Veterans in Orange County are closer than ever to getting a cemetery this year but there’s still an open question on how much longer it’ll take to start construction.  

City and county leaders have been discussing a possible cemetery for over a decade, but the project accelerated after county leaders set aside space in Gypsum Canyon off of the 91 freeway in Anaheim, right next to a planned county cemetery. 

[Read: How Did Irvine Fail to Build a Veterans Cemetery After Nearly a Decade of Debate?] 

The cemetery is also now set to qualify for federal funding, but it’s unclear how much money the project will receive or when. County and state leaders have already set aside $55 million. 

[Read: OC Veterans Cemetery Gets on Federal Funding List, Faces Priority Hurdle] 

The notice of project application for the veterans cemetery behind the locked fence of the Gypsum Canyon Cemetery Development on Sunday, May 18, 2025. Credit: MAXIMO SANTANA, Voice of OC

While the project isn’t yet fully funded for all phases of development, the next step would be for the California Department of Veterans Affairs, also known as CalVet, to take over custody of the land to begin construction. 

Yet it’s unclear when that takeover will happen – leaving Orange County supervisors and local veterans leaders calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to get the ball rolling. 

“We remain confident that CalVet and the governor, our commander in chief of California, are going to stand shoulder to shoulder with the veteran community and develop this property immediately,” said Nick Berardino, president of the Veterans Alliance of Orange County, in an interview last Thursday. 

“We Vietnam veterans are dying at a rate of about 1,000 a year in Orange County,” he continued. “If the state doesn’t take immediate steps to build the cemetery, Vietnam veterans will be subjected to the final insult since returning home and years of shameful treatment.” 

Orange County is home to over 84,000 veterans, over one in three of which are 75 or older according to the county’s report on veterans released in September. 

Moments after the flag raising veterans took a moment to climb up the smaller hill tops to view the flag blow in the wind on Nov. 30, 2022. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC

In a statement on Oct. 1, every member of the board of supervisors encouraged Newsom and CalVet leaders to step in and finish strong. 

“Orange County veterans and their families have been fighting for this cemetery for over a decade,” wrote supervisor Don Wagner, one of the main supervisors who pushed for the Gypsum Canyon site. “While the land is set aside, funding for this project needs to be secured and the Governor’s office can help to make this a reality.”

CalVet staff and the governor’s office did not respond to requests for comment on this article. 

Tim Deutsch, general manager of the OC Cemetery District, said county staff are still hammering out an agreement with CalVet to move forward with construction, but expects that to wrap up in the next six to eight months. 

“There’s a lot going on with CalVet,” Deutsch said in a Monday interview. “We’ve had some off-the-cuff conversations…but “We’re not comfortable saying ‘here’s the money, go start’ without some sort of formal agreement.”

Right now, the county has enough space for around another two to three years of burials at existing public cemeteries, with over 350 families on the wait list to pre-purchase gravesites at Gypsum Canyon. 

Now, employees have started walking the grounds to look for other potential burial sites according to Deutsch, noting it should buy them enough time to open the public and veterans cemeteries together. 

“It’s such a great opportunity to have this facility that’s going to serve all the communities,” he said. “It’s going to be a location that you’ll probably never see in any other county or state.”

Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.

Related