KINDERHOOK, N.Y. -- Brigadier General Anthony German, Chief of Staff of the New York Air National Guard (left) and Chaplain (Capt.) Glen Lightfoot, Chaplain Recruitment Officer for New York , salute President Martin Van Buren’s grave during annual observances at the gravesite of the eighth president on Friday Dec. 3rd. German represented President Barak Obama during the annual event. Wreaths are tradionally laid at the gravesites of past presidents on their birthdays. Van Buren, the first president who was initially a British subject,was born on Dec. 5, 1782.