New York State Division of Veterans' Services A Memorial Day ceremony held Monday at the Sampson Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Seneca County took on special significance because of action by a state committee last week. That committee voted to recommend Sampson become New York’s first state veterans’ cemetery. New York is one of the few states that does not currently have a state veterans’ cemetery. “There are nearly three-quarters of a million veterans living in New York and these brave men and women, who have defended our freedom and our values, deserve our eternal respect,” said Joel Evans, acting director for the New York State Division of Veterans’ Services.