Augusta veterans cemetery celebrated after 27-year-wait
Washington,
August 6, 2026
Originally Published in The Augusta Press
By: Susan McCord Local, state and federal leaders gathered with a roomful of American veterans Wednesday to celebrate the coming of Georgia’s third — and largest — state-run veteran cemetery to Augusta. “This isn’t just a project for us. This isn’t just a new cemetery. This is the fulfillment of a dream,” Patricia Ross, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Veteran Service, told a crowd of about 100 at the Augusta Marriott. Ross said she found a newspaper article from 1999 in which former Mayor Bob Young was asking to bring a state veterans cemetery to Augusta. She’s been working with Young and Augusta Commissioner Don Clark on the project since taking office four years ago. “Sometimes dreams take a long time to happen. Just because it’s taken a long time, doesn’t make them any less worthwhile,” Ross said. Initial plans to build at Fort Gordon were scuttled after 9/11. Clark and Young revived the project in 2018, but even after securing former state property for the cemetery at Gracewood and state funding, Augusta was deemed too close to existing cemeteries in Milledgeville and Columbia, S.C., to obtain federal grant funding. Groundbreaking set for NovemberFor years, Augusta’s application for federal cemetery grant funding hovered around the bottom of a priority list. Then last year, Congress approved a historic amount of funding for veteran cemeteries. “That historic funding reached down to priority No. 30. And guess where we were? Priority No. 30,” Ross said. The federal grant is expected to provide $10 million for construction of the project, and bids have already been received to build it. Ross said November is being eyed for a groundbreaking ceremony at the selected site, a former state property off Byrd Road near Gracewood. Congressman Rick Allen, who spoke Wednesday, said the project will give the area’s more than 66,000 veterans and eligible family members better access to burial benefits. “After years of work, I am pleased that we are officially moving forward with this project for those who answered the call to serve our nation in uniform. I would also like to thank former Augusta Mayor Bob Young and Augusta Commissioner Don Clark for their tireless advocacy on behalf of veterans in this community,” Allen said. Cemetery open to all U.S. veteransBut the cemetery isn’t just for Georgia veterans. Any honorably discharged veteran and eligible family members can be interred there at no charge, said Clark, a 21-year Army veteran and activist for veteran care. “This is not just a Georgia thing or an Augusta thing,” Clark said. Dwight Bradham, executive director of the Aiken County Veterans Service Office, said veterans on both sides of the Savannah River have long complained that existing cemeteries are too far away for their families to visit regularly. The event paid a special tribute to the late Rep. Henry Wayne Howard, who Clark said was pivotal in securing state support for the project. Howard’s wife Cassandra Howard was presented a ceremonial shovel bearing tribute to his leadership. Clark also thanked the Augusta Commission, which has been unanimous in its support for the initiative. Several of the commission’s retired Army former members — Bill Lockett, Dennis Williams and Sammie Sias — attended the event, while former Commissioner Bill Fennoy was credited with bringing the item back to a city committee. Veterans Cemetery Fund sets fundraising goalWednesday’s event also introduced the CSRA Veterans Cemetery Fund, a fundraising effort operating under the umbrella of the Community Foundation for the CSRA. The cemetery fund’s chair, Danielle Gonzalez, said the group’s first fundraising goal is $705,000 to pay for things not covered by grant funding. The first phase is expected to cover a carillon tower, a water feature, benches, paving and vehicle access to the site from Byrd Road. Other board members include Gary Smith, who has a combined 31 years in the Marine Corps, Army and Georgia National Guard, retired Army Brig. Gen. John Kunstbeck and retired Army veteran Andrew Gonzal Cemetery construction bids under reviewBids were due Tuesday with the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission on behalf of the Department of Veteran Service to build the cemetery. While no contractor has been selected, submitting proposals were:
The first phase will include an administration building, maintenance building, open commital shelter and four burial sections. Plans include 1,500 pre-placed crypts, 600 conventional burial spaces, 900 spaces for in-ground cremated remains and 960 columbarium niches. |
