Photo By William Albrecht | A New York Army National Guard color guard moves into position during the annual...... read more read more
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MENANDS--New York National Guard generals honored two New York presidents in October and December by placing wreaths from President Joe Biden at their gravesites.
On October 5, Major General Denis Donnell, the assistant adjutant general, Air, placed a presidential wreath at the grave of Chester Arthur, the 21st president, in Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands.
Two months later, on Dec. 5, Major General Michele Natali, the assistant adjutant general, Army, commemorated President Martin Van Buren, the 8th president, at his burial place in Kinderhook Reformed Cemetery.
Since 1967, military officers have placed wreaths sent by the current occupant of the White House at the graves of previous presidents on their birthdays.
The New York National Guard headquarters in Latham is responsible for placing wreaths at the graves of Arthur and Van Buren.
The New York Air Guard’s 107th Attack Wing is responsible for placing a wreath on the grave of President Millard Filmore, the 13th president, who hailed from Buffalo on January 7.
The ceremony at the Albany Rural Cemetery was attended by 50 people.
Donnell said that these kinds of ceremonies are important.
“We learn from the past to prepare for the future,” she said.
Retired New York Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 4 Brian Sherman, who attended the ceremony as a member of the Albany area chapter of the Sons of Union Veterans, said it is important to remember the contributions of former presidents.
Chester Arthur took officer after the death of President James Garfield. He was expected to be a political hack. But he played a key role in instituting the professional civil service, balancing the budget, and reinventing the U.S. navy.
The writer Mark Twain, who usually poked fun at politicians, praised Arthur upon his death.
"I am but one in 55,000,000; still, in the opinion of this one-fifty-five-millionth of the country's population, it would be hard to better President Arthur's administration," Twain wrote.
On Dec. 5, in Kinderhook, Van Buren’s birthplace, the presentation of the wreath from President Joseph Biden marked the climax of a ceremony that featured wreath presentations from local officials, volunteer groups, and the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site.
In his remarks, Natali praised Van Buren, who served from 1836-1840, for his efforts to keep the United States from going to war with Great Britain over border disputes in Maine and individual American’s support for a rebellion in Canada.
A highlight of the Kinderhook ceremony was a delegation of students from the nearby Ichabod Crane Primary School, who took turns speaking about Martin Van Buren’s life and sang Happy Birthday to him.
“It was excellent to have the kids here,” Natali said.
It’s important to hold events like this to tie the legacy of the past together with the present, Natali said.
Jane Miller, the president of the Friends of Lindenwald, a volunteer group which supports the National Historic Site, said she appreciates the National Guard participating in the annual tradition in Kinderhook.
“We need to remember that our nation was shaped by people like Martin Van Buren,” Miller said.
Van Buren was the first president born as an American citizen rather than a subject of the King of England. He is also the only president not to have spoken English as his first language, having grown up speaking Dutch, and he was the first president from New York.
Van Buren is credited for helping to make the Democratic Party a national party. And supposedly he gave the world the term OK for the initials of his nickname “Old Kinderhook” scrawled on documents he approved.
| Date Taken: | 12.13.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 12.13.2023 12:47 |
| Story ID: | 459842 |
| Location: | MENANDS, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 36 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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