Augusta's Veterans Cemetery: a Community Update
Bob Young is a former mayor of the City of Augusta, Don Clark is a former executive with Forces United and Dennis Williams represents District 2 on the Augusta Commission. All three men are veterans of the U. S. military.
A little more than two years into Augusta’s campaign to secure a state veterans cemetery, we have much progress to report. The most important dynamic has been to change the question from “will” we have a final resting place for our nation’s heroes to “when.”
Our plans are currently in the hands of the Veterans Administration and its State Cemetery Grant Program. Georgia’s application for a construction grant ranks well, with both land and seed money on hand. But, ranking is only half the issue. How much money Congress puts into the program determines how far down the list the VA is able to go for project funding.
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For the current federal fiscal year, the VA chose to use its limited resources to fund expansions of a dozen existing state cemeteries. We knew that the chance of Georgia’s application being funded this year would be slim, however, the cemetery for Augusta is now well-positioned for serious consideration in the upcoming federal fiscal year.
The VA expects to award grants totaling $45 million for the next fiscal year. The Department’s notice of funding expects 20 projects to receive the green light. Will the Augusta cemetery be one of them? Hard to say at this time. We have to seriously consider whether the VA would commit nearly one quarter of its total funding to one project.
Soldiers never plan without contingency whether it be operations or strategy. So, we are already working on a contingency plan to help Georgia secure the $10 million grant needed for the Augusta project. That plan involves a Congressional earmark in the Veterans Administration budget. In other words, the 2022-23 VA budget would include a line item specifically for the cemetery.
Last fall we were honored to host staff from Senator Raphael Warnock’s state office on a tour of the proposed site at Gracewood. They heard our story, understood our need and offered their help. We are working now with the senator’s Washington, DC office to accomplish the earmark. Senator Jon Ossoff and Representative Rick Allen will also be asked to support the effort.
The state veterans cemetery has been a truly unifying project for our entire region. When we undertook this initiative, at the request of the Augusta Commission in September 2019, we did so without a roadmap and, certainly, without the anticipation of dealing with a pandemic.
Our region rallied the support needed for our local legislators to obtain the $1 million in planning funds that the VA grant program requires. The Georgia Department of Veterans Services Board quickly endorsed the Augusta project and worked with the State Properties Commission to secure more than 200 acres at Gracewood. The Augusta Commission agreed to provide an access road to the cemetery and assist the state with demolitions on the Gracewood property. The CSRA Community Foundation has agreed to host a non-profit to be a conduit for the community to participate in providing cemetery amenities.
We stand on the precipice of success. We are confident that with continued community support, and the engagement of our Congressional leadership that our state veterans cemetery will become a reality in the not too distant future. The more than 66,000 military veterans and their families who reside in the greater Augusta area deserve no less.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: A status report on work toward a veterans cemetery for Augusta
