Garfield Langhorn reinterment at Calverton National Cemetery set for July 3

A famed Riverhead war hero will be buried alongside his fellow soldiers next month after a court order last week cleared the way for Pfc. Garfield Langhorn’s reinterment at Calverton National Cemetery.

The remains of Pfc. Langhorn, buried at Riverhead Cemetery since 1969, will be moved to Section 23 of the national cemetery in a ceremony scheduled for Friday, July 3, at 10:30 a.m.

“He started this journey a soldier,” said Timothy Dahlen, a retired Army officer who spearheaded the effort. “Now, he’s going to be back with soldiers.”

Pfc. Langhorn was 20 years old when he threw himself onto a grenade during a recovery mission on Jan. 15, 1969, sacrificing his life to save wounded soldiers. He was posthumously awarded the nation’s highest military honor the following year.

His family had chosen a local resting place so his father could personally care for the plot.

Now, with the blessing of his surviving sisters, Mr. Dahlen has spent months working to make the move happen.

Tuthill-Mangano Funeral Home in Riverhead is expected to handle the disinterment and reburial free of charge. However, a GoFundMe is still active for any additional costs.

With the ceremony now set, Mr. Dahlen said his next step is getting the word out to the community and letting the public know they are welcome to attend.

He also planned to go to the Riverhead Baptist Church first to discuss plans for the ceremony with Rev. Cynthia Liggon and the congregation. 

“What I really want everybody to understand is the significance of why we’re doing this today, 57 years later,” the veteran said “To put it in perspective, there were 2,700,000 service men and women who served in Vietnam between 1955 and 1975 — of those 2,700,000, only 270 people received the Medal of Honor. He is one-one thousand of them.”

So far, he has secured two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters for a flyover and ensured Pfc. Langhorn will receive full military honors. A callout has been made to other VFW posts on Long Island to participate. 

Pfc. Langhorn is the only Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipient in Suffolk County. His legacy lives on throughout Riverhead Town through multiple tributes, including a bronze bust at Riverhead Town Hall, a dedicated post office, memorials at the Pulaski Street School library and a Veterans Wall of Honor at Riverhead High School named in his memory. Riverhead Town designated the second Friday in October as “Pfc. Garfield M. Langhorn Day” in 2022.

“You just don’t get the Medal of Honor, it’s reserved for the highest degree of sacrifice,” Mr. Dahlen said. “He stepped forward, he did not only what he was trained to do, he did something that was his natural reaction as a soldier — people say, ‘well, what makes a man do that?’ It was instinct.”