VA buries Vietnam Veteran hero Garfield Langhorn in national shrine

Hundreds of Long Islanders gathered on July 3, 2026 to honor the life of Military Medal of Honor recipient Pfc. Garfield M. Langhorn, who was reinterred at Calverton National Cemetery, New York. He was killed in action in Vietnam on January 15, 1969. He was 20 years old.

Langhorne was attached to the 17th Cavalry Regiment, near Plei Djereng in Pleiku Province, when his platoon was sent to rescue the pilots of a downed Cobra helicopter. Upon arrival, they found both pilots dead. While the men were returning the bodies to the collection point, they were attacked. An enemy grenade was thrown from the wounded soldiers. Langhorn threw himself on the grenade, saving the lives of his comrades. This act of heroism earned him a posthumous Medal of Honor a year later.

Langhorne was initially buried in Riverhead Cemetery so that his father could take care of the plot himself. Calverton National Cemetery opened a decade after the death of the soldier. The transfer of his remains to Calverton was arranged by retired Vietnam Army veteran helicopter pilot Timothy Dahlen.

With the consent of Langhorne’s surviving siblings, Dahlen obtained a court order authorizing the exhumation and reburial. He was the first to report family support for this move Riverhead News-Review.

Langhorne was a devout Christian and an active member of the First Baptist Church until joining the military. His local community has long celebrated his life, naming a local VVA chapter after him: PFC Garfield M. Langhorn Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter, Suffolk County, established on October 16, 1982.

Other accolades for Langhorne include:

• Inducted into the Air Force Hall of Fame in 1998.
• Bronze bust placed outside Riverhead City Hall in 1993.
• The Garfield M. Langhorn Jr. Memorial Essay Contest was founded in 2003 by Pulaski Street School teacher Mary Ann Harroun.
• The Riverhead Post Office on West Main Street was renamed in Langhorne’s honor in 2010. A commissioned portrait hangs in the post office lobby.
• In 2011, the Garfield M. Langhorn Jr. Memorial Library was established at the school on Pulaski Street, and the street where Langhorn lived as a child was named PFC Garfield Langhorne Avenue.
• A Veterans Wall of Honor named after Langhorne was created at Riverhead High School in 2021.
• In 2022, the City of Riverhead established the second Friday in October as PFC Garfield M. Langhorne Day.
• Langhorne’s Medal of Honor was placed in a glass case in the lobby of City Hall in October 2024, and the bust is moved to the entrance of the building there in 2025.
• Documentary about Langhorne made by the Suffolk Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America was displayed in January 2026 at Pulaski Street High School.

Finally, on July 9, 2026, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held for the PFC Garfield M. Langhorn Training Complex at Fort Rucker, Alabama. The new facility represents a significant investment in the training of future soldiers. The over 90,000 square foot complex is designed to house and train more than 300 Soldiers enrolled in Advanced Individual Training, known as AIT.

Langhorne sacrificed himself to save his comrades, many of whom survived the war. He will never be forgotten.