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 351-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 January 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 gray granite memorial was erected in 2001 to honor veterans from Saratoga County, NY. 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.
Visitation Hours: Open daily from dawn to dusk.
Office Hours: Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed federal holidays.