August 30: The final resting place of American heroes opened its gates Saturday to embrace one more, as Edward Kennedy was buried near his two slain brothers while thousands publicly mourned.
The late senator’s gravesite is 100 feet (30 meters) from that of his brother Robert, itself several yards (meters) from the “eternal flame” marking president John F. Kennedy’s grave on a hill in Arlington National Cemetery.
Kennedy’s body was flown to the Washington area from his native Boston, where his family had been joined at a funeral mass by the US political elite including President Barack Obama.
As thousands lined the route, his cortege travelled to Capitol Hill and the US Senate, where Kennedy spent 47 years as a legislator, then on to Arlington, the famed US burial site for soldiers, politicians, justices, astronauts and other American heroes.
An eight-member team representing all five branches of the US military removed the flag-draped casket from the hearse and, with Kennedy’s wife Vicki walking closely behind, carried it over the lush grass to the gravesite.
The burial service itself — described as a Rite of Committal and Prayer of Commendation — was a private family affair, and though the service was beamed to the world via pooled television images, mother nature intervened.
The sun set over Arlington, leaving the Kennedys in virtual darkness, with the nearby eternal flame flickering at the late president’s grave.
A lone military figure, standing in shadow on the hillside above the Kennedy graves, sounded mournful notes on a bugle after riflemen shot three volleys, a traditional military funeral ritual.
One of those who made their graveside farewells was granddaughter Kiley, who recalled early mornings with Kennedy at the family home in Hyannis Port.
“It would be just us on the porch for a while, and we talked and talked, and I would get a feeling that the world was just right,” Kiley said.
“It was me and him, sitting on a porch watching a new day unfold as we stared into the sea of freedom and possibility. I love you so much, grandpa, and I always will.”
Extraordinary moments also unfolded outside the cemetery gates as along the funeral procession route thousands of people gathered to mark an end to a storied chapter in US history.
“I think it’s just a terrible loss,” said Rocky Twyman, 60, who had come to Arlington across the Potomac river from Washington to pay tribute to Kennedy and his work for the civil rights movement.
“He and his brothers always stood for what was right,” said Twyman, who is African-American.
“Ted Kennedy was really a friend of the black community,” he said. “The Kennedys helped liberate me.”
A book of condolences at the cemetery was signed by people from US states including Florida, Virginia, Connecticut and North Carolina.
An unidentified tourist, writing in French, also offered “sincere condolences from the French people.”
Fay Smith told AFP she had traveled from Miramar, Florida, to be at Arlington.
“He has done so much for this country,” he said of Kennedy. “I’m a naturalized American and because of him we have a black president and we may get healthcare.”
Earlier in the day Kennedy’s funeral procession stopped at the US Capitol, where his former staff and fellow lawmakers bade a final farewell to the Democratic lion of the Senate.
Several hundred visitors also crowded onto the US Capitol grounds to say goodbye, many holding small American flags, clapping or taking pictures on their cellphones.
Three young children held up nautical flags spelling out the initials EMK, for Edward Moore Kennedy, who was an accomplished sailor and known for his love of the sea.
Kennedy was then taken past the Lincoln Memorial and across Arlington Memorial Bridge, in uncanny echoes of JFK’s funeral more than 45 years ago with thousands lining the route and clapping as they paid their last respects.
Kathy Robertson, from Virginia, came to the burial site sporting a “Kennedy 80” election pin — a memento from the senator’s 1980 presidential bid, which she worked on as a volunteer.
“We wanted to keep the Kennedy legacy moving and we wanted to see another Kennedy in the White House,” she said.
“I was watching the funeral this morning (in Boston) on TV. That brought a lot of tears,” she said. “It was moving and it brought back a lot of memories.”
–Agencies