Washington, D.C. – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Togo D. West Jr. today announced the award of a $4.9 million grant to the State of Georgia to establish a state veterans cemetery, approximately 2.5 miles south of the Georgia State Veterans Home in Milledgeville.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) grant will provide 100 percent of the funding to develop approximately 11.4 of the 142-acre site, including a six-acre lake for irrigation and water containment. First-phase development will design and build the cemetery, including roads, an administrative building, committal shelter, flag plaza and assembly area, and 1,230 gravesites, including 1,026 pre-placed liners for burials.
In addition to the Milledgeville grant, plans are underway for VA to establish a national cemetery in the Atlanta area. The nearest national cemetery to Milledgeville is the Fort Mitchell National Cemetery in Alabama, approximately 120 miles away.
As a complement to VA's system of national cemeteries, the State Cemetery Grants Program has helped to establish, expand or improve 41 operational state veterans cemeteries. Five other cemeteries, including Milledgeville, are now under construction.
At this point in FY 2000, VA has awarded four new grants for $7.1 million, a record amount exceeding the amount for any previous fiscal year. The total of new grant awards plus grant increases for FY 2000 is $12,375,178, also a record.
Since the program was established in 1980, VA has awarded 101 grants to 24 states plus Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas for $74.9 million. The state veterans cemeteries provided 13,383 burials in FY 1999.
Specific information about the grants program is available by contacting VA's State Cemetery Grants Service at (202) 565-6801. Eligibility for burial in a state veterans' cemetery varies for each state. Details may be obtained by contacting the state's agency for veterans' affairs.
Information on VA burial benefits can be obtained from national cemetery offices or by calling VA regional offices toll-free on 1-800-827-1000, or from VA web sites on the Internet at http://www.va.gov or http://www.cem.va.gov.
