Long Island National Cemetery is a

United States National Cemetery The United States National Cemetery System is a system of 164 cemeteries in the United States and its territories. The authority to create military burial places came during the American Civil War, in an act passed by the U.S. Congress o ...

located in

Suffolk County, New York Suffolk County () is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York. It is mainly located on the eastern end of Long Island, but also includes several smaller islands. According to the 2020 United States census, the county's populatio ...

. It is surrounded by a group of other separate cemeteries and memorial parks situated along Wellwood Avenue (County Road 3) – these include Pinelawn Memorial Park, St. Charles / Resurrection Cemeteries, Beth Moses, New Montefiore and Mt. Ararat Cemeteries. Its mailing address is Farmingdale (postal code 11735). It borders East Farmingdale along its western edge and is located within the CDPS of

Wyandanch Wyandanch (, ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, New York. The population was 12,990 at the 2020 census. In the past, some or all of Wyandanch was proposed to become part of the never-real ...

(to the east), in the Town of Babylon, and Melville (to the north) in the Town of Huntington. Administered by the

United States Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...

, it encompasses , and as of 2021, had more than 357,000 interments. In 2016 it was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

History

Long Island National Cemetery was established in 1936 with a purchase of of land from Pinelawn Cemetery (a neighboring cemetery) to answer a need after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

of a large number of veterans, and not enough burial space in the urban cemeteries in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. At the time the only National Cemetery in the area was

Cypress Hills National Cemetery Cypress Hills National Cemetery is a cemetery located in the Cypress Hills neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It is the only United States National Cemetery in New York City and has more than 21,100 interments of veterans and civilians. ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, and it had very limited area available. The land was developed and burials began in March 1937. Within its first 8 years, it saw over 10,000 interments from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. A section of the cemetery has the interments of World War II prisoners of war, including 37

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

and 54

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

. There are also 35 British Commonwealth servicemen buried here from the same war. LI Natl Cemetery marker jeh

Notable monuments

* A granite memorial to "Fallen Comrades of Nassau & Suffolk Counties" was erected in 1940.

Notable interments

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

recipients ** Seaman First Class

Heinrich Behnke Heinrich Adolph Louis Behnke (Horn, 9 October 1898 – Münster, 10 October 1979) was a German mathematician and rector at the University of Münster. Life and career He was born into a Lutheran family in Horn, a suburb of Hamburg. He att ...

(1882–1952), for peacetime service aboard USS ''Iowa'' ** Corporal Anthony Casamento (1920–1987), for action at the

Battle of Guadalcanal The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the ...

during

** Gunner's Mate Third Class John Everetts (1877–1956), for peacetime service aboard USS ''Cushing'' ** Gunner's Mate Third Class Robert Galbraith (1878–1949), for action in the

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War or Filipino–American War ( es, Guerra filipina-estadounidense, tl, Digmaang Pilipino–Amerikano), previously referred to as the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency by the United States, was an arm ...

** Boatswain's Mate

William Henry Gowan William Henry Gowan (June 2, 1884 – May 22, 1957) was a United States Navy sailor and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor. He was awarded the medal for his fire-fighting efforts during a blaze in Coq ...

(1884–1957), for peacetime service in

Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port city, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, with which it forms Greater La Serena with more than ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

** Captain Sydney G. Gumpertz (1879–1971), for action in World War I ** Chief Watertender August Holtz (1871–1938), for peacetime service aboard USS ''North Dakota'' ** Pl Sgt Joseph R. Julian (1918–1945), for action on Iwo Jima ** First Lieutenant Stephen Edward Karopczyc (1944–1967), for action in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

** Specialist Five John James Kedenburg (1946–1968), for action in the Vietnam War ** Private First Class Carlos James Lozada (1946–1967), for action at the

Battle of Dak To The battle of Dak To ( vi, Chiến dịch Đắk Tô - Tân Cảnh) in Vietnam was a series of major engagements of the Vietnam War that took place between 3 and 23 November 1967, in Kon Tum Province, in the Central Highlands (Vietnam), Central ...

during the Vietnam War ** Landsman Thomas Mitchell (1857–1942), for peacetime service aboard USS ''Richmond'' ** Chief Boatswain's Mate Lauritz Nelson (1860–1941), for action aboard USS ''Nashville'' during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

** Sergeant Alfred B. Nietzel (1921–1944),for action in World War II ** First Lieutenant Bernard James Ray (1921–1944), for action in World War II ** Staff Sergeant Joseph Edward Schaefer (1921–1994), for action in World War II ** Second Lieutenant Charles William Shea (1921–1994), for action in World War II ** Private First Class

William Henry Thompson William Henry Thompson (December 14, 1853June 6, 1937) was a Nebraska Democratic Party politician. Biography Born in Perrysville, Ohio, he attended Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa from 1872 to 1875, then graduated from the University ...

