The Last Salute: Civil and Military Funeral, 1921-1969
CHAPTER XI
Former Army Chief of Staff General Peyton C. March
Special Military Funeral
13-18 April 1955
General Peyton C. March, Chief of Staff of the Army during World War I, died
at the age of ninety in Walter Reed General Hospital, Washington, D.C., on 13
April 1955. The Department of the Army immediately published General Order 26
announcing General March's death and Secretary of the Army Robert T. Stevens
directed all installations under the control of the department to display the
national flag at half-staff until sunset on the day of burial, 18 April. Secretary
Stevens also ordered the commanding general of the Military District of Washington,
Maj. Gen. John H. Stokes, Jr., to render appropriate honors. General March was
entitled to a Combined Services Full Honor Funeral, but the Secretary of Defense
could direct a more elaborate ceremony for one of his rank. As in the case of
General Vandenberg, who had died the previous year, Secretary Charles E. Wilson
authorized a Special Military Funeral.
The arrangements made by General Stokes, who took into account the preferences
of the March family, involved no church or chapel service. There was to be only
a procession through Washington to Arlington National Cemetery with last rites
at the graveside. The burial plot was in Section 30, the northeastern section
of the cemetery that contained the graves of William Howard Taft, James V. Forrestal,
and Hoyt S. Vandenberg.
The procession was to form in Washington on Constitution Avenue at 15th Street,
N.W. General March's casket was to be brought to this point by hearse from the
funeral establishment then transferred to a caisson for the move to the cemetery.
The military escort in the procession was to consist of the escort commander
and his staff; the U.S. Army Band; one battalion of cadets from the US Military
Academy; one company of infantry; one battery of field artillery; one company
of armor; the US Marine Band; one company of marines; one company of bluejackets;
one squadron of airmen; and one composite company of servicewomen. The company
of servicewomen had been added to the conventional plan by General Stokes, who
followed the precedent set by the Navy for the funeral of Admiral Sherman in
1951. All together the strength of the military escort for the funeral of General
March was to be approximately 1,200.
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Diagram 15. Assembly and order of march, procession to Arlington National Cemetery.
Scheduled to march as part of the cortege was a special honor guard composed
of the Army Chief of Staff and Vice Chief of Staff, the Commandant and Assistant
Commandant of the Marine Corps, the Chief of Naval Operations and his Vice Chief,
the Air Force Chief of Staff and Vice Chief of Staff, and the Commandant and
Assistant Commandant of the Coast Guard. Unable to be present, General Matthew
B. Ridgway, the Army Chief of Staff, later appointed General John E. Hull, then
temporarily assigned to General Ridgway's office before retirement, to represent
him. Also to march in the cortege were the Secretary of Defense and the Secretaries
of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
On 18 April all march units assembled in the vicinity of Constitution Avenue
and 15th Street by 1100, the starting hour of the procession. Each group had
been
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Diagram 16. Route of march to Arlington National Cemetery.
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CAISSON FOLLOWED BY CAPARISONED HORSE ENTERS THE CEMETERY, above.
Caisson moves through the cemetery, below.
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assigned a point of assembly on the avenue or on intersecting numbered streets
in a design that would allow each to join the column in proper march order.
(Diagram 15) All segments of the cortege were on 15th Street, above and
below Constitution Avenue. The caisson itself was sited north of the avenue
for the ceremony of transferring General March's casket from the hearse.
The hearse arrived from the funeral establishment shortly before 1100. As the
casket was shifted from the hearse to the caisson, the military escort, commanded
by General Stokes, presented arms, and the US Army Band, located in the intersection
of Constitution Avenue and 15th Street, sounded four ruffles and flourishes
and played a hymn. The procession then moved off in quick-time cadence, proceeding
west along Constitution Avenue, south on 23d Street, and across Memorial Bridge
toward the Memorial Gate of the cemetery. (Diagram 16) A flight of jet
aircraft had been scheduled to pass overhead as the mile-long column crossed
Memorial Bridge, but poor flying conditions forced a cancellation.
Not all of the escort entered the cemetery. General Stokes had designated the
intersection of Memorial Drive and Arlington Ridge Road, just outside Memorial
Gate, as a regulating point where the artillery battery, the company of armor,
the US Marine Band, the company of servicewomen, and accompanying police were
to leave the procession and march south and north on Arlington Ridge Road. After
these units left and the remaining units closed intervals, the procession moved
toward the grave at reduced cadence via Roosevelt, Weeks, and Sheridan Drives.
Waiting at the grave was a large group of military, civilian, and foreign dignitaries
headed by Vice President Richard M. Nixon. Also in attendance were representatives
of the Society of the Cincinnati, the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration
of Independence, and the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, to all of which General
March had belonged.
When they reached the grave, the US Military Academy cadets, who had been marching
in a column of companies, massed as a battalion, while the company of infantry,
company of marines, company of bluejackets, and squadron of airmen formed a
composite armed forces battalion. The Army Band also posted itself at the grave.
Already present were the superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery, Mr.
John C. Metzler, and the ceremonial officer and a firing party of the 3d Infantry
from nearby Fort Myer. In position at a distance to render a gun salute was
the 3d Infantry battery; other troops of the 3d Infantry were on station to
control traffic and parking.
While the military escort units were taking their positions at the graveside,
the honorary pallbearers lined both sides of a cocomat leading from the roadway
to the grave. The rest of the funeral party meanwhile left the cars and assembled
near the caisson. At a signal from the ceremonial officer, the escort presented
arms and the body bearers removed the casket from the caisson. The Army Band
sounded ruffles and flourishes and began to play a hymn.
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U.S. MILITARY ACADEMY CADETS MARCH IN PROCESSION to Arlington National Cemetery.
Brig. Gen. Frank A. Tobey, the Army Deputy Chief of Chaplains, then led the
way to the grave and the body bearers followed, carrying General March's casket
through the cordon of honorary pallbearers. As the casket cleared the cordon,
the honorary pallbearers fell in behind in column, two abreast. The March family
and others of the funeral party followed the pallbearers and were guided to
graveside positions by Superintendent Metzler.
As the casket was placed above the grave, the Army Band stopped playing and
the escort units ordered arms. Chaplain Tobey then conducted a brief service.
At its conclusion the military escort presented arms and the battery fired a
17-gun salute. The 3d Infantry delivered three volleys, and immediately after
the bugler sounded taps. The body bearers folded the flag that had draped the
casket and handed it to Superintendent Metzler, who presented it to the next
of kin, the general's widow, who was accompanied by her two sons-in-law, Lt.
Gen. Joseph M. Swing and Maj. Gen. John Millikin. This presentation concluded
the services for General March.
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