Trans-Pacific
Unknown Candidate
After the selection ceremony, the casket was given into the custody
of the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, Admiral Herbert G.
Hopwood. Admiral
Hopwood spoke a few simple words of acceptance:
"On
behalf of the Department of the Navy, I accept custody of this honored
Unknown of World War II in the Pacific for transportation to the final
ceremony at sea in the United States Ship CANBERRA."
Then six Navy
pallbearers with an officer in charge approached the bier as all
personal stood at attention. To the muffled roll of drums, the casket
was carried to a waiting ambulance, which departed under military escort
for the Army Mortuary*.
After the remains
had been encased for transport, they were taken to the Naval Air Station
at Barber's Point, along with the Korean War Unknown Soldier. On May 17,
1958, in the early hours, they departed by special flight for
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
On May 23, 1958,
the two caskets were taken aboard the USS BOSTON, the world's
first guided-missile ship. Two terms of pallbearers, each composed of
six Navy enlisted men and one Marine noncommissioned officer, escorted
the caskets to compartments in the forward missile area, where a
continuous honor guard of one Marine and one Naval sentry maintained a
round-the-clock vigil as the ship headed for the final selection site.
Trans-Atlantic
Unknown Candidate
With the rendition
of appropriate honors, the Trans-Atlantic Unknown Candidate was carried
through the memorial to the funeral cortege. The band continued to play
as the spectators dispersed and the cortege moved out to the
Toul-Rosiere Airbase. Along the seventy-mile route, many
spectators observed the procession - some out of curiosity, others to
pay homage to the symbol of thousands of Americans who made the supreme
sacrifice.
In the early
afternoon the funeral cortege arrived at the Airbase amid a driving
rainstorm. There the Army transferred custody of the remains to the Air
Force, with an exchange of salutes. Meanwhile, the pallbearers
dismounted, removed the casket from the hearse, and carried the casket
and the selection wreath aboard the aircraft, a C-130 of the 322d Air
Division. The doors of the plane were quickly closed, the engines were
started, the plane taxied to a take-off position, and the Trans-Atlantic
Unknown Candidate was airborne, all within an hour of the arrival of the
cortege.
Three hours later
the aircraft arrived at the US Naval Air Facility, near Naples, Italy. A
Marine Corps detail was posted immediately on the aircraft, to guard the
casket until the formal transfer ceremony the following morning.
On May 13, 1958 the
C-130 taxied to the loading ramp, where pallbearers and a Joint Armed
Forces Honor Guard proceeded to the rear of the aircraft. As the
Honor Guard presented arms, the casket was carried from the aircraft and
placed in a Navy ambulance. A six vehicle funeral procession, escorted
by Italian motorcycle police, departed from the Air Facility and soon
arrived at Mole Angioino, in the inner port of the Naples Harbor, where
one of the newest destroyers of the Navy, the USS BLANDY, had
been moored for almost a week.
As the ship's crew
manned the rails, the Operations Officer of the USS BLANDY
accepted custody of the Trans-Atlantic Unknown Candidate, in behalf of
the ship's Captain. The Joint Service pallbearers then passed the casket
to eight of the destroyer's crewmen, who carried it aboard the ship and
placed it and the selection wreath in the ceremonial area of the ship's
main deck. Four other crewmen immediately took positions around the
casket.
Just before noon
the USS BLANDY departed from Naples, destined for a rendezvous
with the cruiser USS CANBERRA off the Virginia Capes, in late
May. During transit, a continuous guard of honor was maintained, with
each member of the crew being given an opportunity to stand this watch
as a mark of respect to the Unknown.
The Transfer at Sea and Trip to
Washington
On May
26, 1958, the rendezvous between the USS BLANDY and the USS
BOSTON was carried out on schedule, and soon the USS BLANDY
had transferred her hero-dead by highline to join the other caskets
aboard the USS BOSTON. LTJG Buckenmaier
vividly remembers his duty that day:
"I
distinctly recall the tension I felt when we high-lines the WWII and
Korean remains from the USS Canberra. William
McLean and I were directly responsible for these operations, and my
thoughts were of the huge efforts in the Pacific, in Europe and in Korea
to properly honor these unknowns, all of which were now hanging by a
single high line cable in the choppy seas of the Atlantic. Every man
involved in the operation felt the same tension and responsibility and
great relief and thankfulness when they were successfully completed."
As the casket
reached a mid-point between the two ships, suitable honors were rendered
by both ships.
The ceremonial
ship, USS CANBERRA, had sailed in the early hours of the morning
from Norfolk. Aboard were a large number of newsmen, other civilian
guests, senior military dignitaries, and representatives of patriotic
and veteran organizations. Near the Virginia Capes in an area
where ships were torpedoed during the Second World War, the USS
CANBERRA, with rain pelting her decks and the Coast Guard Cutter INGHAM
in close attendance, rendezvoused with the USS BOSTON and BLANDY
to form the Ceremonial Task Group. With high-lines rigged, the two
cruisers, steaming at ten knots and riding a hundred feet apart, began
the transfer of the Unknowns. On the decks of both ships the
white-uniformed crew stood at attention.
When the final
selection ceremony was complete, the USS BLANDY came alongside
the USS CANBERRA for the last transfer of caskets at sea. The two
Unknown Soldiers, who were to be buried in Arlington were expertly
high-lined aboard the destroyer. Escorted by the INGHAM, the USS
BLANDY was released to proceed up the Potomac to Washington.
After anchoring
overnight off Piney Point, Maryland, the USS BLANDY and INGHAM
proceeded up the Potomac on the morning of May 27, 1958. As they
moved past Mount Vernon and the tomb of General George Washington, the
ship's crew manned the rail according to tradition. A bell tolled,
the ensign was lowered, and "Taps" were sounded over the
Potomac as the sailors stood at attention.
Shortly after noon
the destroyer and the cutter arrived at the Naval Gun Factory to await
the ceremonies planned for the following morning; then for the first
time since the Unknowns had made the supreme sacrifice they would touch
the soil of the homeland
Pallbearers then entered the canopied
area once again, carried the five remaining caskets to waiting
ambulances, and escorted them to the Army Mortuary, pending re-interment
in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Please
send any feedback about the site to the Webmaster