State funerals...question
 

I really don't want this to sound morbid or disrespectful because it's not meant to be. My coworkers and I were talking today about how we wondered if Reagan's body really was in that casket the whole time. I'm not saying we think he's not dead or anything like that. It's just that that is a lot of flying and moving from California to Washington and back to California.
Any thoughts?

I'm sure that there's a cold storage area of the plane where the casket is kept.

I'm not sure that it matters one way or the other.

No, I don't think it does matter. It was just a curiosity thing.
My exboyfriend used to tell me I was nosy and I'd say "nope, just curious" and then I'd say "Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back."

Does anyone know what denomination that chapel is? We're watching a bit of the funeral at work and we noticed that it seems that a representative of each denomination has a part in the service...we weren't sure if the chapel had one specific denomination or what.

The National Cathedral is an Episopal Cathedral, but due to it's place in DC (and tradition with the Presidency...I don't know why or how that started), whenever there is a big service they have different representatives there.

That's just from what I've seen. I'll email my hubby, who knows more about it than I do.

PsychTau

I'm listening on the radio at work. If it's at the National Cathedral, it's Protestant Episcopal.

Our secretary said she thought it was Episcopalian, but we just weren't sure.

Thanks!

Last night, they were talking about how the National Cathedral is Episcopal, but the service was going to be ecumenical. President Reagan was Church of Christ, but Nancy is Presbyterian. I have no idea what their children are.

I loved Isaiah 40, which Rabbi Kushner read.

This is what my husband said (who knows more about the Cathedral than I do):

The Episcopal church runs and I believe owns the land, offers Episcopal services but other denominations hold services at the National Cathedral as well.


PsychTau

The Cathedral is owned by the Episcopal Church and holds services there, but allows other denominations to hold services there as well. The Church receives no federal or "state" funding it relies on their own funds and private donations.

cosign The "Washington" National Cathedralis an episcopal church. Its beauftiful inside, If you are in the dc area go on the tour. The National Cathedral is also the home of two schools The National Cathedral School for Girls and the St. Albans school for Boys. It also took like 80 years to build.
more info at www.cathedral.org


Also many people confuse the Washington National Cathedral with the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immacualte Conception also at times called the National Cathedral. The Basilica or Cathedral sits on the campus of the Catholic University of America.

more info at www.nationalshrineinteractive.com/

Hooray for saying the same thing 10 times!

Everyone just has to have the last word, huh?

On a semi-related note, has anyone ever attended a burial at Arlington?

Such a bizatch you are. Tell me why was I thinking the same thing?

I've "been" to a service and burial at Arlington but unfortunately I don't remember any of it. One of my dad's old buddies from his days in the Army was buried there, and we went to his service when I was 5.

I love your new location, btw.

Re: State funerals...question
 

President Reagan's body was embalmed and casket already been sealed before it left the funeral home. Generally, in U.S. state funerals, the casket is always kept closed.

On SAM 28000 (the call sign for the VC-25A (Boeing 747) presidential aircraft) there's plenty of room on the main deck to find a secure location for the casket. (The USAF learned the hard way back during JFK's assassination - the rear section of SAM 26000 (a Boeing 707-300) had to have a couple of rows of seats and partitions removed to allow transportation of JFK's casket.) While the exact interior configuration of the Presidential aircraft is - for obvious reasons - classified, there is a staff conference room area aboard the plane that can be easily modified to allow carriage of a casket and permit Mrs. Reagan a private place to be with her husband.

If you want to know the basic information on how state funerals are performed, the following might be interesting reading:

Department of the Army Pamphlet 1-1: State, Official and Special Military Funerals (Adobe PDF)