Gerald
B.H. Solomon Saratoga
National Cemetery
200
Duell Road
Schuylerville,
NY 12871-1721
Phone: (518) 581-9128
FAX: (518) 583-6975 |
Office Hours:
Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Closed federal holidays.
Visitation Hours:
Open daily from dawn until dusk. |
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Burial Space: This
cemetery has space available to accommodate casketed and cremated
remains.
Acreage: 351.7
Number of
Interments Thru Fiscal Year 2005: 5,012
General Information Kiosk on Site? Yes
Floral/Ground Regulations: This
Cemetery's Regulations |
Directions from
nearest airport:
From
Interstate 87 take exit 12 East (Route 67, Malta) and proceed east
on Route 67 to the intersection of Route 9. Turn left on Route 9
and proceed north to the intersection of Route 9P. Turn right onto
Route 9P and proceed east along Saratoga Lake to the intersection
of Route 423. Turn right onto Route 423 and proceed east to the
intersection of Route 4. Turn left onto Route 4 and proceed north.
Then turn left onto Wilbur Road. Proceed on Wilbur Road to intersection
of Duell Road. Turn right onto Duell Road and follow to cemetery. |
GENERAL INFORMATION
Military
Funeral Honors
The Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery has an Honor Guard Association,
which consists of six squads of 12-18 volunteers each. The principal duty
of the Honor Guard is to ensure that every veteran receives a proper military
burial service. This service is available at no charge to all eligible veterans.
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HISTORICAL
INFORMATION
Gerald
B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery is New York State’s sixth
national veteran’s cemetery and the 116th in the National Cemetery
Administration.
More than 1.4 million veterans live in New York and more
than 225,000 reside in the Albany/Saratoga area. The first phase of construction,
encompassing 60 acres of the 373-acre cemetery, included 5,000 gravesites,
2,000 lawn crypts, 1,500 columbaria niches and 700 garden niches for cremated
remains. At full capacity, Solomon-Saratoga can provide burial space for
175,500 veterans and eligible dependents.
On
Jan. 24, 2002, President George W. Bush signed legislation renaming Saratoga
National Cemetery as the Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery.
Congressman Solomon was known as the champion of veterans' causes. Among
his accomplishments, he spearheaded the effort to create the cabinet-level
Department of Veterans Affairs and successfully led a drive to establish
the national cemetery in which he is now interred.
Monuments
and Memorials
The ship’s bell from the USS Saratoga, CV-3, was installed as a
memorial at the cemetery in 1999. The USS Saratoga was launched in 1925
and spent 20 years at sea, including action during World War II. It was
taken out of service and destroyed in 1946. New York Congressman Dean
P. Taylor requested the bell in 1946. It was first displayed at Saratoga
Spring’s Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Memorial Home, dedicated
on Veteran’s Day in 1949. The bell was later restored and permanently
mounted at the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery.
An American black-mist
granite memorial was erected in 2001 to honor veterans from Saratoga County,
N.Y. The monument features two granite slabs inscribed with approximately
980 names of individuals who gave their lives for their country. A granite
obelisk is at the forefront of the monument.
A pyramidal black-mist
granite memorial for Congressman Gerald B.H. Solomon, who was instrumental
in the national cemetery’s establishment and a proponent of veteran
causes, was erected in 2002, the year the cemetery was renamed in his
honor.
A granite and bronze
memorial was erected in honor of U.S. submariner veterans on October 19,
2002.
The cemetery also
has a walkway that features a number of memorials erected by various veterans
and fraternal organizations in honor of events and fallen comrades.
The American Veterans (AMVETS) donated a carillon in 1999.
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NOTABLE
BURIALS
Medal
of Honor Recipients
Specialist Fourth Class Raymond R. Wright, (Vietnam), U.S.
Army, Company A, 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division.
In Ap Bac Zone, Vietnam, May 2, 1967 (Section 7, Site 1035).
Technical Sergeant
Peter J. Dalessandro, (World War II), U.S. Army, Company E, 39th Infantry,
9th Infantry Division. At Kalterherberg, Germany, Dec. 22, 1944 (Section
G12, Site 1).
Sergeant Thomas A.
Baker, (World War II), U.S. Army, Company A, 105th Infantry, 27th Infantry
Division. At Saipan, Mariana Islands, June 19 to July 7, 1944, (Section
8, Site 530).
Other Burials
U.S. Representative Gerald Brooks Hunt Solomon, interred Oct. 31, 2001
(Section 20, Site 7). Cemetery renamed in his honor.
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FLORAL/GROUNDS
REGULATIONS
Cemetery policies are conspicuously posted and readily
visible to the public.
Floral arrangements accompanying the casket or urn at
the time of burial will be placed on the completed grave. Natural cut
flowers may be placed on graves at any time of the year. They will be
removed when they become unsightly or when it becomes necessary to facilitate
cemetery operations such as mowing. Floral pick up is the second and fourth
Tuesday of each month.
Potted plants of any size and permanent vases are not
permitted.
Artificial flowers are permitted on gravesites from Oct.
1 through April 1, and the 10 day period before and after Easter, and
are subject to floral pick ups when they become unsightly or to facilitate
cemetery operations.
Christmas wreaths, grave blankets and other seasonal adornments
may be placed on graves from Dec. 1 through Feb. 1.
Permanent plantings,
statues, vigil lights, attachments to headstones/markers, flag holders,
flags, breakable objects and similar items are not permitted on the graves.
The Department of Veterans Affairs does not permit adornments that are
considered offensive, inconsistent with the dignity of the cemetery or
considered hazardous to cemetery personnel. For example, items incorporating
beads or wires may become entangled in mowers or other equipment and cause
injury.
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