New York National Guard Conducts Annual Memorial Day Ceremony

LATHAM, NY (05/22/2013)-- The New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs (DMNA) and the New York National Guard will mark Memorial Day with a ceremony at state headquarters on Thursday, May 23.

WHO: The state and federal civilian employees and military personnel of the Joint Forces Headquarters-New York and the Division of Military and Naval Affairs.

WHAT: The Division of Military and Naval Affairs headquarters will hold a brief pre-Memorial Day ceremony honoring military members who have made the ultimate sacrifice to their country.

WHEN: 11 a.m., Thursday, May 23

WHERE: Division of Military & Naval Affairs, State Headquarters, 330 Old Niskayuna Road, Latham.

Coverage Opportunities:

The New York Military Forces Honor Guard will play taps and fire a 21-gun salute as part of the ceremony. Major General Patrick Murphy, the Adjutant General of New York, and Mary Kavaney, Assistant Deputy Secretary for Public Safety,will deliver brief remarks to the Soldiers and Airmen of the New York National Guard and civilian employees of the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs who participate in the event.

Additional Information:

Memorial Day originated in Waterloo, New York in May 1866 as a way to mark the sacrifice made by local soldiers who died during the Civil War. In 1868 the observance was endorsed by the Grand Army of the Republic-the main Union veterans organization of the time-- and became a national event.

The first Memorial Day celebrations in New York marked the deaths of 53,837 New Yorkers who died in the Civil War. Another 52,055 New Yorkers have died in the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf War.

Since 2001 there have been 496 military members who called New York their home, or who were stationed in New York, mostly at Fort Drum in Jefferson County, who have fallen in battle in Afghanistan or Iraq. Of those military members, 32 belonged to the New York Army National Guard and one Marine Corps Reservist was also a member of the New York Naval Militia.

Sergeant Heath McMillin of Canandaigua, assigned to the 105th Military Police Company, became the New York National Guard's first combat loss since the Korean War, July 27, 2003, when he was killed in Iraq by an improvised explosive device.

First Lieutenant Joseph Theinert from Sag Harbor, Long Island-- assigned to the Headquarters 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Syracuse and deployed to Afghanistan with the Army's 10th Mountain Division--was killed on June 4, 2010, also by an IED and is the most recent National Guard loss.

Nearly 9,000 members of the New York Army National Guard have been mobilized and deployed for service in Iraq or Afghanistan in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. A total of 32 Soldiers have lost their lives as a result of combat operations, accidents or other causes while serving overseas.

Currently almost 600 members of the New York Army National Guard are deployed in Afghanistan and Kuwait.

The Division of Military and Naval Affairs began holding pre-Memorial Day programs at its headquarters in May 2005 to remind the community of the purpose of the Memorial Day holiday and that New York Soldiers were serving and falling in combat on behalf of the nation.

Members of the media interested in attending to cover the event should contact the Division of Military and Naval Affairs Public Affairs Office at (518) 786-4581 no later than 10 a.m. on May 23 for access to this secure military facility