World War II & Korean War
Ceremonies and Double Interment - 30 May 1958
For the Lying in State
ceremony at the Capitol,
the U.S. Capitol Architect had provided the Lincoln catafalque and a
second catafalque, identical in dimensions. The two crypts at the Tomb
of the Unknown Soldier also had been completed. Plans for the Interment
Ceremonies been completed in early May 1958, and between May
12th and 23rd, every ceremony (including one in full dress) and
every administrative function had been rehearsed at least twice. Some
phases, such as traffic and parking control, were rehearsed four times.
On May 27, 1958,
at 1235, the USS BLANDY arrived at the Naval Gun Factory. The
caskets, accompanied by a Joint Honor Guard, then were brought from
below to the fantail ceremonial area in preparation for the reception
ceremony the next day.
On May 28, 1958 troops and
officials began to take stations for the ceremony. Aboard the USS BLANDY, sailors and officers manned the rail. At 0925 as
the US Navy Band concluded the hymns, the two groups of body bearers
boarded the ship to remove the caskets. Once in position, the band
sounded four ruffles and flourishes, then played hymns as the caskets
were borne from the USS BLANDY. The World War II Unknown
Soldier was taken ashore first. The caskets were carried to hearses at
the end of the pier and placed inside simultaneously. Following
another salute, the procession departed.
The procession then moved up to the
East Plaza of the Capitol. The body bearers and Color Guard preceded the
cortege to the Capitol, under separate police escort in order to arrive
in time to meet the procession.
A Joint Honor Cordon formed a
corridor up the east steps to the rotunda. Inside the rotunda, standing
six deep in a semicircle around the south end were many distinguished
guests. The two catafalques were in the center of the rotunda.
As a hymn was played, the body
bearers removed the caskets from the hearses and formed a column led by
the clergy, with the World War II Unknown Soldier in front. The
procession passed through the Joint Honor Cordon at a slow cadence, and
when it entered the rotunda divided to the right and left.
The body bearers made a semicircle
to the rotunda's far side then turned back to the catafalques in the
center of the hall. The caskets were then placed on the biers and the
bearers were dismissed. A Joint Guard of Honor* (also know
as the "Death Watch") was then posted.
Vice President Richard Nixon, as
President of the Senate, placed a wreath at the head of the biers. Then
Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn, and the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps,
Dr. Guillermo Sevilla-Sacasa of Nicaragua, placed wreaths.
Shortly after the wreath-laying
ceremony ended, the public was admitted to the rotunda.
The Unknown Soldiers lay in state
from midmorning on May 28th to 1300 on May 30th. Tributes of flowers
were accepted and arranged in the rotunda throughout this period.
On May29th, the caskets were switched so that the Korean War Unknown
Soldier rested on the Lincoln catafalque. At the same time, the
catafalques were moved so that the World War II Unknown Soldier kept the
senior position on the right.
Interment
Ceremonies
On May 30th, the troops involved in
the ceremonies started very early. Some 250 officers and men were
to occupy fifty-one posts to cope with the 14,000 cars expected along
the route and in ANC. The men of the 3d US Infantry Regiment, who
were to man rope and security cordons also arrived early. Part of
them formed a cordon around the Memorial Amphitheater to keep the
ceremonial area clear and later to direct movement from the amphitheater
to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The rest manned a rope cordon along
Roosevelt Drive, the route of the procession. In all, troops manned
about six miles of rope.
Medical aid was available during
all phases of the ceremonies, due to the extreme heat. Four aid stations
were set up, each staffed by a medical officer, nurse, and attendant and
each equipped with supplies and an ambulance. Medics, in
sedans, were to follow the procession to Arlington to pick up and treat
anyone who became ill in the ranks**.
At 1259, the US Naval School of
Music Band sounded attention. The body bearers took up the caskets and,
with the World War II Unknown Soldier leading, moved out of the rotunda.
At the same moment, the saluting battery on the Washington Monument
grounds began firing minute guns. The firing continued until the close
of ceremonies at the cemetery except for a pause during two minutes of
silence observed at the amphitheater. The cease-fire signal for the
minute guns was the firing of the first round of the final 21-gun salute
at the cemetery.
The procession halted at the top of
the steps while the US Navy Band sounded four ruffles and flourishes and
then began a hymn. During the hymn the procession descended the steps
and the caskets were secured to the caissons.
The Joint Armed Forces Color Guard
took post ten paces ahead of the clergy, while the body bearers
stationed themselves three on each side of each caisson. The cortege
then moved north from the plaza to join the escort of the procession on
Constitution Avenue.
The full procession started toward
the cemetery a few minutes after 1300. Along the route was a Joint Honor
Cordon. When the procession arrived at the cemetery the caissons,
which had been moving abreast, shifted into a column led by the caisson
bearing the World War II Unknown Soldier. As the caissons entered
the cemetery through Memorial Gate, twenty jet fighters and bombers
passed overhead with one plane missing from each formation.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower and
Vice President Nixon had arrived from the White House, but remained
outside the amphitheater until dignitaries in the cortege had dismounted
and taken seats.
After the audience was seated, the
US Army Band "Pershing's Own", played four ruffles and
flourishes, followed by a hymn. During the hymn the bearers
removed the caskets from the caissons and, led as before by clergy and
colors, carried them inside.
The World War II Unknown Soldier
was borne through the south entrance and the Korean War Unknown Soldier
through the entrance on the north. Just inside the amphitheater,
each casket was set on a movable bier and wheeled around the colonnade
to the apse, where the World War II Unknown Soldier was placed in front
of President Eisenhower and the Korean War Unknown Soldier in front of
Vice President Nixon. After the caskets were situated, the Marine
Band played the national anthem.
Following the invocation, a bugler
sounded attention three times and a two-minute period of silence
followed. President Eisenhower then arose and placed a Medal of
Honor on each casket. As the funeral service was brought to a
close, the Unknown Soldiers were taken to the amphitheater's Trophy
Room. The Presidential party also withdrew to the Trophy Room, while the
audience made its way to the plaza, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,
for the burial service.
The Unknown Soldiers were taken
from the Trophy Room, in a procession that included the Presidential
party, to the head of the plaza steps. There the procession halted while
the Army Band sounded four ruffles and flourishes. After this
salute the procession descended the steps, and the body bearers placed
the caskets over the crypts. They then took hold of the flags that had
draped the caskets and held them taut above the caskets.
The salute battery, from the Old
Guard, then fired twenty-one guns. At the first round, the minute-gun
battery on the Washington Monument grounds ceased firing. After the gun
salute, a firing squad from the 3d US Infantry (The Old Guard), fired
the traditiona1 three volleys followed by "Taps".
The body bearers then folded the
flags and presented them to the President and Vice President, who in
turn gave them to cemetery officials for safekeeping.
The presentation of the flags
completed the burial service. After the participants had left the plaza,
the public was allowed to file by the crypts and pay their respects.
Later in the evening, cemetery Superintendent John C. Metzler and his
assistant, F. A. Lockwood, lowered the caskets. The body bearers stood
behind a guide chain and saluted as the caskets sank into their crypts.
This was the last rite in the
ceremonies that throughout the day had involved some 4,800
members of the Armed Forces.
