Military funerals in New York: Ceremonies to bid final farewells decline as generation of World War II, Korean War vets dwindles

New York's reserve forces, which provide military funeral services for service members, are seeing a generational shift in which they are giving a final farewell to fewer veterans in a dwindling connection to history.

The New York Army National Guard and the New York Air National Guard provided military funeral honors for 6,166 veterans last year, according to a news release from the state Division of Military and Naval Affairs, which oversees guard outfits. That statewide figure declined from 9,824 in 2022, to 9,083 in 2023 and 8,783 in 2024.

While each service marks the end of one veteran’s personal story, they collectively remind Americans that so few veterans of World War II and the Korean War remain to share their firsthand accounts of history.

A dwindling generation

"Obviously that generation is dwindling in massive numbers, so there’s obviously going to be a decline in the amount of funerals that are held." Marcelle Leis, director of Suffolk County Veterans Service Agency and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and the New York Air National Guard, told Newsday in a phone interview.

While a deceased veteran's family hears taps and watches service members salute their loved one, "they are very grateful because many of those service members, those veterans, never really spoke about their experiences," Leis said.

"That’s culturally what we do; we don’t talk about when we went to war and what our experiences were, but they see the honor that is given to that service member, that veteran," Leis added. "It’s so meaningful for them."

While some World War II and Korean War veterans — age around 90 to either side of 100 — remain, there are far more Vietnam veterans, mostly in their 70s. "Unfortunately," they are dying relatively young due to "the exposure to the toxins, especially Agent Orange, when they were in-country," and because they returned home unwelcomed and "delayed going for medical care that they should have received," Leis said.

On Long Island and across the United States, Vietnam vets mark the largest subpopulation of veterans and account for the majority of their deaths today, according to Leis. But the ongoing generational shift means there's a much smaller pool of people for the National Guard to honor. Nearly twice as many Americans served during World War II compared with the Vietnam War.

There are around 100,000 "counted" veterans on Long Island, with roughly 58,000 in Suffolk, according to Leis. She believes there are more veterans who are not counted because the U.S. Census Bureau no longer asks for this information and some vets are not affiliated with organizations that serve them.

In the 'Vietnam era'

When Master Sgt. Alan Sanchez started performing funeral honors for airmen in 2008, he said the 106th Rescue Wing, which covers Long Island and the five boroughs of New York City, was responsible for upward of 1,000 funerals a year. A decade later, the 106th performed honors for around 750 veterans. Last year, the total dropped to 580.

"Probably around 2010 is where it really started declining," Sanchez, who now heads the rescue wing’s honor guard, told Newsday in a phone interview. "Before then, it was very heavy with World War II veterans. We’re mostly in the Vietnam era, now approaching soon Desert Storm and then every conflict in between."

Last year, funding for members of the New York Air National Guard to perform military honors at funerals was reduced, according to the state agency that oversees the reserve force. Local veterans, however, say they have not noticed any service disruptions.

By federal law, military forces must send at least two service members to the funeral of a veteran who served in an active duty role and was honorably discharged. 

Duties are typically performed by reservists, save for the rare occasion where a daily number of funerals exceeds a branch’s available members, according to Sanchez. In these cases, service members can be requested to provide the honors for a member of a different branch.

On call for funerals

While the 106th's honor guard is most often requested for funerals at Calverton National Cemetery, members have traveled to much farther and more unorthodox venues, including restaurants and sporting events, Sanchez said. While these service members hope to receive assignments one to three days in advance, they must occasionally hit the road with just a couple hours' notice.

"Our job, it's pretty much on call 24/7," the master sergeant said. "We try to select members [for the honor guard] that understand that ... it can be taxing on your personal life sometimes."

Guardsmen arrive around an hour before a service begins to survey the scene, rehearse and plan a smooth exit, according to Sanchez. Honors generally begin with a salute of the hearse and include the playing of taps, often a prerecorded rendition with an electronic bugle. The service members then fold an American flag 13 times until they form a triangle exclusively showcasing its white stars on a blue field.

One member presents the flag to the veteran’s family and recites the presidential speech in which the veteran is thanked, on behalf of the president, the military branch in which they served and a "grateful nation," for their "honorable and faithful service."

"We are not to alter the speech," Sanchez said. "If the loved one of the service member is breaking down, they're crying, I say ‘my condolences’ or ‘it’s truly an honor.’ But for the most part, the speech is the speech, we salute and we exit."

If a veteran’s family requests a live bugle player to perform taps or a rifle squad for a final salute, members of Veterans of Foreign Wars chapters, American Legion posts or other veterans organizations provide these services, and coordinate with the military’s official honor guard.

"There are always veterans organizations who will step up," Eric Spinner, a chaplain for the Nassau County American Legion and a Vietnam-era veteran, said. "Honoring a fellow veteran — living or dead — is something which is very special to all of us. ... We’re brothers and sisters in arms."

The healing process 

After providing military funeral honors for around 2,000 airmen, plus for 2,000 soldiers when he served in the New York Army National Guard, Sanchez may finally retire from that duty when his latest contract expires in April. He first took to the task after attending the funerals for multiple Army guard members he knew, including his former lieutenant.

"I love being able to give back to families ... bring closure, just like the Army honor guard team did for my lieutenant," Sanchez said. "I think it's very, very soothing and an important part of the healing process when you lose a loved one."

Sanchez hopes to open up a slot on the honor guard for a younger airman like Staff Sgt. Yanier Romero, who joined the 106th Rescue Wing’s funeral service group 2½ years ago. When asked why he sought the funeral honors position, Romero said: "This is a way for me to thank the prior generation for everything that they have done for us."