National Cemetery Administration
Calverton National Cemetery
210 Princeton Boulevard
Calverton, NY 11933
Phone: 631-727-5410
FAX: 631-369-4397
Kiosk: Yes
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Visitation Hours: Open daily from sunrise to sunset.
Office Hours: Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
VA will continue its practice of honoring special requests for weekend burials for religious purposes, in cases of service members killed in action and on at least one day of any three-day Federal holiday weekend at all open VA national cemeteries.
This cemetery has space available to accommodate casketed burials and the interment of cremains in-ground or in columbaria. A scatter garden and an ossuary are also available.
Burial in a national cemetery is open to all members of the armed forces who have met a minimum active duty service requirement and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.
A Veteran's spouse, widow or widower, minor dependent children, and under certain conditions, unmarried adult children with disabilities may also be eligible for burial. Eligible spouses and children may be buried even if they predecease the Veteran.
Members of the reserve components of the armed forces who die while on active duty or who die while on training duty, or were eligible for retired pay, may also be eligible for burial.
Take the Long Island Expressway East (495) to Exit 68 (William Floyd Parkway). Then take William Floyd Parkway North to Route 25 East. The cemetery entrance is on the left in approximately four miles.
The nearest airport is Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip and travel time to the cemetery is about 30 minutes. JFK and LaGuardia are approximately 70 miles from the cemetery, making travel time approximately 90 minutes in local area traffic.
Fax all discharge documentation to the National Cemetery Scheduling Office at 1-866-900-6417 and follow-up with a phone call to 1-800-535-1117.
For information on scheduled burials in our national cemeteries, please go to the Daily Burial Schedule.
Grave Location
The grave location of your loved one is furnished on the map included in the burial document folder. There is a kiosk with a gravesite locator at the administration building for previous interments. Cemetery personnel are available to assist visitors during office hours.
Grave Marker
A temporary grave marker is used to mark the grave directly following the interment. A permanent grave marker will be furnished free of charge. Every effort is made to have the permanent grave marker delivered and set within 60 days of the day of interment.
Flags
The United States flag is flown over national cemeteries every day. Graves are decorated annually with United States gravesite flags the Saturday before Memorial Day; gravesite flags are removed the Saturday after the holiday.
Prohibited Activities
While we welcome visitors to Calverton National Cemetery, we remind them of its solemn purpose and ask that they act in a dignified manner while on the cemetery grounds. Public gatherings of a partisan nature are not permitted. Prohibited activities include, but are not limited to, bicycle riding, jogging, picnicking, roller blading, skateboarding, walking pets, hunting, consuming alcohol or recreational drugs, and other sports or recreational activities of any type.
For educational materials and additional information on this cemetery, please visit the Education section, located below.
Cemetery floral policies are posted, and brochures are available at the administration building.
At the time of burial, one floral arrangement accompanying the casket or urn will be placed at the gravesite.
We welcome flowers throughout the year. Please use floral cones for fresh-cut and artificial flowers, as they allow the turf to grow and be trimmed. Visitors may use containers available in receptacles throughout the cemetery. Once blooms are faded or damaged, they are removed. Otherwise, items are removed monthly.
Staples, spikes, and wire adhering arrangements to the ground or to any cemetery fixture are never allowed.
During the winter season from December to mid-January, grave blankets 2 x 3 feet or smaller and other seasonal items may be placed on gravesites. Please note that when snow falls over grave blankets, they are not readily visible to staff who must traverse sections on equipment.
Please do not leave items that have sentimental value at gravesites as these possessions cannot be secured.
All items placed in the cemetery become the property of the cemetery and will be properly disposed. The cemetery is not responsible for flowers placed on gravesites. They will not be replaced if damaged, stolen or eaten by deer.
To preserve the dignified appearance of the cemetery, commemorative items, balloons, photos, pinwheels, statues, glass items, wind chimes, votive lights, shepherd's hooks, stuffed animals, alcoholic products, and permanent plantings, among other items, are prohibited.
No object may be attached to a headstone, columbarium, marker, bench, or any other fixture in a national cemetery. Prohibited items will be removed.
Transportation for visitors needing assistance to gravesites is available, weather and ground conditions permitting, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
For further information, please contact our office at 631-727-5410.
