The Last Salute: Civil and Military Funeral, 1921-1969

CHAPTER XXIV

General of the Army
Douglas MacArthur
State Funeral
5-11 April 1964

General of the Army Douglas MacArthur died on 5 April 1964 in Walter Reed General Hospital at the age of eighty-four. Earlier President Kennedy had authorized a State Funeral, and President Johnson confirmed the directive when he ordered that General MacArthur be buried "with all the honor a grateful nation can bestow on a departed hero."

Plans for the funeral, which had been made some time before in consultation with the general himself, specified that the ceremonies should occupy seven days instead of the four days prescribed in the plan of 1958 for a State Funeral. In accordance with the wishes of the general he was to be buried in Norfolk, Virginia, rather than in Arlington National Cemetery and his body was to lie in the 7th Regiment Armory in New York City and in the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk as well as in the Capitol in Washington.

Maj. Gen. Philip C. Wehle, commander of the Military District of Washington, was responsible for arranging and conducting ceremonies taking place in Washington and for coordinating all funeral ceremonies. From his resources in the Washington area he was to provide whatever assistance and support were necessary in New York City and Norfolk. The Commanding General, First U.S. Army, Lt. Gen. Garrison H. Davidson, was in charge of ceremonies in New York City, and the Commanding General, US Continental Army Command, General Hugh P. Harris, had charge of ceremonies in Norfolk. In each command area, a center was established from which funeral operations, administrative and ceremonial, were controlled.

When he was notified of General MacArthur's death, General Wehle, in accordance with plans, went to Walter Reed General Hospital, accompanied by John C. Metzler, superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery, who provided a casket, a flag, and a hearse. With him also were the body bearers-one officer, one noncommissioned officer, and three enlisted men from the 3d Infantry and Armed Forces Police in two escort vehicles. Shortly after General Wehle reached the hospital, the Army officer assigned as military aide to the next of kin, Col. Neil Robinson, arrived to accompany the cortege to New York City.

The cortege left Washington about 1730 on 5 April. An Armed Forces Police

[216]

[217]

PRIVATE MEMORIAL SERVICE IN 7TH REGIMENT ARMORY

detail became ill with food poisoning and required medical treatment, a change was made to obtain food service from a First Army mess.

At 0400 on 7 April General MacArthur's body was moved to the 7th Regiment Armory, where it was to lie in the Clark Room throughout the day. A relief of the guard of honor was posted immediately after the casket was placed on the bier. Later in the morning at 0915, Mrs. MacArthur and the family group arrived at the armory for a private interfaith memorial service. Waiting to greet the widow in the family room adjoining the Clark Room, and then to attend the memorial service, were several dignitaries, including New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner, and former New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, and a group of diplomats.

A ten-minute memorial service was conducted by clergymen of three faiths: Cardinal Francis Spellman; the Right Reverend H. W. B. Donegan, Episcopal bishop of New York City; the Reverend T. J. Finlay, pastor of St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, of which MacArthur was a member; and Rabbi Max Schenk, president of the New York Board of Rabbis. After the service Colonel Robinson,

[218]

the military aide to the next of kin, escorted the group back to the family room, where Mrs. MacArthur received the condolences of those who had attended. No other ceremonies were held on 7 April. At approximately 1000 the armory was opened to the public and remained open until 2315. Some 35,000 people passed by the bier.

Early on 8 April, a rainy day, troops assembled by the First Army began to form three security cordons: one at the armory, another at Pennsylvania Station, and a third at the station's loading platform. The troops for the cordons came from all five uniformed services: 6 officers and 300 enlisted men from the Army; 3 officers and 150 enlisted men from the Marine Corps; 1 officer and 50 enlisted men from the Navy; 2 officers and 75 enlisted men from the Air Force; and 1 officer and 25 enlisted men from the Coast Guard. In addition, the Corps of Cadets from the US Military Academy, less one battalion, formed in a line of battalions on Seventh Avenue opposite and facing Pennsylvania Station.

Diagram 63. Departure ceremony, 7th Regiment Armory, New York City.

