No. 82: Long Island National Cemetery

In honor of veterans and Memorial Day, the Top 100 is venturing a little further afield than usual this week, to the Long Island National Cemetery, which lies within the towns of Huntington and Babylon.

Established in 1936,  when Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn was almost full, the first burials took place in March 1937.

It now covers 365 acres and also has a columbarium, for burial of cremated remains. The staff maintains 287,000 gravesites and 334,000 burials all told, said director Roseann Santore.

Memorial Day weekend is perhaps the busiest time for the cemetery. Grounds crews were busy mowing and trimming in the days leading up to the weekend, and Scout groups from across Long Island helped put flags at each gravestone the Saturday before the holiday.

Then, volunteers take them all down again the Saturday after Memorial Day. “Helpers are always welcome,” Santore said.

Annette Bianco, office manager, said several thousand volunteers help with the labor-intensive task. Contact her if you want to help.

The thousands of white headstones commemorate fallen soldiers, with the honorably discharged veterans’ name on the front and the spouse or dependent child’s name listed on the back of the headstone.

While the Long Island National Cemetery now accepts only cremated remains for new burials, the wives or husbands and dependent children of already interred veterans can still be buried in the same gravesite, what it calls subsequent interments.

The number of burials averages about 12 a day, Bianco said. There are three small committal shelters, where loved ones gather for a service. Two brick shelters near the center of the park have a memorial garden between them, nicely landscaped and with memorial benches given by veterans groups. Bronze markers for each branch of the service stand just behind the memorial garden.

Leading from that garden to a circular island that holds memorials is Memorial Drive. It’s a broad avenue lined with flags, and its middle is a grassy area that holds the headstones of soldiers who have been awarded the Medal of Honor or other awards for distinguished service.

In addition to memorials, the island contains the cemetery’s large flag, which flys at half mast most days since there are burials each weekday. Cemetery visitors are welcome Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The cemetery is closed on federal holidays except Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

Memorials include a granite marker flagpole base to "Fallen Comrades of Nassau & Suffolk Counties," which was erected around 1940, and two memorials installed since 2000, one recognizing those who served in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War, the Chosin Few Memorial, and the AMVETS All Veterans Memorial.

Long Island National Cemetery is one of the six national cemeteries in the state, and one of two on Long Island.

 Stay tuned for No. 81 next week, same time same place, as Huntington Patch explores the places and activities in town.