VA regulations 38 CFR 1.218 prohibit the carrying of firearms (either openly or concealed), explosives or other dangerous or deadly weapons while on VA property, except for official purposes, such as military funeral honors.
Possession of firearms on any property under the charge and control of VA is prohibited. Offenders may be subject to a fine, removal from the premises, or arrest.
Calverton National Cemetery is located in eastern Long Island between the towns of Manorville and Riverhead in Suffolk County. When the National Cemetery System constructed Calverton National Cemetery in 1978, the cemetery became the third national cemetery to be located on Long Island. The other national cemeteries situated on Long Island are Cypress Hills National Cemetery, in Brooklyn, NY, which was established in 1862 and Long Island National Cemetery, in Farmingdale, NY, established in 1936.
In 1974, Long Island National Cemetery was the only national cemetery on Long Island with available space for burials—but its maximum burial capacity was soon to be exhausted. As a result, plans were developed by the National Cemetery System to construct a new regional cemetery to serve the greater New York area—home, then, to nearly three million veterans and their dependents. On December 7, 1977, a 902-acre tract of land was transferred from the U.S. Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant at Calverton to the Veterans Administration for use as a national cemetery.
The National Cemetery System realized that Calverton National Cemetery would become one of its more active cemeteries. For that reason, they designed and built a feature called a committal "wheel" of shelters that permits multiple burial services to be held simultaneously. To the left of the main cemetery entrance, around the Veteran's Circle, are seven committal shelters. After the funeral service, the caskets are moved into the hub of the wheel and then transported to their respective gravesites. One floral arrangement is taken to the gravesite. In 1983, the walls of the committal shelters were reconstructed to serve as columbaria for the inurnment of cremated remains. Calverton is one of the largest, and one of the most active national cemeteries currently overseen by the National Cemetery Administration.
Monuments and Memorials
Calverton National Cemetery features a memorial pathway lined with a variety of memorials that honor America's veterans. As of 2023, there are 26 memorials here, most commemorating soldiers of 20th century wars.
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force that can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. Recipients receive the Medal of Honor from the President on behalf of Congress. It was first awarded during the Civil War and the eligibility criteria, medal design, and recognition on a recipients' grave marker have all evolved over time. There are 433 Medal of Honor recipients interred at VA national cemeteries including 6 double recipients.
» Medal of Honor recipients interred or memorialized here:
Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy (Afghanistan). He was a U.S. Navy SEAL who received the Medal of Honor posthumously for service in Afghanistan during Operation Redwing, June 28, 2005. Murphy is buried in Section 67, Site 3710.
Other Burials
A Pennsylvania native of Polish descent, Francis S. Gabreski enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in July 1940. During World War I, Col. Gabreski flew with the Royal Air Force 315th Squadron of Polish pilots and, once the United States declared war, the U.S. 61st Fighter Squadron. Gabreski's tactical skills and courage earned him the title, "America's Greatest Living Ace." With thirty victories to his credit in 1944 and awaiting orders for leave, he volunteered for one more mission. He crashed and was captured, and held at Stalag Luft I prisoner-of-war camp for Allied airmen until March 1945. He briefly left service in 1946, but reenlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1947 and served in Korea. Highly decorated and respected, he retired in 1967. Col. Gabreski died January 31, 2002 (Section 14, Site 724).
South Carolinian Isaac Woodard (1919–1992) enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942. Sergeant Woodard served in the Pacific Theater of World War II and was honorably discharged in 1946. In uniform, he boarded a bus for home and, en route, was brutally attacked and blinded. Woodard was one of many black servicemen who experienced discrimination and violence, but his case sparked a national outcry. The NAACP sought justice, musicians immortalized the travesty, and Orson Welles unmasked Woodard's attacker — police chief Lynwood Shull — on his radio show. Yet no charges were filed until President Harry Truman ordered an investigation. The jury acquitted Shull in less than a half hour. In response, Truman established a Civil Rights Commission and desegregated the military. In 2019, the city of Batesville, where Woodard was attacked, placed a historic marker that includes text in Braille about what happened there. Woodard is buried in Section 15, Site 2180.
We are developing educational content for this national cemetery, and will post new materials as they become available. Visit the Veterans Legacy Program and NCA History Program for additional information. Thank you for your interest.