[219]

Troops that would march in the procession assembled at the armory about 0715. The military escort troops included the escort commander, General David­son, and his staff, the troop commander and his staff, the US Military Academy Band, and a battalion of West Point cadets. To march with the cortege were a special honor guard of general and flag officers from all five services; a national color detail and joint body bearer team provided by the Military District of Washington; and a caisson, a caisson detail, and a caparisoned horse with an attendant from the 3d Infantry. Cadet Captain H. P. Kindleberger of the US Military Academy was the personal flag bearer. Also in the cortege were the massed colors of veterans' organizations, of the 42d Infantry (Rainbow) Division of the New York Army National Guard, and of the 77th Infantry Division of the Army Reserve.

At 0745 members of the family group began to assemble in the family room of the armory. Fifteen minutes later, when they had taken their positions outside, General MacArthur's casket was borne from the armory in procession, the casket preceded by the national color detail and the clergy and followed by the personal flag bearer. Outside the armory, the procession came to a halt, the band sounded ruffles and flourishes, and troop units presented arms. (Diagram 63) After the band played one chorus of "The Corps," a West Point song, the body bearers placed the casket on the caisson. The procession then formed for the march of two and a half miles to Pennsylvania Station.

Mounted city police led and brought up the rear of the procession. (Diagram 64) The rain fell harder as the column left the armory at Park Avenue and 66th Street, followed Park Avenue to 57th Street, turned west across Fifth Avenue, and then went south on Broadway. After crossing Times Square, it moved along Seventh Avenue to Pennsylvania Station.

The US Military Academy cadets forming a line on the east side of Seventh Avenue opposite the station stood at attention as the procession approached. After the police and military escort passed in front of the cadet formation, the police continued to march until they were out of the ceremonial area and the marching cadet battalion moved to the far flank of the cadets in line. The escort commander and his staff and the US Military Academy Band turned out of the pro­cession as they reached the railroad station and took positions at the station's 31st Street entrance.

When they had moved past the cadet battalions, the special honor guard, national color detail, and clergy also stopped at the station entrance. The caisson and body bearers, personal flag bearer, horse and attendant, and massed colors formation halted at the near flank of the cadet line and remained there while members of the family group descended from their cars in front of the station and took positions at the entrance (Diagram 65)

After all participants were in their places, the US Military Academy Band sounded ruffles and flourishes and played the "General's March." When the

[220]

Diagram 64. Order of march of funeral procession, New York City.

[221]

Diagram 65. Formation at Pennsylvania Station, New York City.

[222]

CASKET IS CARRIED THROUGH HONOR CORDON AT PENNSYLVANIA STATION

band began a hymn, the caisson and body bearers, personal flag bearer, and caparisoned horse with its attendant trooped the line of cadets, moving to the far flank of the formation and returning to the 31st Street entrance of the station. The body bearers then transferred General MacArthur's casket to a hearse at the entrance. The family group entered the station and walked through the concourse to the funeral train, which was below street level. The hearse, accompanied by the escort commander, special honor guard, body bearers, and personal flag bearer, moved via the 31st Street taxi ramp to an elevator that lowered the casket to the loading platform below. The body bearers then placed the casket in the funeral car, where they were joined by the personal flag bearer. The family group entered the car ahead. (Diagram 66) Scores of floral tributes were placed in the funeral car, whose side doors were left open so that the flag-draped casket could be seen from outside. The train left New York for Washington at 0935.

Most of the troops who had participated in the ceremonies then returned to their home stations. The members of the guard of honor furnished by the Military District of Washington, however, left at 1030 on 8 April for Norfolk, Virginia, where they would participate in further ceremonies beginning on the 9th. At 1130

[223]

Diagram 66. Approach to funeral train, Pennsylvania Station, New York City.

the caisson detail and the caparisoned horse with an attendant also left for Norfolk.

The funeral train slowed down at several points where crowds had gathered and made a few stops. On these occasions, Mrs. MacArthur came to the door to acknowledge the tribute paid the general. During the stop at Trenton, New Jer-

[224]

Diagram 67. Route of march and ceremonial sites, Washington, D.C.

sey, the governor came aboard to greet Mrs. MacArthur. It was 1320 when the train reached Washington and entered Union Station on Track 17. (Diagram 67)

Ceremonial troops arranged for by the Military District of Washington were on hand at Union Station. A joint service honor cordon lined the platform and station concourse; on the platform at Track 17 were General Wehle, the escort

