Chapter 28 - The Last Salute

During the first minutes of Wednesday, 5 June 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, while campaigning for nomination as candidate for the Democratic party in the coming Presidential election, was shot and critically wounded by an assassin in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Senator Kennedy was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, but intensive efforts failed to save his life. He died at 0144 (Pacific daylight time) on 6 June.

As it became less and less likely that the medical efforts to save Senator Kennedy would succeed, his brother, Edward, a brother-in-law, Stephen Smith, and a close friend, John Seigenthaler, outlined a funeral and burial plan. The plan called for a requiem mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, the movement of the senator's body to Washington, D.C., by train, and burial in Arlington National Cemetery, all to take place on Saturday, 8 June. Ethel Kennedy, the widow, approved this outline shortly after her husband's death. The family then completed plans to take Senator Kennedy's body to New York City.

Upon receiving the news of Senator Kennedy's death, President Lyndon B. Johnson in Washington directed that all flags on federal buildings, installations, and naval vessels in the United States and abroad be flown at half-staff until after the senator's burial and proclaimed Sunday, 9 June, a day of national mourning. After learning later that burial would take place on 8 June, he extended the period in which flags were to be at half-staff to include the day of mourning.

When the President was informed of the general plan for the funeral ceremony for Senator Kennedy, he ordered an Air Force 707 jet transport sent to Los Angeles to carry the body, members of the Kennedy family, and close friends to New York City. The transport reached the Los Angeles terminal in time for an early afternoon return flight on 6 June. With the body and more than seventy people aboard, the plane touched down at La Guardia Airport at 2057 (eastern daylight time).

During the afternoon of the 6th, Secretary of Defense Clark M. Clifford formally directed that military support be furnished Senator Kennedy's family in connection with the funeral and designated the Department of the Army as the agency primarily responsible. Within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the

official in charge was Alfred B. Fitt, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. Under Secretary of State Nicholas deB. Katzenbach was to work with Mr. Fitt and together they would coordinate funeral arrangements and provide liaison between the Kennedy family and authorities in Washington. The work of making ceremonial arrangements fell to the Military District of Washington.

Early on 6 June, in anticipation of the task eventually assigned to the Army, Maj. Gen. Charles S. O'Malley, Jr., commanding the Military District of Washington, opened a funeral operations center at his headquarters and established liaisons with other agencies that were likely to be called upon to participate in the funeral arrangements. As had been the case in 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, no contingency funeral plans for Senator Kennedy existed, and again planning would have to be completed within a short time and started with little direct contact with the next of kin.

During the morning of the 6th, before the wishes of the next of kin were known, the Chief of Staff and other officials briefed Secretary of the Army Stanley R. Resor on the funeral arrangements. At the same time, the extent of military participation and the question of whether the senator's body should lie in state in the rotunda of the Capitol were discussed. Subsequently, Barrett E. Prettyman, Jr., a Washington attorney and close friend of the Kennedy family, delivered to Washington officials a message from Mrs. Kennedy: she wished a minimum of military participation in the ceremonies and did not favor a lying in state ceremony at the Capitol. Mr. Prettyman, along with Herbert Schmertz of Senator Kennedy's Washington office represented the Kennedy family during the planning of the Washington ceremonies and would handle the details of the arrival of Senator Kennedy's body in Washington and the movement to Arlington National Cemetery. Military officials would be in charge of only those ceremonies taking place inside the cemetery.

At a time when the exact military support that the Kennedy family would require in either New York City or Washington was still unknown, Paul C. Miller of the Military District of Washington, Maj. Robert C. Bacon of the Office of the Army Chief of Staff, John C. Metzler, the superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery, Mr. Fitt from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and Robert E. Jordan III, Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army for Civil Functions, met at Arlington National Cemetery. They considered four possible gravesites for Senator Kennedy, all of them in the vicinity of President Kennedy's grave, and took pictures which could be useful to the widow or her representative in making a final choice.

The group next met in Mr. Metzler's cemetery office to discuss possible ceremonies in Washington for Senator Kennedy, in particular, ceremonies at the cemetery. During the discussion, Mr. Metzler mentioned that a precedent existed for holding no ceremonies, in Arlington National Cemetery beyond 1500 on Satur-

days and asked by what means this precedent could be broken. Mr. Jordan replied that the large audience anticipated for the graveside rites was sufficient justification for holding the ceremony after the traditional closing hour. He also pointed out that holding the ceremony late Saturday would prevent rescheduling other funerals for the following week.

