![[photo, Carillon, Crownsville State Veterans Cemetery, 1122 Sunrise Beach Road, Crownsville, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/24dva/images/i005725b.jpg)
Over 360,000 veterans live in Maryland, about 7.6% of adults throughout the State. Of these, some 47,000 are women.
For Maryland veterans, the Department of Veterans and Military Families provides information and assistance so that veterans receive all the benefits they have earned. While federal benefits include health care, education, home loans, and vocational rehabilitation, Maryland provides additional benefits, such as educational grants and scholarships, reduced fees and tax credits, business loans, veterans homes, and hunting and fishing privileges. Also, through the Maryland Veterans Trust Fund, the Maryland Veterans Trust provides monetary and other assistance to both veterans and their families, and to programs that support them. Moreover, as part of the Office of Academic Affairs within the Maryland Higher Education Commission, the Veterans Affairs unit promotes and safeguards quality education and training programs for all veterans.
Carillon, Crownsville State Veterans Cemetery, 1122 Sunrise Beach Road, Crownsville, Maryland, October 2000. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
The Service and Benefits Program of the Department of Veterans and Military Families submitted over 5,500 disability compensation and pension claims to the federal Department of Veterans Affairs in Fiscal Year 2025 on behalf of Maryland veterans, who received some $54.4 million in monthly cash benefits. In the same period, Maryland's veterans and their dependents received $1.25 million from the Maryland Veterans Trust Fund. In Fiscal Year 2024, the State Cemetery and Memorial Program conducted 3,374 burial services in Maryland's five Veterans Cemeteries: Crownsville Veterans Cemetery in Anne Arundel County, Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery in Prince George’s County, Eastern Shore Veterans Cemetery in Dorchester County, Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery in Baltimore County, and Rocky Gap Veterans Cemetery in Allegany County.
To help veterans, the Maryland Veterans Service Animal Program and Fund provides grants to organizations that match qualified veterans with service dogs or equine therapy. In Fiscal Year 2026, $211,930 in grants were awards to ten groups: Chesapeake Therapeutic Riding, Inc.; Freedom Hills Therapeutic Riding Program, Inc.; Greenwell Foundation; Lifeline Horse Rescue & Rehabilitation, Inc.; Maryland Therapeutic Riding, Inc.; Promise Landing Farm, Inc.; STAR Community, Inc.; Talisman Therapeutic Riding, Inc.; Warrior Canine Connection, Inc.; and Wellspring of Life Farm, Inc.
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