-Caveat Lector-
Family Insisted JFK Casket Be Sunk
By DEB RIECHMANN=
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ It was the Kennedy family that insisted that
the polished bronze casket used to carry President Kennedy's body
from Dallas to Washington be dumped into the ocean, newly
released documents say.
Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a mahogany
coffin and there have been lingering questions about what ever
happened to the casket used in Texas after Kennedy was
assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963.
``What I would like to have done is take it to sea,'' Robert
Kennedy, the president's brother, told an official of the General
Services Administration in February 1966.
Despite concerns that the casket was government property, Kennedy
told GSA Administrator Lawson Knott Jr. that he believed it
belonged to the family ``and we can get rid of it any way we want
to,'' according to a memo recounting their telephone
conversation.
About two weeks later, on Feb. 18, 1966, an Air Force van picked
up the casket at the National Archives building in downtown
Washington.
To make sure that it would sink, the casket was loaded with three
80-pound bags of sand. Numerous holes were drilled into the
coffin and a pine box that encased it. It was bound with metal
banding tape and rigged with parachutes to break the impact of
hitting the water.
At 8:38 a.m., a C-130 airplane carrying the casket left Andrews
Air Force Base and flew off the Maryland-Delaware coast. The
plane descended to 500 feet and at 10 a.m., the tail hatch of the
plane was opened and the 660-pound load was pushed out.
``The parachutes opened shortly before impact and the entire
rigged load remained intact and sank sharply, clearly and
immediately after the soft impact,'' John Steadman, special
assistant to the defense secretary, wrote in a Feb. 25, 1966 file
memo.
``The aircraft circled the drop point for some 20 minutes at 500
feet to ensure that nothing returned was chosen because it was
away from regularly traveled air and shipping lines and would not
be disturbed by trawling and other sea-bottom activities, the
documents said.
The government paid for the bronze coffin, but it was unclear
whether it was government property.
However, Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach said in a Feb. 11,
1966 letter to the GSA that he felt it was necessary to dispose
of the coffin.
``I am unable to conceive of any manner in which the casket could
have an evidentiary value, nor can I conceive of any reason why
the national interest would require its preservation,''
Katzenbach wrote.
``It is obvious that it could never be used for burial purposes
and its public display would be extremely offensive and contrary
to public policy.''
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Kaddish, Kaddish, Kaddish, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
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