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Veterans cemetery to be dedicated
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On Nov. 28, the Georgia Department of Veterans Service will dedicate Georgia’s newest state veterans’ cemetery in Glennville, about one mile north of the downtown area, off of U.S. Highway 301 at the old Dyess Farm Road.
The ceremony is set for 11 a.m. in the ceremonial area of the cemetery. The public is invited to attend.
The new Georgia Veterans Memorial Cemetery — Glennville occupies 43 acres acquired from the Glennville Industrial Development Authority through the Georgia General Assembly.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Claude (Mick) Kicklighter, a Glennville native and currently serving as the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Defense, will be the featured keynote speaker. State Senator Jack Hill of Reidsville will introduce him.
“With the increasing population of veterans and military retirees around Fort Stewart, Savannah and the Golden Isles there is a rising need for a veterans cemetery in this area,” notes Georgia Commissioner of Veterans Affairs Pete Wheeler, who will serve as the program’s master of ceremonies.
In its initial 26-acre development, the cemetery will provide nearly 2,000 casket gravesites, 350 in-ground cremation burial sites, over 1,000 columbarium niches and a scattering garden for cremated remains.
The initial construction phase will also include a gated entrance from the highway, a visitor’s center/administration building, an enclosed committal shelter, a flag-decorated ceremonial area, a carillon and a maintenance building to support cemetery operations.
Once it is opened, the cemetery will be fully staffed with on-site director, assistant director, and a facilities maintenance chief with a two-person landscape/heavy equipment crew. In addition, the veterans service office presently located in the city’s multi-office complex on Caswell Street will be collocated in the cemetery’s visitor’s center/administration building.
“This new state veterans cemetery will be more than a place to lay loved-ones to rest,” Wheeler said. “This will be a shrine, a place to honor, in recognition of the many veterans who served in our Armed Forces in times of war and peace - a most fitting tribute to the veterans of Georgia, their sacrifice, and their military service to our country.”
State veterans cemeteries are part of the VA’s national cemetery system. The burial of veterans and their spouses in state veteran cemeteries is governed by the same regulations as the national cemeteries.
The cemetery will provide a final resting place for all Georgia veterans with the exception of those who have been dishonorably discharged.
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