LIVE THREAD: Reagan State Funeral Ceremony: Arrival at the Capitol

www.freerepublic.com | June 9, 2004

[Howlin]

Arrival at Andrews Air Force Base scheduled for 5 P.M. EDT.

Beginning of procession: 16th and Constitution at 6:00 P.M.

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The procession begins at 16 th Street and Constitution Avenue with the ceremonial transfer of remains of former President Ronald Reagan from a hearse to a horse-drawn caisson for the processional to the Capitol. The casket transfer will take place at 6 p.m. and caisson continues east with formal military escort.

The public will be able to pay final respects while the remains lie in state in the Capitol rotunda from 7:00 p.m. through Friday, June 11, 2004 at 9:30 a.m.

[dougherty]

The Good Old Days truly disappeared the moment Baroness Thatcher touched the casket. It's over.......What great leaders they were.......

You hit the nail on the head with that one. I never realized until today what a great time the 80s were. I know they are all old now but it hit me like a hammer today that that era is gone forever.

Btw, it was good to see Mulroney as well.

[Jet Jaguar]

Yep! But if you stand too long at attention, you start to feel like you are going to lose it.

You have to shift your weight from one leg to another without being obvious.

[Mo1]

Sounds like a long day .. thank you for sharing with us all. I've been shedding a few tears myself today.

[Torie]

That photo is very moving for me. But then I remember the two at their prime. The iron lady, rather near now her own final exit, attired in a way that mesmerizes the eyes, with those expressive sad eyes, and a beautiful gesture of bowing her head and reaching out to her comrade in arms just one last time, bring tears to my eyes. What a lady!

[Mo1]

They assured the interviewer and the public that any attempt to cross a rope line by any unauathorized person would be dealt with swiftly and harshly

I believe them !

[hedgetrimmer]

Thanks for posting these pictures.

[Torie]

She came in right after Hastert. Dan Quayle and wife I think came in shortly thereafter.

[dougherty]

Thanks for that info. I just wonder what crossed into the minds of those guys as Baroness Thatcher and Mrs. Reagan were next to the casket. If it were me, it would hit me like a ton of bricks that I was witnessing history. In fifty years Ronald Reagan will seem just as mythical as JFK is now.

[Dont Mention the War]

You hit the nail on the head with that one. I never realized until today what a great time the 80s were. I know they are all old now but it hit me like a hammer today that that era is gone forever.

The 80s were a WONDERFUL time to grow up. If only we'd known things would become, by turns, so boring and then so dark.....maybe we would have appreciated those days more when we were living them.

I also got the distinct feeling that the true end of the 20th Century wasn't 9/11. It was today, with Thatcher at the casket.

[hole_n_one]

The iron lady, rather near now her own final exit, attired in a way that mesmerizes the eyes, with those expressive sad eyes, and a beautiful gesture of bowing her head and reaching out to her comrade in arms just one last time, bring tears to my eyes.

It was a moment for the ages.

[dougherty]

LOL

[Boomer Geezer]

Kennedy's funeral was 41 years ago. I will NEVER get the sound of the drumbeat and the horses' hooves out of my head. Reagan's procession was a tribute to a life well lived; Kennedy's to a life cut short. The shock and grief then was overwhelming--a totally different feel to the procession.

I was thinking today as I was watching Pres. Reagan's procession, thoughts similar to yours.

I was a senior in HS for JFK's procession and, like you, the drumbeats still echo in my mind; especially if I see a clip from the Kennedy procession.

But this one, at least for me, is a little different. Though it is sad that someone as great as Pres. Reagan has passed, he shed a life that was well-lived -- although the last 10 years must have been extremely trying for Nancy.

I won't forget watching this procession, hearing the drumbeats, the music; but it already is quite a different experience from the one I remember in November 1963.

{Sorry to butt into your conversation, but I was having similar thoughts all day, and you just struck a chord.}

[Dont Mention the War]

For you knit pickers,

It's not, not knit.

Just a mild nitpick. ;)

[Dont Mention the War]

Erm. NIT! NIT!

[dougherty]

Now that sounds like something Reagan would have said.

[Political Junkie Too]

Dumb question, but does SGT. york have a bandage from recently being castrated?

I'm late to the thread, but my guess is that it was done out of vanity. They probably didn't want certain parts dangling for the crowd. It's probably for the same reason that most dogs on TV shows are female despite being passed off as male.

-PJ

[hole_n_one]

Sweetie, these guys will not tolerate the slightest outburst.

Remember Princess Diana's funeral procession and how the masses were tossing flowers upon the hearse?

In this case, nobody would dare throw a single jelly bean, lest they be.....

[Howlin]

Just beautiful. Luck was with you.