The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has approved over $13.6 million in funds to create a veterans cemetery in Augusta, Ga.
Proper burials are important to honor deceased service members and to provide closure for their families. But military families in Augusta currently often travel long distances for burial services, like in Fort Jackson, Columbia, or to the Georgia Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Milledgeville.
The $13,610,908 grant, awarded by the VA’s National Cemetery Administration on Sept. 16, intends to change this. It will create the largest veterans cemetery in the entire state, built on more than 200 acres of land of state-owned property beside the Gracewood campus of East Central Georgia Regional Hospital.
It was awarded after those behind the project applied for the funding in May.
“Funding for the long-awaited veterans cemetery in Augusta has now been officially awarded to the State of Georgia,” Rep. Rick Allen, (R-Ga.) said in a statement. “To our veterans and their families in the CSRA and surrounding communities, the tireless work that brought us to this point is for you.”
“I look forward to officially breaking ground as soon as possible,” he added. I also extend my heartfelt gratitude and congratulations to Former Augusta Mayor Bob Young and Augusta Commissioner Don Clark for their relentless efforts in making this possible.”
The VA funding was delivered via H.R. 5371, the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act for Fiscal Year 2026.
Plans for the Cemetery’s Amenities
Plans for the cemetery suggest that it includes an administration building, a maintenance building with a wash bay, a committal service shelter, and an assembly area.
The plans also say the grounds will have 600 grave sites, 1,500 crypts, 900 cremation grave sites, 960 columbarium niches, and a memorial wall with 140 plaques.
“We have a fort here, the hospital here,” veteran and former Augusta Mayor Bob Young told local news outlet WJBF about the area where the cemetery will be built.
Construction will start in November and is expected to take some 18 months.
“We have a commissary here,” Young added. “We have so many different amenities that attract veterans and retirees here. But we didn’t have a final resting place.
“So, that’s why I thought it was important that we pursue the cemetery. And I’m glad we’re finally there. It’s taken a while, but we’re there.”
The nonprofit, the CSRA (Central Savannah River Area) Veterans Cemetery Fund, also seeks to raise an extra $705,000 for the project. This would fund other amenities like a bell tower, water features and memorial benches.
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