Onondaga County veterans cemetery honors fallen service members for Memorial Day

The first grave at Onondaga County Veterans Memorial Cemetery still anchors Memorial Day in Onondaga County. More than 100 people gathered Sunday at 4069 Howlett Hill Road in Syracuse, where a lone bugler played Taps and the county again marked the lives behind the names etched into the 52-acre site.

That history begins with Leo McInerney, a decorated World War II Navy veteran whose burial on June 11, 1986, became the cemetery’s first. The county formally dedicated the cemetery on May 30, 1987, and built it to honor Onondaga County residents and family members who dedicated portions of their lives to the military and the defense of the nation.

For younger Syracuse-area residents, the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day can blur, but the meaning at Howlett Hill Road is clear. Memorial Day honors service members who died in uniform, while Veterans Day recognizes all who served. At this cemetery, that distinction is visible in the graves, the flags, and the families who return each year.

The county’s annual Memorial Day observance featured Alex Behm, chief community officer at Clear Path for Veterans, as the program leader and Anthony Ruscitto, a Marine veteran and Tillman Scholar, as keynote speaker. Jeff Stockholm, a lone bugler, played Taps as attendees stood in silence among the headstones.

The scale of the tribute has grown into a county ritual. Local coverage of the 2025 observance reported that more than 6,500 American flags were placed on veterans’ graves at the cemetery, a reminder that the site is both a resting place and a visible sign of community memory.

The county also treats the cemetery as an ongoing public service, not just a ceremonial space. Onondaga County Parks handles burials, plot assignments, burial records and grounds care, and the Onondaga County Legislature unanimously eliminated the $500 burial fee for Onondaga County veterans, their spouses and dependent children. That policy matters for families who carry military service across generations, because it lowers one barrier at the very moment they are making burial decisions.

With each Memorial Day observance, the cemetery does more than honor the fallen. It ties one veteran’s name, Leo McInerney’s, to a countywide promise that the service of local families will be remembered here, on grounds that remain cared for long after the flags are packed away.