The United States Army
12/05/2025 | News release | Distributed by Public on 12/06/2025 12:14
NY Army Guard honors Nation's 8th President, Martin Van Buren
[Link] 1 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption - New York Army National Guard Major General Michel Natali, assistant adjutant general, Army, and Command Sergeant Major Leylan Jones, salute after placing a wreath from the White House during the annual wreath laying ceremony marking the birthday of President Martin Van Buren in Kinderhook, New York, on Dec. 5, 2025. Natali presented a wreath from President Donald Trump at the annual ceremony held at Van Buren's gravesite in Kinderhook Reformed Cemetery. (Photo Credit: Petty Officer 1st Class Stephanie Butler) VIEW ORIGINAL [Link] 2 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption - New York Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Grace Kirkpatrick plays taps at the gravesite of President Martin Van Buren during the annual wreath-laying ceremony marking the birthday of President Martin Van Buren in Kinderhook, New York, on Dec. 5, 2025. A wreath from President Donald Trump was presented at the annual ceremony held at Van Buren's gravesite in Kinderhook Reformed Cemetery. (Photo Credit: Petty Officer 1st Class Stephanie Butler) VIEW ORIGINAL [Link] 3 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption - New York Army National Guard Soldiers and a color guard salute during the playing of taps during the annual wreath laying ceremony marking the birthday of President Martin Van Buren in Kinderhook, New York, on Dec. 5, 2025. A wreath from President Donald Trump was presented at the annual ceremony held at Van Buren's gravesite in Kinderhook Reformed Cemetery. (Photo Credit: Petty Officer 1st Class Stephanie Butler) VIEW ORIGINAL [Link] 4 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption - New York Army National Guard Major General Michel Natali, assistant adjutant general, Army, speaks before placing a wreath from the White House during the annual wreath laying ceremony marking the birthday of President Martin Van Buren in Kinderhook, New York, on Dec. 5, 2025. Natali presented a wreath from President Donald Trump at the annual ceremony held at Van Buren's gravesite in Kinderhook Reformed Cemetery. (Photo Credit: Petty Officer 1st Class Stephanie Butler) VIEW ORIGINAL
KINDERHOOK, N.Y. - New York Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Michel Natali paid tribute to the nation's eighth president, Martin Van Buren, as he laid a wreath from President Donald J. Trump at Van Buren's gravesite on Friday, Dec. 5.
Van Buren, nicknamed "Old Kinderhook" after the town where he was born and died, served as president from 1837 to 1841.
Natali, who serves as assistant adjutant general, Army, for the New York National Guard, said it was an honor to pay tribute to Van Buren on his 243rd birthday.
Natali and New York Army National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. Leylan Jones placed the wreath sent by the White House at Van Buren's grave in Kinderhook Reformed Church Cemetery. Ten Soldiers assigned to Joint Force Headquarters-New York saluted and presented colors, followed by a bugler playing taps.
Forty people braved the 15-degree temperature and looked on as the wreath was laid.
Since 1967, military officers have placed a wreath sent by the sitting president at the graves of former presidents on the anniversary of their birth.
"I think it's a great tradition," Natali said. "It feels good, it feels like we are in touch with our history. It reminds us of our legacy."
The annual celebration is a community event. Wreaths were also presented by the town and village of Kinderhook, the Kinderhook Garden Club, which maintains the Van Buren gravesite, the National Park Service, which oversees the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site, and the local nonprofit that supports the historic site.
The fact that Van Buren returned to his hometown to live after his political career ended is significant, Natali said.
"When the time came to retire, he came back to his roots, to his hometown," he said.
Sgt. Alexandria Medard, a member of the New York National Guard's Joint Force Headquarters, said it was an honor to recognize a president.
Sally Naramore, a member of the Kinderhook town council, said she braved the cold to recognize a national leader.
"It is important to recognize what each president did," she said. "It is really celebrating, not so much the man, but the position. We need to remember what this position is supposed to be for-to be a servant of the people."
Van Buren was born in Kinderhook in 1782, just as the American Revolution was ending. He was the son of a tavern keeper and grew up speaking Dutch.
He died in July 1862, as the Civil War was underway, at Lindenwald, his estate at the edge of the village, which is now a National Park Service site. He was buried in the cemetery of his local church alongside his wife, Hannah, who died in 1819.
Van Buren, Natali noted, was the first U.S. president who was not born a subject of the King of England.
Van Buren served as president from 1837 to 1841. Prior to that, he served as a judge, New York state senator, New York attorney general, U.S. senator, governor of New York and secretary of state.
He is credited with creating the Democratic Party as a national political organization and for being a skilled political strategist.
As president, Van Buren sought to prevent the country from being torn apart over the issue of slavery. For this reason, he refused to admit Texas as a state after it broke away from Mexico in 1836, fearing a new slave-owning state would upset the balance of power in the Union.
He also worked to resolve disputes with Great Britain over the border between Maine and New Brunswick, Canada. He stopped Americans from supplying Canadian rebels in Ontario in hopes of avoiding war.
Van Buren ran for president two more times without being elected before retiring to a quieter life.
In his will, he described that period as "the last and happiest time in my life, a farmer in my native town," according to the National Park Service.
New York Army and Air National Guard contingents alternate wreath placement at Van Buren's gravesite each year.
The New York National Guard also places wreaths at the graves of President Chester A. Arthur, the 21st president, in Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, and President Millard Fillmore, the 13th president, at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.
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