Since Senator Kennedy had served as a seaman in the Navy, Mr. Miller recommended Navy Special Full Honor ceremonies, which included use of Navy body bearers, a Navy firing squad, and a Navy bugler. The decision could not be made, however, until the wishes of the next of kin were known. Lt. Col. Hugh G. Robinson, an Army officer, had been sent on the plane to Los Angeles by the President to act as military aide to the family, and it was hoped that he would soon provide the needed information.

Mr. Fitt himself was scheduled to fly to New York City later in the afternoon of the 6th and would be at La Guardia Airport to meet the plane bringing the body of Senator Kennedy and the Kennedy family from Los Angeles. He had wanted to take with him the full plans for ceremonies in Washington, but, as Mr. Miller explained, plans could not be completed until the wishes of the next of kin were known. As an alternative, Mr. Miller proposed that Lt. Col. Robert H. Clark, from the Ceremonies and Special Events Office of the Military District of Washington, should accompany Mr. Fitt to New York to advise him and the Kennedy family during any discussion of the Washington ceremonies. Further, Mr. Miller promised to arrange for military participation in the ceremonies in New York if the Kennedy family wished. As it turned out, the only family request was made by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who asked for four members of the Army Special Forces (Green Berets) to serve with an otherwise civilian guard of honor at the bier while the body lay in St. Patrick's Cathedral. On 7 June four Special Forces sergeants arrived in New York from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to complete the guard of honor.

Mr. Fitt, accompanied by Mr. Katzenbach of the Department of State and Colonel Clark, left Andrews Air Force Base for New York City at 1730 on the 6th. Landing at Kennedy Airport, Mr. Fitt and Colonel Clark remained there to meet the plane bearing former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, now president of the World Bank, and his wife, who were coming from Europe to attend the Kennedy rites. Mr. Katzenbach meanwhile went into the city to Kennedy Campaign Headquarters at 200 Park Avenue, where a meeting with members of the Kennedy family would be held later.

Mr. and Mrs. McNamara arrived at 2000 and went with Mr. Fitt and Colonel Clark to La Guardia field. Also there to meet the Air Force plane bearing Senator Kennedy's body were New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, New York Senator Jacob K. Javits, Mayor of New York City John V. Lindsay, and U.S. Representative to the United Nations Arthur Goldberg. About a thousand persons watched the proceedings from behind a fence some 200 feet away.

When the plane arrived, the Kennedy family stood close by as the casket, handled by persons who had accompanied the body from Los Angeles, was taken off the plane. There was a pause while Archbishop Terrence J. Cooke of New York delivered a prayer. The casket was then placed in the hearse, the family, friends, and dignitaries entered automobiles, and the cortege proceeded to St. Patrick's Cathedral. When it arrived about 2145, Archbishop Cooke offered another prayer as the casket was carried up the steps. Afterward Senator Kennedy's body was taken inside and the archbishop conducted a short service. Most of the people who had been in attendance then left the cathedral, but some took post at Senator Kennedy's bier as a guard of honor.

After the cathedral ceremony, Edward Kennedy, Stephen Smith, Mr. Fitt, Mr. Katzenbach, and Colonel Clark conferred at Kennedy Campaign Headquarters on the ceremonies to be held in Washington, especially on the extent of military participation. The family representatives presented their plans to take Senator Kennedy's body in a motorcade from Union Station to Arlington National Cemetery. En route the procession was to pause at the Department of Justice building on Constitution Avenue in recognition of Senator Kennedy's position as Attorney General during his brother's tenure as President; a second pause was to be made at the Lincoln Memorial, where a choir was to sing. The family representatives asked that a military band, joint service honor cordon, and Navy body bearer team meet the funeral train at Union Station, but they wanted no military escort or other troops in the procession to Arlington National Cemetery. Nor did they wish military participation or support at the cemetery beyond that required for traffic control. They also announced that they were making arrangements to have the Harvard University Band participate in the graveside rites. During the meeting there was some discussion of the selection of the gravesite but no final decision was made.

