Construction has begun on a new state veterans cemetery in West Tennessee.
Governor Bill Haslam and other state and federal officials were present as ground was broken on the Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery at Parkers Crossroads on Wednesday.
The 132-acre cemetery will serve more than 45,000 veterans and their families within 17 counties in west Tennessee.
The National Cemetery Administration awarded $5.7 million in federal funding in September for the construction of the cemetery, which has been expected to be completed by spring 2018.
Tennessee has two other state veterans cemeteries: one in Nashville and one in Memphis.
