Tomorrow will mark 60 years since the funeral for President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated on November 22nd of 1963.
Dick Anderson, of Webster City, was in the U.S. Coast Guard at the time and was called upon to march in the funeral procession through Washington, D.C.
Anderson says their long march started at the U.S. Capitol and went to St. Matthew’s Cathedral.
“We marched to the church where the funeral was. We did not go in,” Anderson recalls. “We were at parade rest at the outside of the church, and then when the funeral was over, we then continued and marched out to Arlington Cemetery.”
Anderson says he’ll never forget the simple, solemn beat of the drum all along the procession route.
“Our marching was basically without music,” he says. “It was a good five miles of walking that day, but you didn’t feel it at all.”
Anderson says it was considered a great privilege to be singled out to march in that procession, as the slain president was being laid to rest. He says they repeatedly practiced all of their moves to make sure everything went smoothly.
“We got all the groups together that were being sent to Washington, D.C. I was in India Company. Since I had ROTC training at Drake when I was at school, I had marched a little bit so I was a guidon. So, I was right in the front row between two of the Coast Guard officers.” A guidon is military term for a flag bearer.
It’s estimated that one-million people lined the route of the funeral procession that morning.
(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)