KINDERHOOK, New York—New York Air Guardsmen saluted the nation’s eighth president on Thursday, Dec. 5, as Brigadier General Gary Charlton, the assistant adjutant general, Air, placed a wreath from President Joseph Biden at the grave of President Martin Van Buren.
Fifty residents gathered at the Kinderhook Reformed Church Cemetery as Airmen from the 109th Airlift Wing joined Charlton and New York Air National Guard Command Chief Master Sgt. Michael Hewson, in honoring Van Buren. The 109th Airmen provided the honor cordon and color guard for the ceremony in this small Hudson Valley village 20 miles south of Albany, where Van Buren was born on Dec. 5, 1782.
Since 1967, the current occupant of the White House has sent wreaths to the gravesites of their predecessors on their birthdays.
It was his “honor and privilege” this year to conduct the ceremony in Kinderhook and represent President Joe Biden, Charlton said in his remarks.
It’s good to have National Guard members out participating in community events, Charlton said afterward.
“Being part of the community and showing our support is what the National Guard is all about,” he added.
Van Buren was not only born in Kinderhook shortly before the end of the American Revolution, but he died there in July of 1862 as the Civil War was raging. He was buried in the cemetery of his local church alongside his wife Hannah, who died in 1819.
The ceremony, hosted by Kinderhook Mayor Dorene Weir, included wreath presentations from local groups, communities, and the National Park Service. The park service oversees the Martin Van Buren Historical Site at Lindenwald, the farm and mansion where Van Buren spent his final days.
Fourth-grade students from the nearby Ichabod Crane Elementary School presented an outline of Van Buren’s life and career and also sang happy birthday for him.
Van Buren served as president from 1837 to 1841. Prior to that he served as a judge, a New York State Senator, U.S. Senator, Governor of New York and Secretary of State.
He is credited with creating the Democratic Party as a national party, and for being a first-rate political operator.
He was the first president who was not born as a subject of the King of England. He is also the only president who did not speak English as his first language. His family spoke Dutch when he was growing up in a Kinderhook tavern.
One of his nicknames was Old Kinderhook. He reportedly initialed papers he approved with the letters “OK,” leading to those letters meaning something good.
As president, he sought to prevent the country from being torn apart over the issues surrounding slavery. He also worked to resolve disputes with Great Britain over border questions between Maine and New Brunswick, Canada and diffusing American citizens’ support for Canadian rebels in Ontario from leading to a wider war.
He ran for president two more times without being elected before he gave up politics to be a farmer.
In his will, he described that period as “the last and happiest time in my life, a farmer in my native town,” said Megan O’Malley, the superintendent of the national historic site.
Jane Miller, the president of the Friends of Lindenwald, a group that supports the historic site and organizes the annual Van Buren commemoration, said she always appreciates the National Guard members participating each year.
“They are always so well organized,” Miller said.
New York Army and Air National Guard contingents present the wreath at Van Buren’s gravesite yearly.
The New York Army and Air National Guard conducted the wreath presentations at the grave of President Chester A. Arthur in Menands, as well. And the New York Air National Guard’s 107th Attack Wing in Niagara Falls honors President Millard Fillmore, who is buried there.