[225]

commander, Col. Kenneth L. Ames, chaplain from the Military District of Washington, and a national color detail. Just inside the east entrance on the concourse, the chairman and members of the joint Chiefs of Staff together with the commandants of the US Marine Corps and US Coast Guard stood in formation as the special honor guard. In the parking lot outside the east entrance, the Coast Guard Band waited near the hearse. (Table 18)

President and Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson and Attorney General and Mrs. Robert F. Kennedy, representing the family of the late President Kennedy, were present when the funeral train arrived on Track 17. The Kennedys boarded first, entering a diner that had been prepared as a reception car. President and Mrs. Johnson then went aboard and a few minutes later escorted Mrs. MacArthur from the train. With the rest of the family group following, they led the way through the honor cordon, which stood at attention, to the concourse just inside the east entrance.

The body bearers meanwhile removed General MacArthur's casket from the funeral car and placed it on a movable bier. After the family was in position, the casket, preceded by General Wehle, the national color detail, and the chaplain and followed by the personal flag bearer, was taken through the concourse as far as the east entrance. As the procession moved, the members of the honor cordon presented arms in ripples.

[226]

Diagram 68. Arrival ceremony, Union Station, Washington, DC

[227]

When the procession came to a stop at the east entrance, the Coast Guard Band played ruffles and flourishes, the "General's March," and "Lead Kindly Light." As the hymn began, the body bearers lifted the casket from the bier and the procession made its way to the hearse. After the casket had been placed in the hearse, the band ceased playing and the honor cordon came to order arms. The family and others then entered automobiles and joined the procession that would circle the White House and come to an end at the Capitol. (Diagram 68)

The cortege left Union Station shortly after 1400, led by local police, who were followed by the escort commander, the special honor guard in three vehicles, the clergy, and the hearse. Behind the hearse were two cars bearing the family, two cars carrying the President and his party, seven cars with other mourners, and police bringing up the rear. The cortege moved down Delaware Avenue, turned right onto Constitution Avenue, and followed Constitution onto Pennsylvania Avenue. After circling the White House via Pennsylvania Avenue, 14th Street, and New York Avenue, it turned left at 17th Street and left again onto Constitution Avenue, proceeding east to the intersection of Constitution and 16th Street where the general's casket was to be transferred to a caisson. (See Diagram 67.) While military escort units waited ahead on Constitution Avenue to lead the procession the remaining distance to the Capitol, cars containing dignitaries stood ready to join the cortege between 17th and 18th Streets.

TABLE 19-TROOP LIST, CASKET TRANSFER CEREMONY,
WASHINGTON, DC, FOR GENERAL OF THE ARMY DOUGLAS MACARTHUR

[228]

Diagram 69. Formation for the casket transfer ceremony, Washington, DC

When the cortege reached 16th Street the hearse halted to the left of and parallel to the caisson, which stood in the middle of the intersection of Constitution Avenue and 16th Street. The escort commander, special honor guard, and clergy left their vehicles and took their positions for the transfer ceremony. All others in the cortege remained in their cars. (Diagram 69) At a signal from the site control

[229]

CASKET IS TRANSFERRED TO CAISSON ON CONSTITUTION AVENUE, Washington, DC

officer, the body bearers (a different team from that which had served at Union Station) removed the casket from the hearse and placed it on the caisson; as they did so the troops saluted. Chaplain Ames then took his place in front of the caisson, which he would precede on foot, and members of the special honor guard returned to their automobiles. The escort commander was driven ill his car to the head of the full procession. (Table 19)

Behind a police escort, the escort commander and the commander of troops and his joint service staff of five led the military escort troops, which were organized into three march units. The commander of the first unit was an Army field grade officer with a joint service staff of five; his troops included the Army Band, one officer and eighty-two enlisted men; a company, four officers and eighty-five enlisted men, from each of the four service academies; a company, four officers and eighty-five enlisted men, each from the active Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard; and a composite company of servicewomen, five officers and seventy-seven enlisted women.

[230]

[231]

Diagram 70. Order of march, full procession, Washington, DC

[232]

maintain a vigil at the bier during the lying in state period. (Table 21)

When all participants were in position, the troop formations presented arms, the Army Band played ruffles and flourishes and the "General's March," and the battery fired a 19-gun salute. At the last round of the salute the band began the hymn "God of Our Fathers," and the body bearers took the casket from the caisson. General Wehle then led the way up the steps into the rotunda, followed by the special honor guard, national color detail, clergy, body bearers with the casket, personal flag bearer, MacArthur family, and President Johnson and his party.

