Tags : Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy – Champion Of The Little Guy – At Rest In Arlington National Cemetery
Washington, D.C. (AHN) – The Lion of the Senate is at rest. Before burial, Sen. Ted Kennedy made his final stop at the nation’s capital Saturday evening at about 6:30 p.m., when his funeral procession pulled up to the U.S. Capital where the steps were covered with hundreds of staffers, friends and lawmakers waiting; tourists lined the sidewalks and everyone broke into applause.
Kennedy’s widow got out of her car there and began greeting people.
Rev. Daniel Coughlin, chaplain for the U.S. Congress, greeted Vicky Kennedy and told her they were there to pray with her, then led the mourners assembled on the steps in prayers.
“Lord you knew his quests were unquenchable,” Coughlin said as he began his prayer. The proceedings were televised live.
Coughlin mentioned Kennedy’s family values, world vision and compassion that drew people around the world to believe that peace could prevail and competition could be turned to collaboration to better help every aspect of human endeavor.
Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), one of Ted Kennedy’s sons, made brief comments on behalf of the family at the end of the brief service on the steps of the U.S. Capital. The mourners spontaneously began singing “God Bless America.” Kennedy was known for his love of song and often sang to staffers and others.
Then the Kennedy family members returned to their vehicles and, led by the hearse bearing Kennedy’s flag-draped casket, the procession drove off to Arlington National Cemetery.
Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), sitting in a wheelchair at the base of the Capital steps, had dabbed tears from his eyes as Kennedy family members greeted him when they arrived and Byrd waved a small American flag as the hearse drove off.
During the procession’s drive to Arlington, people stood on sidewalks along the route applauding as the hearse passed. Even on Memorial Bridge over the Potomac River, people stood, some waving, some clapping, some merely standing with their hands over their hearts. Many of the Kennedy clan family members had the windows of their vehicles rolled down and they waved to the people. As the procession neared the entrance to the cemetery the crowd of mourners were not only standing shoulder-to-shoulder, but several deep along the sidewalks.
Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington, D.C. conducted the graveside services for Kennedy.
The sun was setting at 7:58 p.m. when the graveside service began. But it was a fitting time for a funeral because of the certainty that the sun will rise tomorrow, the priest said.
McCarrick lauded Kennedy, making mention that he was known as the Lion of the Senate for his zeal in championing the causes of people whose needs and rights have often been overlooked by some.
Kennedy was buried with military honors in a Catholic ceremony near the graves of his slain brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy.
The sun had set by the conclusion of the religious service when there was a three-shot volley and a bugler played taps at 8:14 p.m.
Four of his grandchildren spoke at the end of the services. One-by-one and choking back tears, the grandchildren expressed their love for their grandpa and gave their joyful remembrances of a man who one said knew how to play and joke and have fun.
