Augusta has inched closer to securing Georgia’s third state veteran cemetery. But one large obstacle – a $10 million grant – remains.
Former mayor Bob Young started a push to bring such a cemetery to Augusta in the early 2000s. Since then the number of missions at Fort Gordon has only increased, and so the number of military retirees, veterans and dependents in the Augusta area, said Don Clark, a retired Army telecommunications chief who’s worked with Young on the project.
But the closest places veterans, along with their spouses and dependents can obtain the free burial, marker and military honors that come with their service are a 90-mile drive, Clark said.
“With Fort Gordon and introduction of other entities on Fort Gordon – Cyber Command, the Georgia NSA; they’re up to four different DOD entities on there, with the introduction of Space Force,” Clark said. “Between Georgia and South Carolina in the CSRA, we’re looking at 81,000-plus veterans in that area,” he said.
State supports cemetery effort with land, matching funds
Clark, formerly of Forces United, has been working with Young, who served in Vietnam, and former commissioner Dennis Williams, an Army veteran and Veterans Administration retiree, on the effort for more than three years.
The project already has matching funds and the land it needs. Working with Augusta state legislators, the effort secured from the state the $1 million match required to go with a $10 million federal cemeteries grant.
The State Properties Commission has set aside 219 acres adjacent to the former Gracewood State School and Hospital off Tobacco Road for the cemetery. Plans show a first development of 58 acres projected to be filled with 40-60 burials per month or 749 per year.
The cemetery’s grant application for the $10 million has been in since 2021. But the federal grant program for veteran cemeteries is underfunded by some $100 million, Clark said.
And unfortunately, the way the Veterans Administration allocates cemetery resources is based on a straight-line radius of 75 miles, Clark said. Circles on the VA map overlap much of the region.
“So according to the VA, they’re saying that a good majority of our veterans are covered in that 75-mile radius,” he said.
Augusta was 29th on list for federal cemetery grant
Augusta was No. 29 on the priority list for the grant funds in the latest ranking. Twenty-one cemetery expansions come before new ones, including an expansion at the Georgia Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Milledgeville. That’s the closest one for most Augusta veterans now.
Also in 2021, The Augusta Commission agreed to fund development of an 1,800-foot access road off Tobacco Road to the new cemetery, as well as the demolition of old buildings on the property, for a combined local contribution of $2.3 million.
Organizers are also looking at multiple options to secure the $10 million, including additional state funding, a federal earmark or a combination of the two, Clark said. The project has the support of Sen. John Ossoff and other leaders in Washington, he said.
“They have given us early indications that the state is willing to collaborate with the cost, but not necessarily carry the full cost,” he said.
The effort will require cooperation between state and federal partners, he said. “If we can’t get those two sides to really interact in a way that’s productive in moving forward, then we’re going to put ourselves back in a position of not bringing a cemetery to the area,” he said.
Young, who spoke to Augusta commissioners last week about the project with Clark, said the project needs a final, big concerted effort to come together.
‘It’s time to get across the finish line’
“We’ve really gone as far as we can go with it right now, and I think it’s important that if we want the cemetery there’s somethings that need to be done, and that’s not just Don and me. We need everybody engaged and to take ownership in this,” Young said.
The effort needs support of commissioners and the mayor “collectively and individually” as well as aggressive support from the city’s lobbyists in Washington and Atlanta, the former mayor said.
“We’ve reached the point right now if we don’t get the funding lined up by Oct. 30 – that takes us through the state budget cycle and the federal budget cycle – if we don’t have money in place by Oct. 30, I think this is just going to go away. People are going to lose interest and think this is never going to happen,” Young said.
“We’ve done a three-and-a-half year push on it. It’s time to get across the finish line,” Young said.
Commissioner Alvin Mason, a retired Army veteran, encouraged the group to work together and with other elected officials to get the project done.
“We need all hands on deck to assist in this process. Whatever influence you may have with whomever it may be at the state level, whether it’s the governor, Republicans in charge, Democrats, whoever it is that can help us push this across we need that like yesterday to assist,” Mason said.
