Orange County veterans made their frustration clear with state representatives in town Friday for an informational hearing on the long-awaited Southern California Veterans Cemetery at Gypsum Canyon in Anaheim Hills.
Updates, including the status of construction on the proposed cemetery, were discussed during the hearing at Anaheim City Hall organized by California Assembly Budget 5 Subcommittee on State Administration Chair and Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva, who has long been working at the state level to support the creation of Orange County’s own veterans cemetery — it is the largest county in California without one.
The cemetery site has been approved by the city for construction and the project has nearly $55 million secured toward what is needed to get started. It will use part of the property county leaders previously provided to the Orange County Cemetery District for a new public cemetery.
“We stand ready to assist in any way possible to make sure this project moves forward quickly. We want to make sure this is done right for our veterans,” Anaheim Councilmember Natalie Meeks told the audience that had crowded the City Council chambers for the hearing, adding that she comes from a military family and understands firsthand the importance of the cemetery.
When the project was first proposed a few years ago, she said, one of her neighbors asked, “Can you get that done right away before I die?”
“He passed away this year, and it still wasn’t done,” Meeks said. “That really affected me, and I know how important this is to our community.”
For more than a decade, efforts to establish a veterans’ cemetery in Orange County have faced repeated delays — including bouncing between multiple proposed sites in Irvine before the property in Anaheim Hills was identified, environmental reviews, lawsuits, and time-consuming bureaucratic processes. First proposed in 2014, the project has endured continuous setbacks that many veterans argued Friday have dragged on far too long.
Bill Fleming, a Marine and veteran of the Vietnam War, said the cemetery felt like “a foster child nobody wants,” pausing as he appeared to choke back tears while fellow servicemen shouted out hurrahs and words of support.
“We’ve gone from the Great Park, to a strawberry field, to a piece of land out by the freeway,” he said. “I’m not going to make it. I’ve already made my arrangements (elsewhere).”
During public comment, the line of speakers reached the chamber entrance as many Korean and Vietnam War veterans expressed frustration and disappointment, with Veterans Alliance of Orange County, or V.A.L.O.R. President Nick Berardino putting pressure on state officials to make the final decisions for construction to start.
“What in the hell does it take to honor us? What does it take? Ten years of fighting — I can’t believe it,” he said.
“What a bunch of mush,” said another veteran. “We do not have a veterans cemetery until the state takes possession of the land. Regardless of what their plans are, back and forth and up and down and sideways, take possession of the property and give us a veterans cemetery.”
Despite multiple hurdles and nearly a decade of advocacy, the project finally appears to be moving forward, officials said.
In October, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs moved the Gypsum Canyon site up the national priority list for cemetery grants. This marked a significant milestone, after the project met full federal compliance for the first time since its proposal.
Twenty members of California’s congressional delegation signed onto a letter in August urging the VA to approve the pre-application for the veterans cemetery to get a $6 million grant.
Gov. Gavin Newsom also signed Quirk-Silva’s AB 571, a bill granting a CEQA exemption for the cemetery and removing an environmental barrier imposed on the project from a previous lawsuit.
Tim Deutsch, the OC Cemetery District General Manager, said the project has overcome “so much” to reach a point where site development and construction can soon begin. He said his team will be working on preparing final drawings for the construction, with the goal of submitting them to Anaheim for review and approval in 2026.
Orange County’s Chief Real Estate Officer Matt Miller highlighted the distinct partnership between Anaheim, the Orange County Cemetery District and the state of California in getting the cemetery done. He explained that the state veterans cemetery sharing 283 acres in the canyon with a public cemetery allows for shared costs from common infrastructure and utilities.
But in order to officially move forward, the Gypsum Canyon property must be formally transferred to the state of California. Which, Miller said the county is “prepared and ready” to do.
“As we’ve heard from many here today, the need is now,” Deutsch said. “Our veterans are dying before our eyes.”