Jack Jarosinski of Ontario, New York, who will play bagpipes during the ceremony, also has deep roots in the Finger Lakes Region and a special commitment to our veterans. His brother, William Jarosinski, was a veteran of the Army who served in the Vietnam War and was awarded three Purple Heart medals for injuries he sustained while fighting to defend our Nation. After William Jarosinski passed away last year, Jack continues to honor the memory of his brother by playing bagpipes at military funerals and other events commemorating the service and sacrifice of our veterans.

Vocalist Leigh Consolie of Geneva, who will be singing the National Anthem at the dedication ceremony, also has a family tradition of proud service to our Nation. Her father, Joseph Augustine, served in the Army during the time of World War II. An accomplished performer, Leigh has been the honorary soloist for the Geneva Red Wings baseball team and the Williamson Cubs in Pennsylvania for years.

The dedication ceremony will take place on Saturday, July 30th at 11:00 a.m. at the Sampson Veterans Memorial Cemetery, just south of Sampson State Park along Route 96A in Romulus. That portion of Route 96A has been officially renamed the "Sampson Veterans Memorial Highway" to further memorialize all veterans, and in particular the men and women who trained and served at the Sampson Air Force and Naval Base.

the park and the cemetery are located on the site the former Sampson Naval and Air Force Base, where over a million sailors and airmen trained in preparation for battle to defend our Nation. The Sampson base served as a naval training station during World War II and was later used as an Air Force Basic Training Center. The Veterans' Cemetery is also a short distance from Waterloo, New York, the Nationally-recognized birthplace of Memorial Day.

The dedication ceremony will take place on Saturday, July 30th at 11:00 a.m. at the Sampson Veterans Memorial Cemetery, just south of Sampson State Park along Route 96A in Romulus. That portion of Route 96A has been officially renamed the "Sampson Veterans Memorial Highway" to further memorialize all veterans, and in particular the men and women who trained and served at the Sampson Air Force and Naval Base.

address, which will surely be a moving tribute to the dedication and sacrifice of our Nation's veterans."

Growing up in Port Byron, New York and graduating from the University of Rochester, Admiral West has strong ties to the Finger Lakes Region. His highly accomplished 38-year military career began when he joined the Navy in 1965, serving as a Surface Warfare Officer. Admiral West served in the Vietnam War with the Riverine Forces, a joint U.S. Army and Navy force that carried out strike and patrol operations along the Mekong Delta. He would go on to three tours of duty in the Pentagon. He also served on several ships and was Commanding Officer of three, two during hostilities in the Persian Gulf.

Richard West was appointed Commanding Officer of the Navy Surface Warfare Officers School in Newport, Rhode Island and was selected for Admiral while serving there. For three years, he served as Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy where he managed a multi- million dollar program providing navigation support for the U.S. Navy and led the Navy's transition to electronic navigation.

After retiring from the Navy, Admiral West served as President and CEO of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE), an association of 74 of the country's leading oceanographic research institutions, universities, and laboratories. In his leadership position at CORE, Admiral West testified several times before the U.S. Congress and addressed the United Nations on Safety of Life at Sea.

answered the call of duty, and served their Nation with honor and dignity.

As the former Naval and Air Force base where over a million sailors and airmen were trained in preparation for battle, Sampson is unique and hallowed ground. Constructed in 1942 on the shores of Seneca Lake, the base is named after Rear Admiral William T. Sampson, a hero of the Battle of Santiago in the Spanish American War who was born in Wayne County. The Sampson base served as a naval training station during World War II and was later used as an Air Force Basic Training Center. The Veterans’ Cemetery is also a short distance from Waterloo, New York, the Nationally-recognized birthplace of Memorial Day.

All honorably discharged veterans, their spouses and dependent children will be eligible for burial at the Sampson Veterans Memorial Cemetery. The guidelines for the cemetery will be based on national federal veteran cemetery standards. There are about 200,000 veterans living in the Finger Lakes region.

