Photo of the Day

the eternal flame

President Kennedy’s eternal flame was relocated in 1967, when his casket was reinterred in its permanent grave located ten yards from the initial burial site.

An ancient symbol of remembrance and national gratitude.

Among religions, a sign of the eternal life of the soul of the departed.

Mrs. Kennedy and her children depart for the Capitol, Nov. 24, 1963.

Jacqueline Kennedy’s desire for an eternal flame at the grave of her husband arose on Sunday, November 24, 1963, two days after his assassination.

The idea came to her as she accompanied his body to the Capitol where it would lie in state in the Rotunda.

The President’s casket arrives at the Capitol.

Mrs. Kennedy had seen an eternal flame at the Paris memorial to the French Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe when she had accompanied her husband on his state visit to France in June 1961.

Mrs. Kennedy at Versailles with French President de Gaulle, June 1, 1961.

The only problem with her request was one of timing.

The President’s funeral would take place on Monday, the 25th.

The eternal flame would have to be in place the very next day.

Military units and early guests arrive at the President’s grave site at Arlington Cemetery on Monday, Nov. 25, 1963.

The overnight task was given to Col. Clayton B. Lyle, a twenty-seven-year veteran of the Army Corps of Engineers.

With no time to design a purpose-built a device, Lyle and his staff scoured electrical shops looking for parts that could work.

And they settled on a propane-fueled tiki torch.

1960s era tiki torch.

They brought one to their workshop and tested it.

And, to their great relief, they found that the tiki torch would continue to burn despite being soaked with water or blown with a blast of air.

They welded simple metal strips together to form a base and added a protective wire mesh dome.

A new burner, igniter, gas and air lines and new safety controls and sensors were installed in 2013.

Overnight, the team installed the torch at the head of the grave site.

A propane tank was placed two hundred yards away.

Copper tubing connecting the torch with the tank was hidden under evergreen branches.

And early on the morning of the funeral, the Army’s Chief Engineer went to Arlington Cemetery to make an assessment.

Completing the 2013 refurbishment of the eternal flame.

From the Chief’s memoirs:

“It was all ready to go.

“As a matter of fact I tested it by lighting it because I didn’t want it to blow up or cough or something on Mrs. Kennedy.

“So I was given the privilege of lighting the first test run.

”And it worked.”

The Kennedy family approaches the grave site, Nov. 25, 1963.

At 3:15 that afternoon, Mrs. Kennedy lit the eternal flame as hundreds of millions of people from around the globe watched on television.

The eternal flame installed at the head of the grave.

In the days which followed, the grave received 50,000 visitors per day.

The President’s initial grave site, June 1964.

The grave had transformed Arlington Cemetery.

The President’s permanent grave site.

What was once a quiet veterans’ cemetery became a somber tourist destination hosting three million visitors a year.

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I’ll see you tomorrow.

— Brenda