When the procession entered the rotunda the national color detail, clergy, body bearers with the casket, and personal flag bearer turned right and, making a semicircle, proceeded to the center of the rotunda. The others moved to positions along the outer edge of the circular room. After the body bearers placed the casket on the Lincoln catafalque they remained at their stations while the colors were posted and the color bearers dismissed. The first relief of the guard of honor then came into the rotunda through the west entrance and took post at the bier; the body bearers left by the east entrance. (Diagram 72)

[233]

CAISSON HEARING THE CASKET ARRIVES AT THE CAPITOL, above.
BODY OF THE GENERAL LIES IN STATE IN THE ROTUNDA, below.

[234]

Diagram 71. Arrival ceremony at the Capitol.

[235]

[236]

Diagram 72. Arrival ceremony in the rotunda.

was again honored. Before the ceremony at the Capitol began the escort commander, General Wehle, the special honor guard (the chairman and members of the joint Chiefs of Staff including the commandants of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard), the Coast Guard Band, and a joint service honor cordon took their positions on the East Plaza and steps. The caisson, caparisoned horse and his handler, and automobiles for those accompanying the cortege were also aligned on

[237]

PROCESSION HALTS ON EAST CAPITOL STEPS, above.
Full procession turns onto Constitution Avenue, below.

[238]

the plaza. Inside the Capitol waited the body bearers, national color detail, personal flag bearer, and Colonel Ames, the chaplain from the Military District of Washington. (Table 22)

At 1245 members of the MacArthur family arrived at the Capitol and went into the rotunda to say a prayer. They then took their places on the plaza. At 1300, after the guard of honor was dismissed from the vigil at the bier, the body bearers took up the casket and carried it in procession, led by the national color detail and clergy and followed by the personal flag bearer. The procession left the rotunda through the east door; when the national color detail appeared at the top of the steps, the honor cordon presented arms. The procession halted when the body bearers reached the top landing and the band sounded ruffles and flourishes. As it began to play "Abide With Me," the procession moved on to the caisson. After the casket was placed on the caisson, the band ceased playing, the troops ordered arms, and the members of the cortege went to their automobiles. (Diagram 73)

The full procession was to form on Constitution Avenue between Delaware and New Jersey Avenues where the cortege, proceeding from the East Plaza, was to join the military escort units-the commander of troops and his staff, the Army Band, and a company of four officers and eighty-five men each from the active Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. A joint service cordon

TABLE 22-TROOP LIST, DEPARTURE CEREMONY AT THE US CAPITOL
FOR GENERAL OF THE ARMY DOUGLAS MACARTHUR

[239]

Diagram 73. Departure ceremony at the Capitol.

lined Constitution Avenue from New Jersey Avenue to 14th Street, the end of the route of the full procession. (Table 23) The procession was to observe the follow-

[240]

ing order of march: police; escort commander; commander of troops and his staff; US Army Band; Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard units; special honor guard; national colors; clergy; caisson; personal flag; caparisoned horse with attendant; family and other mourners; and police.

When the cortege from the Capitol reached the military units the full procession marched on Constitution Avenue, members of the street cordon presenting arms individually as the national color detail approached and ordering arms as the personal flag bearer passed. Fifty Air Force planes flew over the column in salute as the procession neared the site of the casket transfer.

Upon reaching 14th Street the cortege halted so that the caisson was approximately in the middle of the two blocks of Constitution Avenue between 12th and 14th Streets. The hearse, which had been parked on a nearby driveway, was then driven onto the avenue and stopped at the left of and parallel to the caisson. The escort troops of the cortege did not pause at 14th Street but marched directly to dismissal points. Members of the special honor guard meanwhile left their cars and took their positions near the escort commander for the transfer ceremony. The MacArthur family and other mourners remained in their cars. (Diagram 74)

While the troops stood at salute, the body bearers transferred the casket from the caisson to the hearse. The caisson was then driven off the avenue onto a

TABLE 23-TROOP LIST, PROCESSION FROM THE US CAPITOL
FOR GENERAL OF THE ARMY DOUGLAS MACARTHUR

[241]

Diagram 74. Ceremony at the transfer of the casket to the hearse, Washington, DC

nearby roadway. The body bearers, national color detail, and personal flag bearer boarded two buses and proceeded separately under police escort to Washington National Airport in order to be in position for the departure ceremony before the cortege arrived. The escort commander, clergy, and special honor guard entered

[242]

automobiles and General Wehle moved to the head of the cortege, which resumed the journey to the airfield. (For route see Diagram 67.)