Mr. Fitt, Mr. Katzenbach, and Colonel Clark returned to Washington after this meeting. Before leaving New York, Mr. Fitt instructed Colonel Clark to take the precaution of having a Navy body bearer team stand by in Arlington National Cemetery at the time of the burial rites. Arriving at Andrews Air Force Base at 0330 on 7 June, the three men had all the necessary information for detailed planning of the funeral except the choice of the cemetery plot.

Mrs. Kennedy selected a gravesite late on 7 June. During the day Mr. McNamara had flown to Washington, inspected the four recommended sites, and returned to New York City to present his findings to the widow. Mrs. Kennedy then chose the site, which, when viewed from President Kennedy's grave, was just to the left. (Diagram 110) Her choice was communicated to Washington officials at 2200 on the 7th.

During several meetings held on the 7th meanwhile, the Washington planners completed the work of setting the sequence and composition of the ceremonies in Washington and of designating the military units that would participate. The fu-

neral train from New York was scheduled to reach Union Station in Washington about 1620 on 8 June. One section of cars bearing dignitaries, family friends, members of the Kennedy staff, and members of the press was to arrive first on Track 16; the second section, the funeral car and cars bearing the Kennedy family and close friends, was to arrive next on Track 17. A Navy body bearer team of eight, supervised by a petty officer, from the Ceremonial Guard, Naval District Washington, was to wait on the platform. The casket was to be removed through a window of the funeral car by persons inside the car; the Navy body bearers were to receive it, carry it halfway through a joint service honor cordon, then halt to wait for all passengers to leave the train.

The honor cordon of 211 officers and men was to be provided in almost equal contingents by the 3d Infantry, Fort Myer, Virginia; the Ceremonial and Guard

Company , Marine Barracks, Washington; the Ceremonial Guard, Naval District Washington; the Air Force Honor Guard, Bolling Air Force Base, Washington; and the Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard from Washington Radio Station, Alexandria, Virginia. An officer from the 3d Infantry would command the cordon troops.

When all passengers had left the train and after the family group had reached a position near the hearse, the body bearers were to carry the casket to the hearse while the US Navy Band, standing near the hearse, was to play the Navy hymn "Eternal Father, Strong to Save." After Senator Kennedy's casket had been placed in the hearse, the body bearer team was to step aside as the family and others in the funeral party entered automobiles for the motorcade to Arlington National Cemetery. Including site control officials and supporting troops, all from the 3d Infantry, the officers and men performing duty during the arrival ceremony at Union Station would total 299. (Table 37)

In deference to the wishes of the Kennedy family, no military units would move with the procession to the cemetery. During the march ten musicians from the U.S. Marine Band were to accompany two local choirs that the Kennedy family had arranged to have sing together at the Lincoln Memorial when the motorcade paused there.

On the other hand, a large number of troops would assist civil police units in securing the route of march as far as the cemetery gate. District of Columbia civil authorities had requested 1,390 members of the District of Columbia National Guard, 1,284 from the Army, and 106 from the Air Force, who were to assemble for training early on 8 June at the District of Columbia Armory and at Camp Sims, the guard training camp in Southeast Washington. (Table 38) In addition, the Military District of Washington was to furnish 300 members of the active

TABLE 37-TROOP LIST, ARRIVAL CEREMONY AT UNION STATION,
WASHINGTON, D.C., FOR SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY

TABLE 38-SUPPORTING NATIONAL GUARD UNITS, WASHINGTON, DC,
CEREMONY FOR SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY


District of Columbia Army National Guard
	Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, District of Columbia Army National Guard Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 260th Military Police Group Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 163d Military Police Battalion Company A, 163d Military Police Battalion Company B, 163d Military Police Battalion Company C, 163d Military Police Battalion Company D, 163d Military Police Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 171st Military Police Battalion Company A, 171st Military Police Battalion Company B, 171st Military Police Battalion Company C, 171st Military Police Battalion 104th Light Maintenance Company 115th Evacuation Hospital 140th Engineer Detachment 257th Army Band
District of Columbia Air National Guard
	231st Mobile Communications Squadron 231st Flight Facilities Flight

armed forces to participate in safeguarding the route. These Regulars, most of the National Guard troops, 900 Metropolitan Police, and Washington's entire Park Police force were to cordon the full route from Union Station to Memorial Gate of the cemetery. Part of the National Guard contingent was to constitute a reserve force available in the event of civil disturbances.

