Read On Hallowed Ground Online
Authors: Robert M Poole
On Hallowed Ground (51 page)
34
. “Unknowns of World War II,” The
New York Times
, May 31, 1958.
35
. Ibid.
36
. Ibid.; Mossman and Stark, 120–24.
37
. John Keegan,
A History of Warfare
(New York: Vintage, 1994), 379–80.
38
. Simon LeVay,
When Science Goes Wrong
(New York: Plume, 2008), 152–159; William McKeown,
Idaho Falls: The Untold Story of America’s First Nuclear Accident
(Toronto: ECW Press, 2003), 143–44.
39
. Ibid.
40
. Ibid.
41
. 2nd Lt. Leon S. Monroe II, assistant adjutant general, Headquarters Military District of Washington, to John C. Metzler, superintendent, Arlington National Cemetery, Jan. 31, 1961, “Interment of Radioactive Remains,”
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/mcknl.htm.
12: “I COULD STAY HERE FOREVER”
1
. Paul Fuqua, interviewed by author, Nov. 1, 2006.
2
. Ibid.
3
. Ibid.
4
. Ibid.
5
. Ibid.
6
. Ibid.; Charles Bartlett, interviewed by Fred Holborn, Feb. 20, 1965, JFKL. Bartlett credits Kennedy with another aside
from that day at Arlington. “Wouldn’t this be a fine place to have the White House?” the president asked Bartlett.
7
. Fuqua.
8
. Ibid.
9
. Ibid.
10
. John C. Metzler Jr., superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery, interviewed by author, Oct. 15, 2008; B. C. Mossman
and M. Warner Stark,
The Last Salute: Civil and Military Funerals 1922-1969
(Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 1971), 188.
11
. “Funeral Services of President Kennedy 23–25 November 1963,” DVD, JFKL.
12
. Ralph Dungan, interviewed by William Manchester, April 15, 1964, “William Manchester Papers,” Special Collections and
Archives, Wesleyan University Library, 79–82, hereafter WMP.
13
. Nancy Tuckerman and Pamela Turnure, interviewed by Mrs. Wayne Fredericks, n.d., JFKL.
14
. Rep. Hale Boggs, interviewed by Charles T. Morrissey, May 10, 1964, JFKL; William Manchester,
The Death of a President
(New York: Harper & Row, 1967), 448, 490–91.
15
. Bartlett.
16
. Paul C. Miller, interviewed by William Manchester, April 30, 1964, WMP.
17
. Bartlett; Boggs.
18
. Bartlett.
19
. Dungan, WMP, 79–80. Jacqueline Kennedy, an accomplished horsewoman, used the technically correct nomenclature for gray
horses, which the rest of the world, including the caisson platoon at Fort Myer, Virginia, calls white horses. The author
follows Mrs. Kennedy’s example.
20
. Manchester, 539.
21
. Ibid., 490–91.
22
. Mossman and Stark, 19; John C. Metzler Jr., interviewed by author, Oct. 15, 2008.
23
. Woodrow Wilson, who died in 1924, was buried in the National Cathedral in Washington.
24
. John C. Metzler Sr. notes on the Kennedy funeral, undated, WMP. Metzler makes no mention of touring the cemetery with
Robert McNamara, but Manchester has the secretary of defense visiting Arlington to inspect sites at the time of Metzler’s
survey, which suggests that they made at least one tour together.
25
. Ibid.
26
. Ibid.
27
. Manchester, 492–95.
28
. Ted Sorensen,
Counselor
(New York: Harper, 2008), 365.
29
. Metzler, WMP.
30
. Manchester, 495–96; Metzler, WMP.
31
. Metzler, WMP.
32
. Manchester, 496–97.
33
. Fuqua.
34
. Thomas A. Hughes to Ramsey Clark, “John F. Kennedy Plot in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia,” Nov. 27, 1963, WMP.
35
. Samuel R. Bird, “After Action Report, Joint Casket Team—State Funeral, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy,” Dec. 10, 1963,
WMP.
36
. Sgt. Keith Mann and other members of the caisson platoon, author interview, Fort Myer, VA, June 29, 2005; Tom Setterberg
in Kenneth S. Pond et al., eds.,
Farewell to the President, Personal Memoirs of the State Funeral of President John F. Kennedy
(privately published, 2008) 19:1–4.
