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deadpresidents · 10 months

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Burial At Sea: The Odyssey of JFK's Original Casket

It was approximately 1:00 PM when a man called Vernon B. O'Neal of O'Neal's Funeral Home and asked for the best casket that O'Neal had available. The man on the phone, simultaneously calm and tense, needed the coffin quickly and O'Neal had a slight problem. Of the 18 people who worked at O'Neal's Funeral Home, 17 of them were out to lunch. After all, it was a beautiful Friday day for November in Texas.

O'Neal picked out a solid-bronze coffin with white satin lining tagged at a sales price of $3,995 from his storeroom and waited for three more of his employees to return from lunch. The bulky Handley Brittania casket from the Elgin Casket Company weighed over 400 pounds when it was empty and O'Neal certainly couldn't lift it into his Cadillac hearse by himself. Once he had it loaded, he rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital on the most important delivery of his career.

The man who had ordered the casket, Clint Hill, was a Secret Service agent and less than an hour earlier he had climbed on to the back of a moving limousine to try to get to the subject he was charged to protect. He was unsuccessful. The casket was for the President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

When the casket arrived at Parkland Hospital, O'Neal was met by agents from the Secret Service and some of President Kennedy's aides. They helped O'Neal push the coffin into the hospital and down a corridor towards Trauma Room One where the President had been officially pronounced dead just minutes earlier. One of the President's aides and the doctor who had just worked on Kennedy tried to distract the President's grieving wife so that she wasn't anguished further by the sight of the coffin that her now-dead husband was about to be placed in.

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy refused to turn away and begged to be let into the Trauma Room to see her husband once more. The doctor didn't want her to see anything else, but Jackie insisted, telling the doctor "How can I see anything worse than what I've seen?" and pointing out that "His blood is all over me!" The doctor let her in the Trauma Room as O'Neal wheeled the casket inside and she placed her wedding ring on JFK's finger before retreating back to the outer hallway once again.

Vernon O'Neal was horrified when he saw the condition of the President's body. Blood was everywhere and a gaping wound exposed brain matter which was seeping out of John F. Kennedy's head. Not wanting to damage the beautiful and expensive casket that he had picked out for the President, O'Neal and several emergency room nurses went to work. The bottom of the inside of the coffin was lined with a plastic mattress covering and the President's body was wrapped in a bed sheet. The nurses went even further and spent 20 minutes carefully wrapping President Kennedy's head in numerous white bed sheets so that blood didn't seep through and stain the lining of the casket.

After Kennedy's body was placed in the coffin, preparations were made to leave Parkland Hospital and take the President back to Air Force One at Dallas's Love Field so that they could transport him back to Washington, D.C. As the Secret Service and the President's aides (many of whom were longtime, close friends of JFK) wheeled his casket towards the exit, they were stopped by Dr. Earl Rose, the medical examiner for Dallas County, Texas. In 1963, it was not a federal crime to kill the President of the United States. Because of this, there was no federal jurisdiction for John F. Kennedy's murder -- only local. Despite tsxxxshe scale of the crime to the nation, it was technically just another murder in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963 (because of the laws at the time, on a purely legal basis, the murder of Dallas police offer J.D. Tippit about 45 minutes after Kennedy's shooting was a far more serious crime than the President's assassination). Because of this, Dr. Rose informed the men escorting the President's body that they needed to leave it in Dallas. Rose noted that he needed to autopsy the body before they took it anywhere. To Dr. Rose, a homicide victim was a homicide victim and he had a job to do.

The Secret Service was incredulous and President Kennedy's loyal aides were even angrier. In the corridor of Parkland Memorial Hospital, things got tense. Rose found himself in a shouting match with the Secret Service and some of Kennedy's aides. Even the doctors at Parkland sided with the Secret Service and pleaded with Rose to release the body so that they could take the President back to Washington. A justice of the peace arrived, with the power to overrule the medical examiner. But he didn't. The justice of the peace said that Kennedy would have to be autopsied in Dallas and ensured the Secret Service that it wouldn't take any more than three hours.

Again, tempers flared and the men in the hallway at Parkland were close to fisticuffs as the medical examiner, Dr. Rose, literally blocked the casket's path with his body in order to keep it inside the hospital. When the President's close aide, Kenny O'Donnell, appealed to the medical examiner and the justice of the peace for compassion for Jackie Kennedy and an exception for this case so that they could return the dead President to Washington and get Jackie out of Texas as quickly as possible, the justice of the peace, Theron Ward, refused.