Some 350 officers and men of the 3d Infantry were to support the ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery; most of them — three companies — were to form a security cordon surrounding a large area centered on the gravesite. (Diagram 111) The others were assigned to traffic control or were to assist members of the funeral party. Two platoons of the 3d Infantry were to stand by at Fort Myer in case of civil disturbance. Also, as Mr. Fitt had directed, eight Navy body bearers were to be on hand near the gravesite, prepared to carry the casket from the hearse to the grave if their help was requested. Finally, in a precautionary move that proved unnecessary, the Military District of Washington on 8 June alerted the US Army Band to be prepared to play at the graveside if the Harvard University Band was unable to be present.

Besides the troops, an important feature of military support arranged for the ceremonies in Washington was motor transportation. Under the supervision of the Military District of Washington, forty-six passenger cars, twenty-five buses, five

station wagons, two trucks, and an ambulance were reserved for the ceremonies. These included limousines, sedans, and 45-passenger buses for transporting the Kennedy family and others in the funeral party to and from Arlington National Cemetery, buses of varying capacity for carrying members of the press to and from the ceremonial sites, and vehicles to meet the transportation needs of various officials and dignitaries. The motor pools at Fort Myer, Fort McNair, and the Army Service Center for the Armed Forces supplied most of the vehicles, and drivers were provided from the same sources. Some commercial buses were chartered. Eventually, five civilian and eighty military drivers were employed; twenty-eight additional military drivers were held in readiness but were not used.

Preparations were made to set up audio systems at the Lincoln Memorial to carry the choir music and at Arlington National Cemetery for the graveside service. Six Army photographers were assigned to cover the ceremonies, two each to be posted at Union Station, the entrance to the cemetery, and the gravesite. Army engineers were to erect press stands and to install electric circuits at Union Station and Arlington Cemetery. In addition, arrangements were made with the telephone company to put in lines at the ceremonial sites.

The method by which the motorcade from Union Station to the cemetery was to be televised received special attention. Network representatives would have preferred to broadcast the event as they would have an inaugural parade, that is, to employ mobile units on the streets, one at the head of the cortege and others

"wrapped around" it. But military officials restricted coverage to cameras in fixed locations or carried along the sidewalks, a restriction that also had been applied to televising President Kennedy's funeral procession.

In New York City, where Senator Kennedy's body lay in St. Patrick's Cathedral, long lines of people passed by the bier until 0500 on 8 June, when the cathedral was closed to the public in preparation for the pontifical requiem mass. Invitations to the mass had been extended by the Kennedy family and its representatives to more than 2,000 persons, including President and Mrs. Johnson, Vice President and Mrs. Hubert H. Humphrey, government and military officials, professional people, and friends. Of those attending the mass, some 700 were invited to travel in the funeral train to Washington and to be present at the graveside rites. President and Mrs. Johnson and Vice President and Mrs. Humphrey, who

were to return to Washington by air, would meet the funeral train at Union Station and accompany the cortege to the gravesite.

The mass began at 0955 on 8 June. Archbishop Cooke, the celebrant, was assisted by four other priests. Reflecting recent liturgical changes in the Roman Catholic Church, the clergymen wore purple instead of the traditional black vestments and Archbishop Cooke said the mass in English. When the mass ended, about 1035, Senator Kennedy's casket was carried out of the cathedral by thirteen bearers, among them a son of the senator and the senator's brother, Edward. A cortege of seventy-five cars made the fifteen-minute trip to Pennsylvania Station, the widow and the senator's brother riding in the hearse. At the station, after the casket was placed in the funeral car, the family, friends, associates, dignitaries, and newsmen, numbering about 1,000, boarded the 21-car train. The train was scheduled to leave at 1230 and to arrive in Washington at 1620. But because crowds of people lined the railroad right of way to pay their respects, the train started late and traveled at a slower pace than was expected. Its posted time of arrival in Washington became later and later.

In Washington the troops who were to participate in the arrival ceremony at Union Station were in place by 1600. By that hour it was clear that the funeral train would be late, and at 1645 General O'Malley, the commander of the Military District of Washington, arranged to have the troops at the station fed.

