11/21/2003

November 25, 1963

NBA Quiz: Name the 9 schools that currently have 8 or more
players in the NBA (season-opening rosters). [One is on top
with 12.] Answer below.

JFK’s Funeral

I realize some of you may be sick of all the coverage concerning
the 40th anniversary of JFK’s assassination, but what follows is
something you probably didn’t see this week, that being all the
circumstances surrounding the actual funeral. Just appreciate
how quickly some of the decisions had to be made and under
incredible pressure, as well as the work of people behind the
scenes.

---

Just hours after JFK was killed in Dallas, his brother-in-law,
Sargent Shriver, began to prepare the arrangements. It had been
widely assumed that the President would be buried in Brookline,
Massachusetts. At the time only two presidents had been
interred outside their native state, Taft, at Arlington, and Wilson,
at National Cathedral in Washington. JFK’s newborn son
Patrick had been buried in Brookline just 15 weeks earlier.

Jackie Kennedy had remarked aboard Air Force One, as she
accompanied her husband’s body back to Washington, “We’ll
bring them (Patrick and Jack) together, now;” meaning Boston, it
was assumed.

At 4:55 PM EST, just hours after the assassination on Friday,
November 22, the AP prematurely reported JFK would be buried
in Boston. The New York Times later that day went to press
with the story JFK would be buried “at the Kennedy family
plot near Brookline, MA.”

Meanwhile, Shriver contacted Arlington National Cemetery and
received assurance they had ample space and would be ready if
needed.

Jackie wanted ceremonies modeled after those of Abraham
Lincoln a century earlier, so on Friday evening Professor James
Robertson of the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission was
contacted by the White House and asked to complete the
required research.

Robertson called David Mearns, director of the Library of
Congress, but it was closed for the weekend and the lights were
on a timer that prevented them from being turned back on until
early Monday morning. So, the two did their research there with
flashlights, looking through Harper’s Weekly, which went into
Lincoln’s funeral in great detail. Robertson then took the
material back to the White House and carpenters began
transforming the East Room using the drawings.

At about 4:30 AM on 11/23, JFK’s remains entered the White
House grounds, following the autopsy and embalming procedure
at Bethesda Naval Hospital. The coffin weighed 1,200 pounds
and the 6-member casket team (under the direction of Lieutenant
Bird) had trouble taking it out of the Navy ambulance, until Bird,
who by tradition was only supposed to supervise, was forced to
lend a hand.

Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara was strongly in favor of
JFK being interred on Federal property so that the grave would
be easily accessible to the most people. McNamara went to
Arlington at 6:00 AM, Saturday, and looked at 3 potential spots.
Robert Kennedy arrived and the two settled on the sloping hills
below the Custis-Lee Mansion (Arlington House), which would
place the grave on an axis line between the Lincoln Memorial
and the mansion – linking JFK forever with Lincoln and Robert
E. Lee, the latter as another symbol of American history.

Jackie arrived Saturday afternoon, looked the site over for 15
minutes, and then nodded her assent. Ground crews immediately
took over, preparing the unkempt area for Monday’s services.
RFK and McNamara supervised some of this work and went up
to Arlington House, where a park employee, Paul Fuqua, told
them that on March 3rd of that year, JFK had made a surprise
visit to the mansion and remarked “that the view of Washington,
D.C. was so magnificent that he could stay forever.” [Source:
Philip Bigler, “In Honored Glory.” The prime source for this
story.]

At 12:30 PM, Sunday, November 24, the flag-draped coffin was
carried from the White House and placed on a horse-drawn
caisson for the procession to the Capitol Rotunda. Behind the
caisson was Black Jack, the riderless horse that symbolized the
loss of a fallen leader. Eulogies were delivered by Speaker John
McCormack, Senator Mike Mansfield, and Chief Justice Earl
Warren. Then tens of thousands of private citizens began to file
through to pay their last respects.

Also on Sunday, crowds began gathering at Arlington, impeding
the construction work around the grave site. Jackie had
mentioned she wanted an eternal flame similar to one she first
saw at the memorial in Paris for the French Unknown Soldier.
But military personnel at Arlington didn’t know how to rig this
up in time so they called on Washington Gas Company, which
then fabricated a propane torch which could be safely lit by
Jackie during the funeral. [Thank God.]

For his part, Lieutenant Bird was worried about carrying the
massive casket for all of Monday’s ceremonies, including down
the Rotunda steps, at St. Matthew’s Cathedral for the funeral
Mass, and then at Arlington. So Bird assembled the team at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington at midnight on the
25th. The casket brigade worked over and over with a practice
casket filled with sandbags to replicate the weight. Away from
the prying eyes of the media, their confidence was restored and
everything went off without a hitch that day.

It’s amazing to think that on Monday there were 23 other
scheduled burials at Arlington, all completed before the 3:00 PM
funeral for JFK. The cemetery then saw the greatest assemblage
of dignitaries ever, including President Charles de Gaulle,
Chancellor Erhard of West Germany, Emperor Haile Selassie of
Ethiopia, and Prince Philip of Great Britain. Richard Cardinal
Cushing performed the Catholic committal service.