"It's just another homicide as far as I'm concerned," said the justice of the peace.

O'Donnell lost his temper, "Go fuck yourself! We're leaving. Get the hell out of the way."

With that, the Secret Service and all the President's men pushed forward. The medical examiner, the justice of the peace, and several Dallas policemen were forcibly shoved out of the way by Secret Service agents who were ready to draw their guns, if necessary. Jackie Kennedy was close by, her hand softly guiding the President's bronze casket as it was removed from the hospital and placed in the hearse which raced en route to Love Field and Air Force One.

When the entourage arrived at Air Force One, they found a plane completely encircled by heavily armed Secret Service agents. The plane’s powerful engines were running, ready to lift off at any moment and push Dallas and everything that happened there behind them as quickly as possible. Fearing the unknown and suspecting a possible conspiracy to decapitate the entire government, the shades were drawn down over the windows throughout the aircraft in order to protect against any further possible attacks. On the plane was Lyndon Johnson, soon-to-be sworn in as the 36th President of the United States, and awaiting the arrival of Jackie and the body of the deceased President. The Secret Service and the President's aides struggled with the extraordinarily heavy casket as they maneuvered it up the steps to Air Foce One and into a holding area in the back of the plane cleared out by removing two rows of seats.

Jackie remained with President Kennedy's casket from almost the entire time she boarded Air Force One until it landed at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington. The only exception was prior to the plane taking off from Dallas when she stood -- still wearing her blood-stained pink Chanel dress -- on one side of Lyndon Johnson as he took the oath of office as the new President, his hand resting on JFK's book of Catholic missals, which had been found in JFK's private cabin by aides rummaging for a Bible for the oath-taking ceremony.

For four hours, Air Force One flew in a dark cloud of sadness towards the nation's capital. New President Johnson made numerous phone calls, including calls to the slain President's mother, Rose, and brother, the Attorney General Bobby Kennedy. In flight, LBJ also hastily made preparations for meetings upon landing in Washington. In the back of the plane, a silent vigil was held around John F. Kennedy's casket by Jackie and the President's aides, who were so close to Kennedy that they were often referred to as the "Irish Mafia".

President Kennedy's personal physician, Admiral George Burkley, suggested to Jackie that JFK's body be taken to Bethesda Naval Hospital upon arrival in Washington for the autopsy. Jackie showed great compassion herself on that terrible flight. She insisted that Bill Greer drive the vehicle carrying the President's casket to Bethesda. Greer was grief-stricken and apologetic during the flight because he had been driving JFK's limousine in Dallas and made no attempt to speed up or take evasive maneuvers when shots were first fired. Greer felt partly responsible for President Kennedy's death and Jackie wanted to show her confidence and appreciation in his service to her late husband.

When Air Force One arrived at Andrews Air Force Base after dark on November 22, 1963, Bobby Kennedy rushed on to the plane and directly to Jackie to comfort his sister-in-law, blowing past President Johnson and snubbing LBJ as the new President attempted to offer his condolences to JFK’s devastated brother. The dead President's aides and Secret Service detail rebuffed a military casket team who arrived to remove the President's coffin from the plane. Instead they formed a personal honor guard and handled Kennedy’s casket themselves, awkwardly placing it on to a catering lift and lowering it to the ground so that they could place it in a waiting Navy ambulance from Bethesda. Jackie, with her husband's blood still clearly visible on her bare legs, and Bobby climbed into the back of the ambulance with JFK's casket and drove straight to Bethesda as President Johnson made a statement for the millions of Americans watching the arrival ceremony on live television.

The motorcade transporting the body of President John F. Kennedy from Andrews Air Force Base to Bethesda Naval Hospital for his autopsy arrived right around the same time that President Lyndon Johnson's helicopter landed on the South Lawn of the White House from Andrews so that the new President could take the reins of the government of a nation in shock. As trusted members of his "Irish Mafia" helped to remove Kennedy's casket from the Navy ambulance, Jackie Kennedy and RFK headed upstairs at Bethesda where private suites were set aside for their comfort and friends and family were waiting to help with the comforting.

