Wednesday, November 20, 2013

"I Could Stay Here Forever:" JFK Picked His Final Resting Place

From Yahoo! News.

A half-century ago "grief and hope were made tangible in the glow of a flame" lighted by Jackie Kennedy in her final official act as First Lady. The Eternal Flame was her idea.

Section 45 is on a steep hillside leading up to Robert E. Lee's Arlington House and not the spot you'd necessarily think would be right for a president to be buried. But, just eight months before the sad event in Dallas, President Kennedy visited Arlington National Cemetery, one of his favorite spots, and taking in the view from the house said, "I could stay here forever." His wife remembered his words and decided to have him buried there so he can belong to the people.

Just 24-hours before the burial, Jackie Kennedy decided she wanted an eternal flame. Most didn't even know what she was talking about at the time, but making one was turned over to Army Col. Clayton Lyle and Lt. Col. Bernard Carroll, who decided to model it after a Hawaiian tiki torch. To light it, they had a piece of wire with a big wad of cloth dipped in kerosene. It worked on the day of the funeral and burial on November 25th.

Those assigned to stand by the grave also had to always have a book of matches on them as the wind often extinguished the flame as did a nun once while blessing it with too much Holy Water.

Huge crowds attended the burial ceremony that day.

The Flame underwent its first major renovation just a few years ago and still operates on the same principle. I always thought they had put in a gas pipe to the grave.

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