Suffolk Coronavirus: Bellone Urges Flag Placement At Calverton

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — As Gov. Andrew Cuomo outlined plans for Memorial Day services statewide on Tuesday, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone continued to advocate for flag placement at national cemeteries including Calverton National Cemetery.

Recently, Bellone said the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, out of an "abundance of caution" in light of the coronavirus crisis, decided that flag placement would not be allowed this year at national cemeteries, including Calverton National Cemetery.

"We cannot allow this virus to stop us from honoring those who have sacrificed for our country," Bellone said.

On Tuesday, Cuomo said Memorial Day is coming up, "an important American tradition. We want to honor our veterans."

To that end, he said, the state will allow ceremonies of up to 10 people or less, as per guidelines set up by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "I hope they are televised," so all can take part, he added.

Also, vehicle parades in honor of veterans will also be allowed, Cuomo said. "I think that's appropriate," he said. "It's important to recognize them and I think we can do it safely."

Bellone, during his press briefing, said for many, Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial kickoff to the summer season. But, he said: "Memorial Day weekend is about honoring the sacrifice of the men and women who have fought for this country, who have died for us."

Suffolk County residents, he said, are happy that county beaches will be open for the holiday weekend. "If we can do this, how is it possible we cannot place flags at the grave of American heroes at our national cemeteries?" Bellone asked.

On Friday, Bellone announced a partnership with more than a dozen local cemeteries across the county to place American flags at the gravestones of the nation’s heroes during Memorial Day weekend.

The county will work with local Boy Scout troops and veterans organizations to conduct the group flag placement at non-veteran cemeteries on Saturday, May 23, Bellone said.

As part of the effort, Bellone will join 18-year-old Eagle Scout Kieran Monaghan, a member of Boy Scout Troop 443 from Middle Island, to place a flag at a local, non-veteran cemetery in Babylon.

For a full list of participating. cemeteries, click here.

Flags needed

In order to place the flags at the cemeteries across Suffolk County, 7,000 flags are still needed. Donated flags should be in good condition and of the "stick" variety, about 8 x 12 inches. Bellone said he is working with the American Legion and Gold Star Families, among others, to seek donations.

Those who can donate flags are asked to bring them to the H Lee Dennison Building, located at 100 Veterans Memorial Hwy. in Hauppauge, by Thursday at 5 p.m.; those who cannot get there to deliver the donated flags can call 311 and arrange to have them picked up.

Despite the local effort, Bellone said his "great hope" is that the VA in Washington will allow for flag placement at national cemeteries.

Last week, in light of the decision by the National Cemetery Administration to suspend group flag placement, Bellone wrote a letter to Veteran Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie asking for the directive to be amended.

"All we have asked from the VA is that they do not have a blanket, one-size-fits all policy for the whole country," Bellone said, adding that in Suffolk County, there are many volunteers who place and remove the flags every year at national cemeteries and are ready to step up.

"Now, there are new plans on Memorial Day weekend," Bellone said. "And, of course, the biggest thing is we have people coming to beaches. For me, that should be the end of the story. If we are saying we can do that safely then surely, we can have a plan in place at our expansive national cemeteries to place flags to honor American heroes."

Bellone added that he is sending a certified plan to the VA that has been approved by health officials; those in attendance would wear face coverings and adhere to social distancing, with no gathering of any kind, he said. "National cemeteries, with the acreage, are probably one of the easiest places in the world to social distance," Bellone said.

Also at Bellone's press briefing, Frank Bailey, the flag placement coordinator at Calverton, said the flag placement has taken place since 1995.

Not only Scouts, but other volunteer groups, place flags, he said. "They know what section they are going to. They use the three entrances to go to their section."

The staff at Calverton, Bailey said, puts out the boxes of flags, which are in bundles of 20; adult Scout leaders pass the flags to Scouts — this year, they would be handed out to Scouts in their cars before the start time — who then decorate the graves from a distance apart.

Last year, he said, 5,000 volunteers decorated 220,000 graves in 45 minutes; the volunteers return the following weekend to put the flags back until next year.

"They have not missed a year since 1995," Bailey said, adding that no ceremony or gathering would take place this year, if the decorating is allowed. "We just want volunteers to come in, decorate and leave," he said. Volunteers would wait in their cars until the decorating began, he said.

The tradition, is a way to pay tribute to the Greatest Generation, Bailey said.

"They are buried there and it is our job, once a year, to say 'thank you for your service,' for defending the principals of the United States — and for preserving the freedom of your country," he said.

When volunteers first heard there would be no flag placement this year, Bailey said: "They thought it was disgraceful. Everyone in that cemetery is a hero."

Number of hospitalizations dips below 500

Over the past 24 hours, Suffolk County has seen 103 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to 38,297, Bellone said. That number, he added, does not include the 10,345 positive antibody tests.

Hospitalizations decreased by eight, for a new total of 495; that number is below 500 for the first time since March, Bellone said.

The number of patients in ICU beds also decreased by five, for a countywide total of 164.

Hospital capacity stands at 2,959 beds, with 908 available, or 70 percent; there are 574 ICU beds in Suffolk County, with 215 available, or 63 percent, he said.

A total of 30 people were discharged over the past 24 hours. And the number of deaths rose by 18, bringing the total to 1,772.

The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Suffolk County by town is as follows:

Islip: 12,280

Brookhaven: 9,421

Babylon: 6,960

Huntington: 5,073

Smithtown: 2,438

Southampton: 984

Riverhead: 668

Southold: 408

East Hampton: 272

Shelter Island: 8

Mobile antibody testing

Bellone thanked Dr. Perry Frankel of Advanced Cardiovascular Diagnostics, who does screening and testing in his mobile van unit across country; Dr. Frankel has now added antibody testing, he said.

A testing site is coming soon in Copiague at the Bethel AME Church, locate at 20 Simmons St. in Copiague. To book an appointment, click here.

County closer to opening; elective surgeries now allowed again

Cuomo announced Saturday that elective surgeries are once again allowed in Suffolk.

"We are now hitting six of the seven metrics," outlined by New York State, that regions must meet before reopening, Bellone said.

According to New York State's regional monitoring dashboard, Long Island still needs to meet two of those seven metrics, including a 14-day decline in hospital deaths or fewer than five deaths according to a three-day rolling average; as well as the metric regarding contact tracing. Bellone said, however, that although technically that contact tracing mark has not yet been met, with the 230 contact tracers Suffolk County already had plus others promised by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, he felt confident the metric would be met.

Virtual run to honor veterans

The annual Suffolk County Veterans Run Series kicks off on Memorial Day weekend with a virtual CpL Christopher G. Scherer Memorial “I Did The Grid” four-mile run / walk.

While there may be no bell rung at the end of the race as in other years, Bellone said the event will honor America's heroes, including Scherer, Chief Warrant Officer John W. Engeman, United States Coast Guardsman Nathan Bruckenthal, and Master Sgt. Chris Raguso of the NY Air National Guard 106th Rescue Wing in Westhampton, who was an Air Force master sergeant, a lieutenant in the FDNY and a volunteer firefighter for the Commack Fire Department; he was one of four killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq in March 2018.

"When you finish the race, voice the names of these American heroes aloud," Bellone said.