WASHINGTON (December 8, 2004) - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today the award of a $27.7 million contract to J. M. Wilkerson Construction Company, Inc., of Marietta, Ga., for construction of the Georgia National Cemetery. This new national cemetery will be located on 775 acres in Cherokee County, along state Route 20, west of Canton, Ga.

"This award shows America's commitment to honor its promise to our veterans," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi. "This new national cemetery will meet the burial needs of veterans well into the future."

The first phase of construction calls for the development of 135 acres of the property that will create more than 29,000 full-casket gravesites consisting of both pre-placed crypts and traditional casket gravesites, plus a 3,000-unit columbarium and 3,000 burial sites for cremated in-ground remains.

The project also includes two committal service shelters, a public information center, a public assembly area for ceremonies and an infrastructure system of roads, irrigation, and maintenance and administration facilities. Construction is expected to be completed by late 2007. Burials in a small section are scheduled to begin by the end of 2005.

Veterans with a discharge other than dishonorable, their spouses and dependent children are eligible for burial in a national cemetery. Other burial benefits for eligible veterans include a burial flag, a Presidential Memorial Certificate, and a government-furnished headstone or marker - even if the veteran is not buried in a national or state veterans cemetery.

In the midst of the largest expansion since the Civil War, VA operates 120 national cemeteries in 39 states and Puerto Rico, and 33 soldiers' lots and monument sites. More than three million Americans - including veterans of every war and conflict, from the Revolutionary War to the war in Iraq - are buried in VA's national cemeteries. VA also provides grants to states to build new or expand existing state veterans cemeteries to complement national cemeteries.