37
. Dungan, WMP, 81.
38
. Setterberg, 19:1–4.
39
. Ibid.
40
. Arthur A. Carlson, in
Farewell to the President,
2: 1–4.
41
. Sorensen, 366.
42
. Manchester, 421; Thomas F. Reid, in Farewell to the President, 16:2.
43
. Letitia Baldridge Hollensteiner, interviewed by Mrs. Wayne Fredericks, April 24, 1964, JFKL.
44
. Confidential interview by William Manchester, WMP.
45
. Louis W. Odom, in
Farewell to the President,
14:4.
46
. Carlson, 2:1–4.
47
. Hollensteiner.
48
. Kenneth S. Pond, in
Farewell to the President
, 15:4–5.
49
. Edward M. Gripkey, in
Farewell to the President
, 7:3.
50
. Thomas F. Reid, in
Farewell to the President
, 16:2. Sgt. Gary Rogers, a member of the Old Guard who helped form an honor cordon along the funeral route, notes a similar
clash with the Green Berets: “I … remember the arrogance of the Special Forces Colonel who wouldn’t allow his men to mess
with our troops as they were too elite. Later we noticed some of the Special Forces guys faint as they stood at attention
along the parade route. They may have been tough troopers, but they didn’t know how to stand at attention for long periods
of time.” in
Farewell to the President,
18:1–2.
51
. Sam Bird was placed in charge of the president’s casket team because the Army, as the nation’s oldest military service,
had seniority over other services contributing members to the casket detail.
52
. Douglas A. Mayfield, in
Farewell to the President,
10:3.
53
. Samuel R. Bird, interviewed by William Manchester, April 30, 1964, WMP.
54
. “Funeral Services of President Kennedy 23–25 November 1963,” DVD, JFKL.
55
. Jimmy Breslin, “Digging JFK Grave Was His Honor,” The
New York Herald Tribune
, Nov. 26, 1963.
56
. Philip Bigler,
In Honored Glory: Arlington National Cemetery
(St. Petersburg, FL: Van-damere Press, 2004), 86.
57
. Breslin.
58
. Metzler, WMP. Another possible inspiration for Arlington’s eternal flame is the Eternal Light Peace Memorial at Gettysburg
National Military Park. President and Mrs. Kennedy visited the memorial in March 1963 during the centennial year of the Civil
War battle.
59
. Metzler, WMP.
60
. Ibid.; Manchester, 552.
61
. Fuqua.
62
. Manchester, 552.
63
. Mayfield in
Farewell to the President,
10:2.
64
. Ibid.
65
. Ibid.
66
. Bird,“After Action Report,” WMP.
67
. Samuel R. Bird, interviewed by William Manchester, April 30, 1964, WMP.
68
. Annette Bird and Tim Prouty,
So Proudly He Served: The Sam Bird Story
(Wichita: Okarche Books, 1993) 87; Samuel R. Bird, interviewed by William Manchester, April 30, 1964, WMP.
69
. Rep. Neil Staebler, interviewed by Howard Cook, Dec. 4, 1964, JFKL.
70
. Manchester, 570.
71
. Mayfield, in
Farewell to the President
, 10:4.
72
. Sam R. Bird, interviewed by William Manchester, April 30, 1964, WMP.
73
. Irving Lowens, “Accurate Listing of Funeral Music,” The
Washington Star
, Dec. 1, 1963.
74
. Bird and Prouty,
So Proudly
, 89–90.
75
. “Funeral Services of President Kennedy 23–25 November 1963,” DVD, JFKL.
76
. Mary McCrory, “He Would Have Liked It,” The
Boston Globe,
Nov. 26, 1963; Lowens, “Accurate Listing of Funeral Music.”
77
. Michael J. McNamara in
Farewell to the President,
12:6; Louie W. Odom in
Farewell to the President,
14:3; Manchester, 560.
78
. Setterberg, in
Farewell to the President,
19:3.
79
. Reid, in
Farewell to the President,
16:3.
80
. Ibid.
81
. Pond, in
Farewell to the President,
15:5.
82
. William Malcolm, interviewed by William Manchester, April 30, 1964, WMP.
83
. James R. Holder, in
Farewell to the President,
8:2.
84
. Carlson in
Farewell to the President,
2:3.
85
. Setterberg in
Farewell to the President,
19:4.