“Grant, O Lord, this mercy to Thy servant departed, that he who
in his desires did Thy will may not receive the punishment of any
misdeeds, and that as through faith that joined him to the
company of the faithful here below, Thy mercy may make him
the companion of the holy angels in heaven, through Christ our
Lord, Amen.”

[Philip Bigler]

But at 3:32 PM, after family members had left the grave site, and
as the casket was being prepared to be lowered into the open
grave, Superintendent Metzler was informed that members of the
media were still filming and ignoring requests to stop
broadcasting; a classless move concerning something that is
never shown because it detracts from the ceremonies performed
earlier.

Philip Bigler writes, “Furious over the lack of cooperation from
the media and intent upon maintaining privacy, Metzler ordered
all electrical power shut off throughout the entire cemetery, thus
effectively forcing the television networks off the air and
allowing the casket to be privately lowered and the grave
sealed.”

On December 4, 1963, at Jackie’s request the remains of Patrick
and an unnamed daughter (stillborn, 8/23/56) were reburied at
Arlington. By then it was also clear that the grave site would
draw tens of thousands of visitors, if not more, and as it turned
out, in the first 3 years 16 million came to pay their respects. But
there were negative aspects, as the Minneapolis Tribune
reported:

“So many visitors have been coming to the late President’s grave
that picturesque old Arlington cemetery has been struggling to
maintain its dignity. The reason is that, unfortunately, not all the
visitors are well-behaved. Vandals are stealing flowers off other
graves, picnickers leave mounds of litter, tombstones are resting
places for the weary, and irreverent kids play leapfrog among the
rows of granite. While one couple stood chatting in the line,
their daughter worked a crayon over the tombstone of Oliver
Wendell Holmes.” [Bigler]

Then on March 14, 1967, the bodies were secretly re-interred to a
more permanent grave directly below the original location, about
20 feet away, where the present-day memorial is located.

As for Black Jack, the horse, it was also used in the funerals of
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, and Lyndon
Johnson. Black Jack died at the age of 29 at Fort Myers and was
buried on the post’s parade grounds.

---

Stuff

--For a rather bitter opinion of JFK, we turn to novelist Tom
Clancy:

“I never voted for the guy. I was only 13 when he got elected. I
was a junior in high school when Kennedy got whacked. I was
in the Waverly Theater on Green Mount Avenue in Baltimore
watching Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon. I had a half-day
of school. It was a Friday. I heard it on the way coming out of
the movie. The ticket-taker said the president got shot. Then
followed four days of nothing but a dead president. They didn’t
even show the Colts play. He was the president of the United
States, so I didn’t want him murdered. I wanted him to lose the
next election. I mean, what did he accomplish? He has been
canonized by the media, which I think is a bit unseemly. He was
a handsome guy. He had great style. He meant well. It was
Lyndon Johnson who got the civil rights movement rolling. He
was a patriot and he put his life at risk in World War II, and
that’s something to be admired, but I don’t see anything
historically significant that he did other than the space program.
For the space program, I’d buy him a beer.” [Smithsonian]

--And what were we listening to on November 22, 1963?

#1 Leaving It Up To You – Dale & Grace
#2 Washington Square – Village Stompers
#3 Deep Purple – Nino Tempo & April Stevens
#4 Sugar Shack – Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs
#5 It’s All Right – Impressions
#6 She’s A Fool – Lesley Gore
#7 Everybody – Tommy Roe
#8 Bossa Nova Baby – Elvis Presley
#9 Dominique – Singing Nun
#10 Maria Elena –Los Indios Tabajaras
#11 (Down At) Papa Joes – Dixiebelles
#12 Walking The Dog – Rufus Thomas
#13 Hey Little Girl – Major Lance
#14 500 Miles Away From Home – Bobby Bare
#15 Little Red Rooster – Sam Cooke
#16 Fools Rush In – Rick Nelson
#17 Mean Woman Blues – Roy Orbison
#18 Wonderful Summer – Robin Ward
#19 Be True To Your School – Beach Boys .Aarghhh!
#20 Since I Fell For You – Lenny Welch at one point this was
in your editor’s all-time top ten. Probably about #22 these days.

#32 Busted – Ray Charles
#33 Can I Get A Witness – Marvin Gaye
#35 That Sunday, That Summer – Nat King Cole .now this is
an awesome tune. Of course anything by Nat was.
#47 Wives And Lovers – Jack Jones .MY MAN! What a song,
and my, how politically incorrect!... ‘Hey, little girl, with your
hair, up in curlers .’
#49 Be My Baby – Ronettes

[“Billboard’s Hot 100 Charts – The Sixties”]

--Boy, that AL MVP vote was a joke. All together now .
HOW CAN A GUY FROM A TEAM THAT FINISHED LAST
WIN THE FREAKIN’ AWARD?!

As for Barry Bonds, who became the first to win 3 MVP awards
in a row (6 overall) by taking the NL honor, we now wait to see
how everything shakes out in the steroid investigation.