As the cortege moved over the access road to the Military Air Transport Service Terminal, members of the joint service cordon which lined the road presented arms individually when the hearse approached and ordered arms when it had passed. When the hearse reached the first man of the cordon, the 3d Infantry battery on the airfield began a 19-gun salute. (Table 24) The last round was fired as the hearse stopped in the ceremonial area opposite a waiting C-130 plane. (Diagram 75) At the same time, President Johnson arrived from the White House by helicopter to participate in the ceremony. All other vehicles meanwhile were parked on the ramp behind the ceremonial area, and the occupants went directly to their assigned positions. A joint service honor cordon stretched from the hearse to the aircraft and the US Air Force Band stood nearby. Just outside the ceremonial area was a second plane that was to take the family and others to Norfolk, Virginia.

After everyone was in position, all troops presented arms, and the Air Force Band played ruffles and flourishes, the "General's March," and "Faith Of Our Fathers." When the hymn began, the body bearers removed the casket from the

TABLE 24-TROOP LIST, DEPARTURE CEREMONY AT WASHINGTON
NATIONAL AIRPORT FOR GENERAL OF THE ARMY DOUGLAS MACARTHUR

[243]

Diagram 75. Street cordon, Washington National Airport.

[244]

Diagram 76. Departure ceremony, Washington National Airport.

hearse. In procession, with the national color detail leading, the casket and the personal flag bearer following, General MacArthur's body was borne through the honor cordon and placed in the C-130. (Diagram 76) General Whitney followed the personal flag bearer into the aircraft. After he was aboard the band stopped

[245]

playing and the troops ordered arms and marched away. The C-130 meanwhile was towed away from the ceremonial area as the second plane was pulled into its place to take aboard the family and other passengers. President Johnson escorted Mrs. MacArthur and her son to the plane; the rest of the group then boarded, and both planes left for Norfolk about 1430.

Events scheduled for 9 April in Norfolk were to begin with the arrival ceremony at the Norfolk Naval Air Station. A motorized cortege escorting the hearse was then to proceed via Granby Street and Monticello Avenue to 21st Street, in the heart of the city, where General MacArthur's casket was to be transferred to a caisson. A military escort assembled at the transfer site was to lead the procession to the MacArthur Memorial near the intersection of City Hall Avenue and Bank Street. In the final ceremony of the day, the casket was to be placed in the rotunda of the memorial, where it would remain until 11 April. (Diagram 77)

The two aircraft from Washington reached Norfolk about 1530 on the 9th. The troops participating in the arrival ceremony, who had taken positions at the Naval Air Station a half-hour earlier, were the escort commander, Maj. Gen. Hugh M. Exton of the Continental Army Command staff; a special honor guard of two general or flag officers from each of the five uniformed services; a joint service honor cordon, one officer and fifteen enlisted men, flanking the route from the aircraft to the hearse; a 56-piece Navy band provided by the Atlantic Fleet; and an Army saluting battery of one officer and nine enlisted men. Five clergy­men were present: the Reverend Walton W. Davis, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church; the Right Reverend George P. Gunn, bishop of Southern Virginia; the Right Reverend David S. Rose, bishop coadjutor of Southern Virginia; the Right Reverend William A. Brown (retired), bishop of Southern Virginia; and Col. William J. Reiss, chaplain from the Continental Army Command.

Upon landing, the aircraft carrying the family taxied to the ceremonial area, stopping in line with the honor cordon. Escort officers met the passengers as they descended and guided them to positions for the ceremony. The plane then moved away as the C-130 bearing General MacArthur's body, General Whitney, the body bearers, the national color detail, and the personal flag bearer taxied into position.

After the rear loading ramp of the C-130 had been lowered, the national color detail, followed by the body bearers with the casket, marched part of the way down the ramp and halted. The ceremonial troops presented arms, the band played ruffles and flourishes and the "General's March," and the battery fired a 19-gun salute. As the last round was fired, the band began the hymn "God of Our Fathers." In procession, the national color detail and clergymen leading, the casket and the personal flag bearer following, General MacArthur's casket was carried through the honor cordon and placed in the hearse. (Diagram 78) The ceremony concluded, escort officers guided the family group and special honor guard to waiting cars, and the cortege formed for the journey to the casket trans-

[246]

Diagram 77. Ceremonial sites, Norfolk, Virginia.