86
. “Funeral Services of President Kennedy 23–25 November 1963,” DVD, JFKL; “Actual Time Sequence, State Funeral for President
John F. Kennedy, 25 November 1963,” WMP.
87
. Malcolm, WMP; Manchester, 599.
88
. Richard Goldstein, “Keith Clark, Bugler for Kennedy, Dies at 74,” The
New York Times
, Jan.17, 2002.
89
. Reid in
Farewell to the President,
16:12; Manchester, 599–600.
90
. “Funeral Services of President Kennedy 23–25 November 1963,” DVD, JFKL.
91
. Ibid; Metzler, WMP.
92
. Manchester, 601.
93
. Metzler, WMP.
94
. Ibid.
95
. Manchester, 605.
96
. Metzler, WMP.
97
. Metzler, WMP.
98
. Michael J. McNamara in
Farewell to the President,
12:5.
99
. Woodrow T. Blair in
Farewell to the President,
1:2.
100
. Reid in
Farewell to the President,
16:7; “Arlington National Cemetery—Comprehensive Plan,” Washington, D.C., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1978, 17; “Arlington National Cemetery—Master Plan,” Washington, D.C., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1998, 8–9.
101
. Blair in
Farewell to the President,
1:1–2.
102
. Reid in
Farewell to the President,
16:7.
103
. John C. Metzler Jr., interviewed by author, Oct. 15, 2008.
104
. “Robert F. Kennedy Memorial,” Arlington National Cemetery,
http://arlington
cemetery.org/visitor_information/Robert_F._Kennedy.html.
105
. Tom Sherlock, historian of Arlington National Cemetery, in “Tribute to Arlington National Cemetery,” George J. Wilson
Jr., CombatVets.net, Feb. 28, 2007. A new cross replaced the one stolen from Robert Kennedy’s grave; the thieves were never
found.
106
. “Arlington National Cemetery—Master Plan,” Washington, D.C., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1998, 8–9.
107
. Arlington’s columbarium, a complex of marble courts where cremated remains are preserved in small niches, was opened
in the early 1980s. Eight of nine courts have been completed, with capacity for some 5,000 inurnments in each court. Because
the columbarium uses so little space, qualifying regulations for inurnment are less stringent for inurnment than those for
interment.
108
. “Arlington National Cemetery—Master Plan,” Washington, D.C., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1998, 8–9.
109
. Metzler Jr., Oct. 15, 2008.
110
. Samuel R. Bird, interviewed by William Manchester, April 30, 1964, WMP.
111
. William W. Morris in
Farewell to the President,
13:5.
112
. Metzler Jr., Oct. 15, 2008.
113
. “1/3 Battalion HHC Caisson Platoon,”
www.army.mil/oldguard/specplt/caisson.htm.
114
. B. T. Collins, “The Courage of Sam Bird,”
Reader’s Digest,
May 1989, 49–54; Bird, “After Action Report,” WMP.
13: THE LAST UNKNOWN
1
. Ken Ringle, “Honored Symbol: Vietnam War’s Unknown Buried In Arlington Tomb,” The
Washington Post
, May 29, 1984.
2
. “President’s Speech at Arlington Cemetery,” DVD, Video Control No. 06270-4T-W308-G52, RRL; William M. Hammond,
The Unknown Serviceman of the Vietnam Era
( Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 1985), 11–14.
3
. Ibid.
4
. All American women who died in Vietnam had been accounted for by this time.
5
. “President’s Speech,” DVD G-50, G-52, G-53, RRL.
6
. Ibid.
7
. Ibid.; Ringle, “Honored Symbol”; Hammond, 11–14; Robert D. Hershey Jr., “One of 58,012 Vietnam Dead Joins the Unknowns,”
The New York Times
, May 29, 1984.
8
. Hammond, 14; “Secretary of Defense Approves Recommendations Concerning The Vietnam Unknown,” Department of Defense Press
Release No. 296–99, June 17, 1999. Fearing a spreading Communist threat, President Eisenhower sent the first American advisors
to Vietnam in 1958; the war ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975.
9
. John O. Marsh Jr. to Caspar W. Weinberger, June 16, 1982, “Unknown Serviceman from the Vietnam Era—Action Memorandum,”
Folder “POW/MIA—Tomb of the Unknown (4),” Box 924089, Richard Childress Files, RRL.