--Well, the latest BCS poll has Ohio State vaulting ahead of USC
for the #2 slot behind Oklahoma. But fear not, Trojan fans.
Even if Ohio State beats Michigan, USC and their beautiful
cheerleaders have a shot if they whip UCLA and Oregon State
due to the convoluted way the BCS looks at things like strength
of schedule. However, if LSU loses to Ole Miss, Ohio State then
moves up to #3 in the other polls and USC is probably cooked.

BCS

1. Oklahoma
2. Ohio State
3. USC
4. LSU
5. Texas
6. Georgia
7. Tennessee
8. TCU
9. Michigan
10. Washington State

TCU, despite being undefeated, stands little chance of staying in
the top 8 due to its strength of schedule rating 90!

Of course this weekend features two huge games. The
aforementioned Ohio State – Michigan contest and LSU vs. #15
Ole Miss.

Plus, we have Oklahoma – Texas Tech. The significance of this
one is that Tech QB B.J. Symons will break the single season
passing record, needing just 83 yards to surpass Ty Detmer’s
mark of 5,188 set in 1990. Symons, with 47 TD passes, won’t
exceed David Klingler’s 54, however .if he does, boy,
do we have a story.

--Former Minnesota Twins catcher Earl Battey died at age 68.
He was a 4-time All Star who back in 1963 smashed 26 home
runs in the days before steroids, boys and girls.
Overall he hit .270 for his career.

--This is one Jets fan who does NOT want Keyshawn Johnson
back. And he’ll be 32 next July, anyway. Just draft a big
receiver and save the money for the defense.

--I forgot to mention this the last time, but for those of you
watching the end of the Eagles – Giants game on Sunday, did
you see that gorgeous blonde wearing the Eagles’ jersey that they
featured from up in the stands? Was I the only one who caught
that she was snorting cocaine?

--So I’m reading an article in the National Post of Canada, on the
800,000 free-roaming caribou in north Quebec, near the
Labrador Sea, and I’m thinking that’s just one herd! Sometimes,
15,000 at a clip are traversing the Trans-Labrador Highway,
causing massive traffic jams. Granted, there aren’t too many
cars actually traveling this road, but I’d hate to be the one stuck
behind ‘em.

--Don Gibson, one of the great songwriters in country music
history, died the other day. Born into a sharecropping family
from Shelby, NC (I know this town well great people), Gibson
is perhaps best known for the standards “I Can’t Stop Loving
You” and “Oh Lonesome Me,” which he wrote on the same day,
June 7, 1957, as a repossession man was picking up his vacuum
cleaner and television set. True story. [AP]

--14-year-old soccer phenom Freddy Adu signed a 6-year
contract to play in the MLS with D.C. United, reportedly for up
to $500,000 a year.

--175 years ago, Noah Webster published the 1st American
Dictionary of the English Language. It defined 70,000 words
(12,000 for the first time). The current new edition defines
470,000. Not sure if “Doh” is included.

--Enrico Caruso made his debut at the New York Metropolitan
Opera on 11/23/03, performing in “Rigoletto.”

--VCR ALERT! Saturday evening on PBS “Oooooooooooooo
klahoma.” But if Oklahoma, the school, should lose to Texas
Tech earlier in the day, the performance of the show will be
canceled until a more appropriate time.

--In doing research for JFK, I came across this tidbit from
November 8, 1963.

“A riot at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, Long Island, NY,
was sparked when six of eight trotters in the sixth race were
involved in a pileup. Fans who had bet on the daily double were
outraged when the race was declared official. They rioted and
started a $20,000 fire. In the melee, 20 people were injured.”

[“The Encyclopedia of American Facts and Dates,” edited by
Gorton Carruth]

--You know the other day I wrote of World War I and some
bodies that had recently been exhumed from Flanders Field, or
Passchendaele. The casualties from this third battle of Ypres
were huge and I felt compelled to learn a bit more.

The best estimate is that in all of World War I, 10 million
soldiers lost their lives, another 20 million were wounded. Just
think about that for a second.

War Deaths

Great Britain 700,000
New Zealand 16,000
Australia 62,000
Canada 57,000
India 62,000

France 1,400,000
Belgium 44,000
Germany 1,800,000
Austria-Hungary 1,290,000
Russia 1,700,000
Serbia 45,000
Rumania 335,000
Bulgaria 90,000
Turkey 325,000
Italy 615,000
United States 116,000

*One million died in the Battle of the Somme (July – November
1916). 60,000 British, alone, were killed or wounded the first
day.

[Source: BBC News]

Top 3 songs for the week of 11/21/70: #1 “I Think I Love You”
(The Partridge Family) #2 “We’ve Only Just Begun”
(Carpenters) #3 “I’ll Be There” (The Jackson 5 wow
‘schmaltz week’)

NBA Quiz Answer: Schools with the most players in the NBA –
North Carolina, 12; Kentucky, 11; Arizona, 10; Duke and
UCLA, 9; Georgetown, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, 8 apiece.

According to the NY Times, the average height of an NBA
player is 6’7”; the average age, 27.2; average experience, 4.8
years. Average number of illegitimate children, 7. [Ah, that last
one is merely my guess.]

Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.