Nancy Reagan touched her cheek to the flag-covered casket, then made way for people by the thousands to pay respects to former US president Ronald Reagan before a cross-country journey to a state funeral in Washington.
A steady, near-silent stream of people -- some saluting, some praying -- on Monday circled through the rotunda of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where the body of the nation's 40th president was to lie in repose until yesterday before traveling to Washington. After Friday's state funeral, the body will return to California for a hilltop burial service at sunset.
PHOTO: REUTERS
A Marine Corps band played "Hail to the Chief" as eight armed forces members carried the casket into the presidential library past a 3m-tall sculpture titled After the Ride depicting Reagan as a smiling cowboy with a Stetson in his hand.
The journey began at a Santa Monica funeral home, where the mahogany casket was placed aboard a hearse for a 65km drive to the library in Simi Valley.
Clusters of people watched from overpasses and roadsides as the motorcade headed north, then west on the Ronald Reagan Freeway, its path cleared by motorcycle officers. One banner hung along the route declared, "God bless you Ronald & Nancy." Another proclaimed, "God bless the Gipper."
Flags at half-staff fluttered under an overcast sky as the casket was carried into the library rotunda before a brief family service.
"As we were in procession, I couldn't help but think of the love and the outpouring that has begun in the nation for a great president, a great world leader and a faithful servant of almighty God," said the Reverend Michael Wenning, retired senior pastor at Bel Air Presbyterian Church, where Reagan had worshipped.
When the service ended, Nancy. Reagan, dressed in a black suit and pearls, walked to the casket, placing her left cheek against the flag's field of stars. Her daughter, Patti Davis, hugged her tightly and other family members joined them, placing hands on the casket.
Soon after the family departed, the first of many chartered buses arrived, bringing members of the public who had been waiting -- in some cases for hours -- for a chance to pay respects to Reagan, who died on Saturday after a 10-year struggle with Alzheimer's disease.
More than 16,000 people had passed by the casket since noon, said Melissa Giller, chief of staff for the library foundation. The library had prepared for 2,000 visitors per hour for 30 hours. Twenty-seven buses shuttled mourners about 8km from a college, which was shut down to provide parking.
Mourners stood quietly in line as they waited to enter the library, then moved rapidly past the casket flanked by an honor guard representing all branches of the military. Some people carried carnations or tiny US flags; dress ranged from dark suits and ties to Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses.
Others attending the service at the library included Reagan's son, Michael, and his family; Dennis Revell, husband of Reagan's late daughter Maureen; and Merv Griffin, the veteran entertainer and family friend.
The former president's body is to be flown today to Washington, DC. Following a ceremony tonight in the Capitol Rotunda, the body will lie in state there.
Friday will be a national day of mourning. The state funeral will be held at Washington National Cathedral; US President George W. Bush will deliver a eulogy and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev will be among the mourners.
The body will then be returned to Reagan's library in Simi Valley for a private burial service on Friday evening. Reagan will be buried in a crypt beneath a memorial site at the library 75km north of Los Angeles.
Praise for Reagan, and condolences to his family, streamed in from across the world. In a jarring contrast, a Cuban government radio station assailed Reagan's policies and said he "never should have been born."
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
RSS