The VA awarded $13.6 million to build the Georgia Memorial Veterans Cemetery at Augusta, the fourth-largest of 21 grants in a record year. What it covers.
Augusta’s long-awaited state veterans cemetery has its federal construction money.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded $13,610,908 for “the establishment of the Georgia Memorial Veterans Cemetery at Augusta.” The VA announced the grant Tuesday in a news release listing every cemetery grant of fiscal year 2026.
On top of the grant, the VA said it will reimburse the cost of making and delivering pre-placed crypts, up to $2,155,262. Together that is up to about $15.8 million in federal money for the Augusta cemetery.
A record year, and one of its biggest awards
The VA awarded $106.5 million to 21 cemeteries in fiscal 2026. The department said that is the most in a single year since its Veterans Cemetery Grant Program began in 1980.
Augusta’s grant was the fourth largest of the 21. It is about one-eighth of the year’s total. The largest awards, not counting crypt reimbursements:
| Cemetery | Purpose | Grant |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama Veterans Memorial Cemetery-North, Huntsville, Ala. | New cemetery | $18,094,445 ($18.09 million) |
| Carlsbad State Veterans Cemetery, Carlsbad, N.M. | New cemetery | $16,711,624 ($16.71 million) |
| Northern Utah Veterans Cemetery, Washington Terrace, Utah | New cemetery | $14,740,955 ($14.74 million) |
| Georgia Memorial Veterans Cemetery at Augusta | New cemetery | $13,610,908 ($13.61 million) |
| Upper Cumberland Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery | New cemetery | $7,073,800 ($7.07 million) |
| East Hawaii Veterans Cemetery-2, Hilo, Hawaii | Operations and maintenance | $6,132,225 ($6.13 million) |
Who the cemetery is for
The cemetery would be run by the state as part of Georgia’s veterans cemetery system. The Georgia Department of Veterans Service, which has led the project, said in a December 2025 release that it would serve more than 66,000 veterans and their eligible family members in East Central Georgia.
Georgia has two state veterans cemeteries now. One is in Milledgeville, about 80 miles west. The other is in Glennville, about 105 miles south.
The idea goes back more than two decades. The state agency said former Augusta Mayor Bob Young, an Air Force and Vietnam War veteran, began developing it in 2000. It credited Augusta Commissioner Don Clark, a retired Army veteran, with keeping it a priority, and said Mayor Garret Johnson gave the project a formal letter of support.
“This has been a long time coming for Augusta and for the veterans who call this region home,” Young said in that release.
What it means for you
- No burial site yet. The grant pays to build the cemetery. The VA release gives no opening date, and the state has not published one.
- Who will be eligible. At Georgia’s existing state cemeteries, the Department of Veterans Service says eligibility follows VA rules. It covers veterans, certain Reserve and National Guard members, service members who die on active duty, and a veteran’s spouse, minor children and adult unmarried disabled children.
- What it costs families. At those cemeteries there is no charge for the gravesite, vault, marker, committal chapel or burial, the agency says.
- Until it opens. Families can use the Milledgeville or Glennville cemeteries now. Both offices are open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, except state holidays.
For Veterans Day events this year, see our Veterans Day in Augusta page.
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