EL PASO COUNTY, COLO. -- They've fought for their country, and now Congressman Doug Lamborn and local vets are fighting to give fallen soldiers a final resting place in El Paso County.
Veteran Harold Thompson said the cemetery is long overdue.
He spent 20 years in the military, including two deployments to Vietnam and thinks southern Colorado's five military institutions are the reason why we need the cemetery.
"You've got a lot of military here, and believe it or not we choose to stay here after retirement," Thompson said.
But a lack of water is pushing the project back.
Three years ago, 400 acres of land called Kane Ranch was donated to El Paso County specifically for the proposed Southern Colorado Veterans Cemetery.
While the land is the most desirable location, there isn't enough well water to maintain a cemetery.
So, the Colorado Division of Veterans Affairs is moving onto plan B and advertising for a second piece of land.
"We always take an option of donation for instance because tax payers won't have to pay to build the cemetery. If things keep moving forward we'll end up there, if not we need a second option," Steve Muro, Veterans Affairs Undersecretary, said.
The goal is to develop 40 acres at a time, which will allow for 10 years worth of burials. But before they can develop the land they have to make a final decision which plot to develop. The rough deadline on the cemetery is 2014.
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