuca Military Reservation. The cemetery has been operational since 2001.

For more information on the Arizona’s State Veteran Memorial Cemeteries visit https://dvs.az.gov/services/cemeteries.