(1927–1950), for action in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

** Private

Michael Valente Michael Valente (February 5, 1895 – January 10, 1976) was an Italian-born American soldier who served the United States Army in World War I. He received the United States military's highest decorationthe Medal of Honorfor his actions in France ...

(1895–1976), for action in World War I ** Seaman James Aloysius Walsh (1897–1960), for action aboard USS ''Florida'' during the US occupation of Veracruz, Mexico ** First Lieutenant John Earl Warren (1946–1969), for action in the Vietnam War * Others ** Frank John Becker, US Congressman, World War I veteran ** William Breitenbach, New York assemblyman, World War I veteran ** Captain Lewis Broadus, Buffalo Soldier, veteran of the Spanish–American War, Philippean–American War, and World War I ** Albert W. Brosch, professional golfer and World War II veteran ** Captain

Leon Dabo Leon Dabo (July 9, 1864 – November 7, 1960) was an American tonalist landscape artist best known for his paintings of New York, particularly the Hudson Valley. His paintings were known for their feeling of spaciousness, with large areas of the ...

, artist, World War I veteran **

Henry Dumas Henry Dumas (July 20, 1934 – May 23, 1968) was an American writer and poet. He has been called "an absolute genius" by Toni Morrison, who as a commissioning editor at Random House published posthumous collections both of his poetry, ''Play Ebo ...

, writer and poet **

Alice Coltrane Alice Coltrane (' McLeod; August 27, 1937January 12, 2007), also known by her adopted Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda, was an American jazz musician and composer, and in her later years a swamini. An accomplished pianist and one of the few har ...

, musician **

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

, musician ** Mignon G. Eberhart, author ** James Fay, US Congressman, World War I veteran **

Enya Gonzalez Enya Gonzalez (February 26, 1915 – December 1982) was an opera singer from the Philippines. Early life Enya Gonzalez was from Baliuag, Bulacan, the daughter of Luis González and Pilar Garcia. Her father was a tenor singer. She studied at th ...

, singer **

Maurice Gosfield Maurice Lionel Gosfield (January 28, 1913 – October 19, 1964) was an American stage, film, radio and television actor, best remembered for his portrayal of Private Duane Doberman on the sitcom ''The Phil Silvers Show'' (1954–1959) and voi ...

, comic actor and voice of Benny the Ball in ''

Top Cat ''Top Cat'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and originally broadcast in prime time on the ABC network. It aired in a weekly evening time slot from September 27, 1961, to April 18, 1962, for a single season of ...

'' **

Helen Kane Helen Kane (born Helen Clare Schroeder, August 4, 1904 – September 26, 1966) was an American singer and actress. Her signature song was " I Wanna Be Loved by You" (1928), featured in the 1928 stage musical ''Good Boy''. The song was written for ...

, singer and model for

Betty Boop Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick.Pointer (2017) She originally appeared in the ''Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleischer ...

** Granville 'Stick' McGhee, musician **

Lionel Monagas Lionel John Monagas (June 26, 1889 – September 3, 1945) was an American actor originally from Caracas, Venezuela. A member of the original Lafayette Players company of Harlem, he appeared in theatrical and film productions. Theatre credits M ...

, actor, World War I veteran **

Jules Munshin Jules Munshin (February 22, 1915 – February 19, 1970) was an American actor, comedian and singer who had made his name on Broadway when he starred in ''Call Me Mister''. His additional Broadway credits include ''The Gay Life'' and ''Barefoot ...

, comedian, actor ** William Redfield, actor, WWII infantryman **

Frank Silvera Frank Alvin Silvera (July 24, 1914 – June 11, 1970) was a Jamaican-born American character actor and theatrical director. Born in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in Boston, Silvera dropped out of law school in 1934 after winning his first stage ...

, actor **

Joe Simon Joseph Henry Simon (October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the ...

, comic book writer and artist, co-creator of

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

Zutty Singleton Arthur James "Zutty" Singleton (May 14, 1898 – July 14, 1975) was an American jazz drummer. Career Singleton was born in Bunkie, Louisiana, United States, and raised in New Orleans. According to his ''Jazz Profiles'' biography, his unusual ...

, jazz musician ** Richard J. Tonry, US Congressman, World War I veteran ** Roy J. Waldron, racehorse trainer who won the 1940 Kentucky Derby

References

External links

*
National Cemetery Administration
*
Long Island National Cemetery
* * * {{Authority control United States national cemeteries 1936 establishments in New York (state) Tourist attractions in Suffolk County, New York Cemeteries in Suffolk County, New York Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Suffolk County, New York Historic American Landscapes Survey in New York (state) Babylon (town), New York

History

Notable monuments

Notable interments

See also

References

External links