[247]

CASKET IS CARRIED FROM PLANE AT NAVAL AIR STATION, NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, above.
Cortege leaves the Naval Air Station, below.

[248]

Diagram 78. Arrival ceremony, Norfolk Naval Air Station.

fer site. The body bearers and color bearers meanwhile entered other vehicles and left the field immediately in order to reach the transfer site ahead of the cortege. The military escort troops waited in column on Monticello Avenue below 21st

[249]

Diagram 79. Casket transfer ceremony, Norfolk.

Street in the prescribed order of march: the escort commander's staff; a drum corps of twenty drummers selected from bands in the Second Army area; the Army commander of troops and his joint service staff of five; a company of eighty-nine cadets from the US Military Academy; a company of four officers and eighty-five enlisted men each from the Army (Fort Eustis), Marine Corps (Atlantic Fleet), Navy (Atlantic Fleet), Air Force (Tactical Air Command), and Coast Guard (Atlantic Fleet) ; and a special Army band of seventy musicians selected from the Continental Army Command and Second Army Bands.

Behind the military escort at 21st Street and in the center of Monticello Avenue stood the caisson, and to its rear were the caparisoned horse and its handler sent down by the Military District of Washington. When the body and color bearers from the airfield reached the site, the national color detail took its position for the transfer ceremony ahead of and facing the caisson. The personal flag bearer stationed himself behind the caisson while the body bearers waited to one side.

On either side of the transfer site, a security cordon of one officer and sixty­three enlisted men was in position to keep the ceremonial area clear. At first the men in the cordon stood on the curb facing the street in the manner of a street honor cordon. With their backs to the spectators and lacking restraining ropes, the troops were having trouble keeping the public out of the ceremonial area. Before the cortege arrived, however, the site control officer rearranged the cordon, placing the troops in the street just off the curb and having them face the spectators.

[250]

PROCESSION MOVES THROUGH NORFOLK TO MACARTHUR MEMORIAL

As the cortege halted at the transfer site, the commander of troops called the escort troops to attention. The escort commander, special honor guard, and clergy left their cars and took their places for the ceremony; members of the family remained in their cars. The hearse meantime had been driven to a position left of and parallel to the caisson. (Diagram 79) At a signal from the site control officer, the body bearers went to the hearse where they secured the casket and placed it on the caisson. General Exton then walked to the head of the military escort to lead the procession. At the same time, the members of the special honor guard took their positions ahead of the national color detail, which turned about in preparation for the march. Those of the clergy who were to go on foot took their places behind the colors and in front of the caisson while the others reentered their cars. General Exton, at a signal from the site control officer, led the procession forward. The column moved along Monticello Avenue as far as City Hall Avenue, turned left, and proceeded to the MacArthur Memorial. (See Diagram 77.)

Upon reaching the memorial, General Exton and his staff and the special honor guard moved to the west entrance; the drum corps and the escort troops

[251]

Diagram 80. Arrival ceremony, MacArthur Memorial, Norfolk.

[252]

continued along City Hall Avenue to dismissal points. The band and the cortege turned right onto Bank Street and halted, the caisson drawn up at the end of a long walkway which led from Bank Street to the west entrance of the memorial. The walkway was lined on both sides by a joint service honor cordon consisting of one Army officer and eight enlisted men from each of the five uniformed services.
Escort officers helped the family and other mourners from their cars and guided them to their appointed positions for the ceremony. The honor cordon then presented arms and the band played ruffles and flourishes, the "General's March," and "Abide with Me." As the hymn began, the body bearers removed the casket from the caisson and in procession it was carried into the memorial. (Diagram 80)

The memorial building itself had once been the Norfolk courthouse, begun in 1847 and completed in 1850. The consulting architect was Thomas V. Walter of Philadelphia, designer of the dome and the House and Senate wings of the Capitol in Washington. In 1960 the mayor of Norfolk proposed remodeling the court­house, using funds raised by public contribution, as a memorial to General MacArthur and as a repository for his papers, decorations, and mementos. General MacArthur accepted. Although he had no other ties with the state, his mother was a Virginian, born in Norfolk. Restored and remodeled, the building contains nine museum galleries whose contents reflect the general's fifty years of military service. At the heart of the memorial is a rotunda, and in its center a circular sunken crypt holding two marble sarcophagi, one for General MacArthur, the other for his wife.

