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."
The Philippines yesterday said its coast guard would acquire 40 fast patrol craft from France, with plans to deploy some of them in disputed areas of the South China Sea. The deal is the “largest so far single purchase” in Manila’s ongoing effort to modernize its coast guard, with deliveries set to start in four years, Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan told a news conference. He declined to provide specifications for the vessels, which Manila said would cost 25.8 billion pesos (US$440 million), to be funded by development aid from the French government. He said some of the vessels would
BEYOND WASHINGTON: Although historically the US has been the partner of choice for military exercises, Jakarta has been trying to diversify its partners, an analyst said Indonesia’s first joint military drills with Russia this week signal that new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto would seek a bigger role for Jakarta on the world stage as part of a significant foreign policy shift, analysts said. Indonesia has long maintained a neutral foreign policy and refuses to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or US-China rivalry, but Prabowo has called for stronger ties with Moscow despite Western pressure on Jakarta. “It is part of a broader agenda to elevate ties with whomever it may be, regardless of their geopolitical bloc, as long as there is a benefit for Indonesia,” said Pieter
US ELECTION: Polls show that the result is likely to be historically tight. However, a recent Iowa poll showed Harris winning the state that Trump won in 2016 and 2020 US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris courted voters angered by the Gaza war while former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump doubled down on violent rhetoric with a comment about journalists being shot as the tense US election campaign entered its final hours. The Democratic vice president and the Republican former president frantically blitzed several swing states as they tried to win over the last holdouts with less than 36 hours left until polls open on election day today. Trump predicted a “landslide,” while Harris told a raucous rally in must-win Michigan that “we have momentum — it’s
CARGO PLANE VECTOR: Officials said they believe that attacks involving incendiary devices on planes was the work of Russia’s military intelligence agency the GRU Western security officials suspect Russian intelligence was behind a plot to put incendiary devices in packages on cargo planes headed to North America, including one that caught fire at a courier hub in Germany and another that ignited in a warehouse in England. Poland last month said that it had arrested four people suspected to be linked to a foreign intelligence operation that carried out sabotage and was searching for two others. Lithuania’s prosecutor general Nida Grunskiene on Tuesday said that there were an unspecified number of people detained in several countries, offering no elaboration. The events come as Western officials say
RSS