The dedication ceremony will be located at the Sampson Veterans' Memorial Cemetery, just south of Sampson State Park along Route 96A in Romulus. That portion of Route 96A has been officially renamed the “Sampson Veterans Memorial Highway” to further memorialize all veterans, and in particular the men and women who trained and served at the Sampson Air Force and Naval Base.

three weeks. The main entrance is almost finished, the upper half of the old guard shack has been removed and materials have been ordered to start construction on the renovation of the guard shack. The foundation has been poured for the outside committal shelter. Almost, if not all the flag post have been installed and work on the renovation of the three-bay firehouse has started … this includes a new roof, windows, fire hose drying tower repaired and new doors. Area Veterans are going to build the new bathrooms in the firehouse. This has been done with the donations the Veterans Committee has received from individuals and Veterans organizations like VFW's, American Legion posts and DAV Post, etc. The first phase of road work is complete and parking areas and sidewalks are in place. At this time we are looking for the last construction phase to be completed around the first of August. 

A special thanks to Don Linborg, Vice President of the Sampson Veterans Memorial Cemetery Committiee, who had the idea to rename 96A, took it to the Seneca County board of Supervisors, who approved the resolution, and sent it on to State where it was approved by the Assembly and Senate.

the Guard Shack, layout and build the burial areas, the outside committal shelter, the main flag area, and rest rooms and part of the Memorial walk area and roads. 

After this money is gone, we are going to have to rely on donations from organizations, veteran groups, companies, the State, and individuals.  This money will be used for the daily operation and up keep of the cemetery. We will apply to our State Senators, Assemblymen and both US Senators and Congressmen for grants, stimuli packages, etc. Until the National VA Cemetery in Bath NY closes (around 5 years or so) the VA will not help us financially, they will provide all the benefits to the Veterans, headstone, flag etc. and will recognize Sampson as a Veterans Cemetery.  We will build a Veterans Cemetery that the Veteran and his or her family will be proud of. 

winter. I want to assure the Veterans, their families, and every person or organization that has donated to the Cemetery that this project will be completed and we expect to have an opening day program and our first veteran's burial in late May or early June of 2011. 

With the support of the Seneca County Legislators, New York State Senator Nozzolio, New York State Assemblyman Kolb,  the road known as Route 96A, which runs South from Routes 5 and 20  past the Sampson Naval and Air Force training center and the new Sampson Veterans Memorial Cemetery to Ovid, N.Y. will be renamed the Sampson Veterans Memorial Highway.  We are looking for a dedication program to rename the route sometime before November of this year, I will keep this site posted. 

Dan Motell, of Ovid, is in the process of setting up a golf tournament on May 22, 2010 at the Big Oak Golf Course, there are still a couple of foursomes still open.

We have blue Sampson Veterans Memorial Cemetery wrist bands on sale as a fundraiser.

There is a well on the site and it will meet our water requirements.  We would like to thank ITT Water Systems of Seneca Falls and George Stralley and his staff for the donation of a new well pump and pressure tank and to Barney Moravec Water Well Company of Penn Yan, NY for donating his staff and equipment to install the new pump, this was completed in November.  A thank you to the Waterloo water department for testing the water to insure we met the requirements.

The committee has been in contact with the Veterans Administration in Washington and provided with all information pertaining to the cemetery and they have responded.  We know that the Bath National Veterans Cemetery will be full in the next four to five years and what an honor it would be if the Veterans Administration took over Sampson.  This is our main goal after the first phase is built.

Sampson is in central New York, and after the Bath National cemetery, the closest Veterans National cemetery is in Saratoga, NY near Albany.  The other National Cemetery is in Long Island NY.  Sampson is a Veterans cemetery.  We will inter any veteran (meeting the VA requirements) from anywhere and their spouse.  We will follow the Veterans National Cemetery guidelines and criteria.  We are not part of any other cemetery, and Sampson is not part of any State or County cemeteries.  Sampson will be maintained by a Veterans non-profit committee.