Place:Calverton National Cemetery, Suffolk, New York, United States

Background

Calverton National Cemetery is located in eastern Long Island between the towns of Manorville and Riverhead in Suffolk County. When the National Cemetery System constructed Calverton National Cemetery in 1978, the cemetery became the third national cemetery to be located on Long Island. The other national cemeteries situated on Long Island are Cypress Hills National Cemetery, in Brooklyn, N.Y., which was established in 1862 and Long Island National Cemetery, in Farmingdale, N.Y., established in 1936.

In 1974, Long Island National Cemetery was the only national cemetery on Long Island with available space for burials--but its maximum burial capacity was soon to be exhausted. As a result, plans were developed by the National Cemetery System to construct a new regional cemetery to serve the greater New York area—home, then, to nearly three million veterans and their dependents. On Dec. 7, 1977, a 902-acre tract of land was transferred from the U.S. Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant at Calverton to the Veterans Administration for use as a national cemetery.

The National Cemetery System realized that Calverton National Cemetery would become one of its more active cemeteries. For that reason, they designed and built a feature called a committal “wheel” of shelters that permits multiple burial services to be held simultaneously. To the left of the main cemetery entrance, around the Veteran’s Circle, are seven committal shelters. After the funeral service, the caskets are moved into the hub of the wheel and then transported to their respective gravesites. One floral arrangement is taken to the gravesite. In 1983, the walls of the committal shelters were reconstructed to serve as columbaria for the inurnment of cremated remains. Calverton is the largest, and one of the most active national cemeteries currently overseen by the National Cemetery Administration.

(Source: Calverton National Cemetery website)

Resources

• Calverton National Cemetery
• Find A Grave: Calverton National Cemetery