Famous File 2/28/2013

How Well Do You Know …

                                                                                      By Kalé Liam Hobbes

Where is the largest cemetery in the United States?

If you guessed Arlington National Cemetery (like I did) with its 300,000 occupants and 6400 burials a year, you have guessed wrong too -- Arlington came in second!

Surprisingly, first place goes to Calverton National Cemetery on Long Island located between Riverhead and Manorville, New York with 7000 burials every year!  Personally, I had never heard of the place, so I did a little digging (figuratively, of course).

Did you know that the land Calverton National Cemetery occupies used to be a U.S. Naval Weapons Reserve plant? The Veterans Administration became the recipient of the 902acres of land when the property was transferred to them 07DEC1977 for use as a national cemetery.

But, why was Calverton built?

Before Calverton was established, there were only two national cemeteries on Long Island:

·         Cyprus Hills in Brooklyn established in 1862; and

·         Long Island in Farmington established in 1936

Although there were two national cemeteries, only Long Island had space available for burials; but its maximum burial capacity would soon be exhausted – because the Greater New York Area was home to almost three million¹ veterans and their dependants!

Foreseeing Calverton would become a very active cemetery, the National Cemetery System designed and built a fixture called a committal “wheel.” 

The function of this wheel is to permit multiple funeral services to take place simultaneously.  The “wheel” is a circular arrangement of seven shelters.

When a service is concluded, the casket is moved into the “hub” or center of the wheel and then taken to its respective gravesite.  In 1983, the committal shelter walls were re-constructed to serve as columbaria for the placement of cremated remains.

Monuments & Memorials

As of 2009, 23 monuments line a memorial pathway honouring America’s veterans – most of them commemorate soldiers of 20^th Century wars.

Most Notable Burial

Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy, USN (Section 67, Grave 3710)

Was killed 28JUN2005 during “Operation Red Wings²” in Afghanistan.  Outnumbered 10:1 by Taliban forces, Murphy and his three-man team were surrounded when their location was comprised.

Decorations awarded to the lieutenant include: the Medal of Honor (posthumous), the Silver Star and the Purple Heart.

¹almost 3 million, as reported on Veterans Administration website, JAN2013

²often incorrectly referred to as Operation Redwing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Red_Wings