DECEMBER 27, 2024 – New York National Guard Army and Air Force Honor Guards are expected to provide military funeral honors at more than 8,700 graveside services by the time 2024 ends on Tuesday, Dec. 31.
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.
Eighty New York Air Guard Airmen who serve on six base honor guards, had conducted ceremonies at 1,892 funerals as of Dec. 20. Those base honor guards anticipated conducting another 60 funeral services by the end of the year.
In 2023, the New York National Guard conducted 9,083 military funeral services: 7,100 by Army National Guard honor guard members, and 1,983 by Air National Guard personnel.
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 National Guard conducted over 11,000 military funerals.
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.
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 Air National Guard honor guards are base honor guards and operate from the New York Air National Guard’s five airbases on Long Island, in the Hudson Valley, in Syracuse and outside Schenectady.
The 107th Attack Wing is a tenant at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station and its Air National Guard members serve alongside Air Force Reserve Airmen on that base honor guard.
Getting to remote upstate locations is a challenge for the Air Guard honor guards too, said Air Guard Chief Master Sgt. James Jarmacz, who heads the 174th Attack Wing honor guard at Hancock Air National Base in Syracuse.
His honor guard covers an area that ranges from the Canadian border, down to Scranton Pennsylvania, and almost to Albany sometimes, he said. It’s normal to drive three hours one way to a funeral, he added.
“The hardest thing about the job, I would say, is trying to schedule time with family and stuff,” Jarmacz said.
The busiest New York National Guard honor guards are the Army Guard’s Long Island detachment –2,183 burials in 2024–and the 106th Rescue Wing Honor Guard which is at Gabreski Air National Guard base in Westhampton Beach, which conducted funeral honors 640 times this year.
These honor guards often conduct burials at the Veterans Administration’s Calverton National Cemetery which is one of the busiest in the nation.
As of Dec. 20, funeral honors breakdown for the Army Guard were:
- Latham Detachment, 666
- Camp Smith (Hudson Valley) Detachment, 545
- Harlem Detachment, 847
- Bronx Detachment, 304
- Buffalo Detachment, 987
- Rochester Detachment, 465
- Syracuse Detachment, 662
Air Guard numbers were:
- Gabreski Air National Guard Base, 640
- Niagara Falls Air National Guard Base, 400
- Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, Syracuse, 355
- Stratton Air National Guard Base, Schenectady, 256
- Stewart Air National Guard Base, Newburg, 213
- Eastern Air Defense Sector, Rome, 28
Story by Eric Durr
New York National Guard