NY Army National Guard teams provide funeral honors for 6,800 families in 2024

LATHAM, New York -- New York National Army National Guard's Honor Guard expects to provide graveside military honors over 6,800 times before New Year's Eve 2024.

As of Dec. 20, the 116 New York Army National Guard Soldiers who serve on eight regional honor guard detachments, had conducted 6,659 military funeral honors across the state. The Army National Guard expected to conduct military honors at 150 more funerals by the end of 2024.

In 2023, the New York Army National Guard conducted 7,100 military funerals.

Since 2,000, National Guard members have been providing military funeral honors for the families of any former military member who was not dishonorably discharged from the service.

According to the U.S. Census bureau in 2022 there were 580,000 veterans living in New York. Of these 200,000 served in the Vietnam era.

These numbers have been declining as the World War II veterans aged and died. In 2014 there were 838,000 veterans living in New York, according to the Census Bureau.

That year the New York Army National Guard conducted over 9,362 military funerals in 2014.

Federal Public Law 106-65, mandates that each funeral honor detail consist of at least two military personnel. This team is responsible for folding and presenting a United States flag to the family, and also playing taps.

Because talented buglers are not readily available, taps is normally played using a device inserted into the bell of a bugle.

The Army National Guard, as a community-based force, handles about 86 percent of all Army veteran funerals, according to the National Guard Bureau. The Air National Guard also provides funerals for former Air Force personnel.

The bulk of the funerals are the abbreviated service with two honor guard members. But veterans who have retired from the military, or who have died on duty, are entitled to a service which includes six personnel carrying a casket, a firing part, and a bugler.

Soldiers who serve on the Honor Guard mission need to be physically fit-both so they look good in uniform and so they can handle the physical demands of the job, said Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Luis Celeste, the operations sergeant for the funeral honors team.

The Soldiers have to be able to handle a casket and also stand at attention or parade rest for long periods of time, he said.

They also need to be good planners, because a team has to be ready to conduct four or more funerals a day at widely spaced locations, Celeste said.

Finally, they need to be able to cope with flexible hours, he added. One day they could be on duty for 7 hours and another day they can start at 7 a.m. and not be back until 8 p.m., he explained.

Much of the time is spent driving from cemetery to cemetery, said Pfc. Suleyma Sanchez, a member of the 369th Sustainment Brigade, who has been on the detail for a year.

The New York Army National Guard Honor Guard's 29 vehicles were driven 390,017 miles between January and December of 2024, Celeste said.

The New York Army National Guard is budgeted $1.5 million to cover costs, which includes the salaries for 30 Soldiers who perform honor guard duties full-time, and 85 Soldiers who volunteer for missions on a part-time basis.

While the job is demanding, it takes skill to move from folding the flag to playing the bugle to presenting it, and in the end, the job is very rewarding, Sanchez said.

"It is an honor for us to be there," Sanchez said.

The New York Army Guard's Long Island honor guard detachment is the busiest. That team conducted 2,183 burial details as of Dec. 20, 2024.

Most of those funeral honors take place at the 1,045 acre Calverton National Cemetery, according to Celeste.

There are over 275,000 veterans interred at Calverton and about 7,000 internments take place at Calverton annually, according to the Veterans Administration.

As of Dec. 20, funeral honors breakdown for the Army Guard were:

• Latham Detachment, 666

• Long Island Detachment, 2,183

• Camp Smith (Hudson Valley) Detachment, 545

• Harlem Detachment, 847

• Bronx Detachment, 304

• Buffalo Detachment, 987

• Rochester Detachment, 465

• Syracuse Detachment, 662

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