As the waiting time lengthened, making it obvious that the Washington ceremonies would take place after dark, the Kennedy family made a final request. From the funeral train, which was equipped with radiotelephones, Mr. Katzenbach called Mr. Fitt in his Washington office at 1900 to submit the family's request for 200 torches to be used at the gravesite. Since torches were not available, 200 candles were obtained from Fort Myer and 1,500 from St. Matthew's Cathedral; these were delivered to the cemetery about 2000. Army technicians also installed a bank of floodlights to illuminate the gravesite.

After a delay of almost five hours, the funeral train reached Washington at 2109. Within twenty minutes the train was brought into Union Station in two sections, the one with the funeral car and the cars carrying the Kennedy family, aides, and close friends on Track 17. The Navy body bearers waited nearby on the platform, which was covered by a red carpet extending to the station concourse where the honor cordon, the U.S. Navy Band, and the hearse were in position. President and Mrs. Johnson and Vice President and Mrs. Humphrey, who had arrived at the station by limousine a few minutes earlier, reached the ceremonial area about 2130. (Diagram 112)

At Track 17 the family, aides, and close friends left the train first. Then thirteen bearers, twelve of Senator Kennedy's friends and his son Robert, brought the casket off the train and carried it toward the concourse. For some reason the Navy body bearers were not used.

The Navy Band played the Navy hymn "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" as

the casket was borne through the honor cordon and placed in the hearse. Afterward, President Johnson, Vice President Humphrey, and other dignitaries spoke briefly with the widow and other members of the family. Mrs. Kennedy, her eldest son, Joseph, and the senator's brother, Edward, then got into the hearse; the others entered automobiles for the procession to Arlington National Cemetery.

The route to the cemetery was heavily lined with police and troops. Some police had taken position on the roofs of buildings verging on the road of march. The procession moved on 1st Street, N.E., then right on Constitution Avenue to the Department of justice building, where it paused briefly. It then continued on Constitution Avenue, turned left on Henry Bacon Drive to reach the Lincoln Memorial, and moved clockwise around the memorial to the steps, where it came to a second halt. During a pause of four minutes, the choir on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, backed by the brass section of the US Marine Band, sang

"The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Several thousand people had assembled on the grounds around the memorial. Among them were some of the residents of Resurrection City, the symbolic shanty town that had been erected on the nearby mall under the sponsorship of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as part of the organization's civil rights program. The procession then continued around the memorial, crossed Memorial Bridge, and entered Arlington National Cemetery. Mr. Metzler, the cemetery superintendent, met the motorcade at Memorial Gate to guide it to the gravesite. (Diagram 113)

The cortege moved through the cemetery via Schley, Sherman, and Sheridan Drives. Mr. Metzler, with assistance from the 3d Infantry traffic control detail, guided the cars to positions on Sheridan Drive adjacent to the grave of President Kennedy. He stopped the hearse and cars bearing the family, aides, and close friends beside the walkway nearest the gravesite chosen for Senator Kennedy. Other cars in the cortege were halted farther to the rear; their passengers were to reach the gravesite by way of the circular walk in front of President Kennedy's grave. Earlier, persons not in the cortege but attending the burial service had arrived in cars and buses and had been guided to graveside positions. (Diagram 114)

The family, aides, and close friends left their cars and moved to positions behind the hearse. After all were assembled there, the friends and son of Senator Kennedy who had been acting as body bearers removed the casket from the hearse. Guided by Mr. Metzler and preceded by the clergy, they bore the casket to the gravesite, the family and other mourners following.

When those accompanying the casket had reached their graveside positions, Archbishop Cooke of New York and Cardinal Patrick O'Boyle of Washington, read the brief burial service. (Diagram 115) At the close the body bearers, assisted by astronaut Col. John H. Glenn, folded the flag that had draped the casket. Colonel Glenn presented the flag to Senator Kennedy's eldest son, Joseph, who handed it to his mother. To conclude the graveside rites, the Harvard University Band played "America the Beautiful" while the Kennedy family and other mourners, carrying lighted candles, went up to the casket to pay their last respects.

The funeral for Senator Robert Kennedy conformed to no prescribed rules; except for the arrival ceremony at Union Station, it followed none of the precedents for an Official Funeral. It was rather a ceremony that reflected the effort of the nation to pay respect to Senator Kennedy in accordance with the wishes of his family.