For more than half a century, Pfc. Garfield M. Langhorn was buried at Riverhead Cemetery, a few miles from where he grew up. In July 2026, at his family's request, his remains were moved to Calverton National Cemetery, where he now lies in Section 23, Site 165. This Veterans Day is the first he will be honored there.

Who Garfield Langhorn was

Langhorn was born in Cumberland, Virginia, in 1948 and was living in Brooklyn when he was drafted into the Army in 1968, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. He served as a radio operator with Troop C, 7th Squadron (Airmobile), 17th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Aviation Brigade.

On Jan. 15, 1969, his unit went into Pleiku Province in South Vietnam to reach the crew of a downed American helicopter. After finding the crash site, the unit came under attack by North Vietnamese forces on the way back. When an enemy grenade landed near several wounded soldiers, Langhorn threw himself on it. He was killed instantly, and the men around him survived. He received the Medal of Honor for that act.

Riverhead has carried his name for years. In 2010 the village post office building was named the Private First Class Garfield M. Langhorn Post Office Building.

A cemetery built for a region

Calverton sits on eastern Long Island between Manorville and Riverhead. It exists because of a shortage. By 1974, the VA notes, Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, opened in 1936, was the only national cemetery on the Island with room for new burials, and it was running out. The greater New York area was then home to close to three million veterans and their families.

On Dec. 7, 1977, a 902-acre tract of the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant at Calverton was transferred to the Veterans Administration. The cemetery opened in 1978, and a later transfer from the naval site brought it to 1,045 acres. It is one of the largest and most active cemeteries the National Cemetery Administration runs.

Because planners expected it to be busy, they built what the VA calls a committal wheel: seven shelters arranged around the Veterans Circle, to the left of the main entrance, so that several services can be held at the same time. After each service, caskets move to the hub of the wheel and then on to their gravesites.

Others who rest there

Lt. Michael P. Murphy, the Navy SEAL who received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005, during Operation Redwing, is buried in Section 67, Site 3710.

Col. Francis S. Gabreski, the fighter pilot once called America's greatest living ace, is in Section 14, Site 724. He flew with a Royal Air Force squadron of Polish pilots and then the U.S. 61st Fighter Squadron, had 30 victories to his credit in 1944, and was captured after volunteering for one more mission while awaiting leave. He later served in Korea, retired in 1967 and died in 2002.

Sgt. Isaac Woodard, a South Carolinian who served in the Pacific in World War II, is in Section 15, Site 2180. Hours after his honorable discharge in 1946, still in uniform and on a bus home, he was attacked and blinded. His case drew national attention, and the VA's account connects it to President Harry Truman's creation of a civil rights commission and his order desegregating the military.

A memorial walkway near the entrance holds 28 memorials to veterans as of 2026.

Visiting

The cemetery is at 210 Princeton Boulevard in Calverton, with its entrance off Route 25. From the Long Island Expressway, take Exit 68 north on the William Floyd Parkway to Route 25 east; the entrance is on the left in about four miles. Grounds are open daily from sunrise to sunset, and the office is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (631-727-5410). A kiosk at the administration building locates any grave, and staff can drive visitors who need help to a gravesite on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., weather permitting.

Flowers may be left year-round. From December to mid-January, grave blankets no larger than 2 by 3 feet are allowed. Families can also search for a veteran and leave a tribute online through the VA's Veterans Legacy Memorial.

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