As the cortege entered the rotunda, the body bearers placed the casket on a catafalque erected over the crypt. When the other members of the procession were in position around the catafalque, the first relief of an honor guard, furnished by the Military District of Washington, took post at the bier and the body bearers were dismissed. (Diagram 81) The mayor of Norfolk, in behalf of the people of the city, laid a wreath at the bier. Everyone then left the rotunda except the family, the clergy, and the mortician, who departed after the family approved the arrangements in the rotunda.

The memorial was open to the public from 1800 on 9 April until 0700 on the 11th. During that time, about 62,000 people filed through the rotunda to pay their respects, entering by the west door and leaving by the south door.

On the morning of 11 April, troops that were to participate in the ceremonies were in their positions by 0915. General Exton and the special honor guard stationed themselves just outside the west entrance of the memorial while the body bearers, national color detail, personal flag bearer, and clergy assembled in the rotunda. Lining the walkway to the caisson on Bank Street was a joint service honor cordon of one officer and forty-two enlisted men. The composite Army band was in formation on City Hall Avenue just below the Bank Street intersection. On the grounds north of the band stood the Army saluting battery which would not par-

[253]

Diagram 81. Formation, rotunda of MacArthur Memorial, Norfolk.

ticipate until the procession returned to the memorial after the service at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Lining both sides of City Hall Avenue from the Mac­Arthur Memorial to the church were eighty troops-twenty each from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force-bearing the flags of the United Nations, all states and territories except the District of Columbia, and the twenty-eight military commands in which the general had served. (Diagram 82)

The MacArthur family and other mourners arrived in the rotunda of the memorial at 0920; ten minutes later the ceremony began. General Exton and the special honor guard moved onto the walkway outside the west entrance. The national color detail then led the way out of the rotunda, followed by the clergy, the

[254]

Diagram 82. Flag cordon, Norfolk.

[255]

Diagram 83. Departure ceremony, MacArthur Memorial, Norfolk.

[256]

[257]

CAISSON HALTS OUTSIDE ST. PAUL'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, NORFOLK, above.
Casket is moved to front of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, below.

[258]

Diagram 84. Arrival at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Norfolk.

[259]

TROOPS FORM OUTSIDE MACARTHUR MEMORIAL FOR LAST RITES

church entrance, the band again sounded ruffles and flourishes and played the "General's March." As it began the hymn "Lead Kindly Light," General Exton led the procession from the church. Behind the general came the national color detail, clergy, body bearers with the casket, personal flag bearer, family, and other mourners. At City Hall Avenue the casket was secured to the caisson, which had been turned around during the funeral service for the return trip to the Mac­Arthur Memorial. In the same order as before the procession marched along City Hall Avenue.

The members of the flag cordon again dipped their flags in salute. At the MacArthur Memorial, the participants took the same positions they had occupied during the arrival ceremony on 9 April. An Army firing squad had been added to the troop formations and stood on the memorial grounds near the west entrance. Following the same procedure as on the 9th, General MacArthur's body was then taken in procession to the rotunda. (Diagram 85)

Bishop Gunn conducted a brief service in the rotunda. At its conclusion the honor cordon outside the memorial presented arms, the battery on the grounds north of City Hall Avenue began a 19-gun salute, and the members of the flag

[260]

Diagram 85. Arrival and burial ceremonies, MacArthur Memorial, Norfolk.

[261]

cordon along the avenue dipped their colors. When the last round of the gun salute had been fired, Bishop Gunn pronounced the benediction. The traditional three volleys were then discharged by the firing party and the bugler from the band sounded taps. The body bearers folded the flag that had draped the casket and handed it to General Exton who presented it to Mrs. MacArthur.

After the ceremony, about noon, the MacArthur family group was flown back to New York City. The period of national mourning for General MacArthur ended at sunset on 11 April when a battery at Fort Monroe, across Hampton Roads from Norfolk, fired a final 19-gun salute.

[262]

Previous Chapter        Next Chapter

	Return to CMH Online
	Last updated 24 May 2005