Across town, the new President prepared to charge into his new duties. During the flight home from Dallas, Lyndon Johnson had summoned Cabinet members, diplomats, Members of Congress, current White House aides, former White House aides, and anybody else who had any inkling of what powered the Executive Branch, to meet him at the White House upon his arrival for consultation, directions, and mutual support. Upon arriving at the White House, Johnson briefly spent a moment by himself in the Oval Office before leaving and walking with aides to the neighboring Old Executive Office Building. LBJ didn't feel right with immediately setting up shop in the Oval Office just hours after President Kennedy's death. Instead, Johnson decided to use his Vice Presidential office in the OEOB for the meetings he planned on holding that night.

Before those meetings began, however, President Johnson took a moment for a brief pause in his frenetic assumption of the Presidency. Requesting a few minutes of privacy, LBJ sat down at his desk in the OEOB and wrote two short letters which became the first pieces of correspondence of the Johnson Administration -- letters which the young recipients couldn't even read yet:

"Dear John--It will be many years before you understand fully what a great man your father was. His loss is a deep personal tragedy for all of us, but I wanted you particularly to know that I share your grief--You can always be proud of him. Affectionately, Lyndon Johnson" "Dearest Caroline--Your father's death has been a great tragedy for the Nation, as well as for you at this time. He was a wise and devoted man. You can always be proud of what he did for his country. Affectionately, Lyndon Johnson"

The casket containing the father of those two young children had been wheeled into the hallways leading to Bethesda Naval Hospital's morgue. Despite the fact that this was being done in a completely secure, private, inner sanctum of the famed military hospital, the casket was that of a man who had started the day as Commander-in-Chief of the United States Military. Out of respect and duty, an honor guard lifted the coffin from a gurney and carried it through the halls and into the brightly-lit, antiseptic autopsy room where doctors prepared to examine the lifeless body of the 35th President of the United States.

When President Kennedy's casket was opened, it became readily apparent that the hard work of Vernon O'Neal and the nurses at Parkland Hospital in Dallas to protect the inside of the expensive coffin was unsuccessful. The makeshift bandage which had been carefully wrapped around Kennedy's head did not prevent seepage after all. Blood soaked through the sheets which made up the "bandage" and the inner lining of Kennedy's ornate casket was obviously damaged. It was a surreal, eerie sight in the autopsy room as John F. Kennedy was removed from his coffin and placed on the stainless steel autopsy table at Bethesda. The 35th President was naked and seemed to be in remarkably good physical condition for a 46-year-old man who was known to suffer from serious health problems. Most shocking for those in the room during the autopsy, however, was the fact that this seemingly young and vital President who had inspired a new generation was now very much dead with a massive gunshot wound to the head that exposed the part of his brain still contained within it and left the top of his skull jaggedly disfigured with missing pieces of bone and flesh. Kennedy's eyes were fixed open, staring vacantly into space with dilated pupils that could no longer envision ambitious goals for his nation. The mouth which formed his famous words, framed his most inspirational messages, and spoke that unmistakable Boston accent now hung open, forever silenced and permanently paralyzed in a final expression which seemed to mirror the mood of the entire country: a combination of shock, pain, horror, and perplexity.

The pathologists who performed John F. Kennedy’s autopsy finished their work shortly after midnight on November 23, 1963. Photographs and drawings were taken of Kennedy’s body during the autopsy, and when the autopsy was finished, morticians from one of the capital’s finest funeral parlors arrived on the scene. A team from Gawler’s Funeral Home entered the autopsy room at Bethesda Naval Hospital to embalm the President and attempt to make him presentable. The casket that brought JFK back to Washington from Dallas would not work. While the casket from O’Neal’s was a beauty from the exterior, the interior was a mess. All of the safeguards attempted by O’Neal and the Parkland nurses in Dallas were not quite enough to protect the inside of the Handley Brittania from the gruesome wound that had killed the President.

The question many might have is why would there be such a need to make John F. Kennedy’s remains presentable when JFK was obviously in no condition to be viewed? Why couldn’t they simply close that beautiful Handley Brittania casket that was purchased in Dallas and bury Kennedy in the container which carried him back to Washington?

At the orders of Jackie Kennedy, aides went to the Library of Congress in the hours after President Kennedy’s body returned to Washington, D.C. and researched the historic, iconic, epic state funeral of Abraham Lincoln – the first American President to be assassinated, almost exactly a century earlier. Kennedy’s funeral preparations would be steeped in tradition and either perfectly replicate or closely mirror the funerals of other fallen American Presidents including Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. As information about these past Presidential funerals (along with the funerals of famous Congressional and military leaders throughout United States history) was brought forward, one constant was apparent: in almost every case, the fallen leader was viewed by a grieving public in an open casket display. For many Americans, streaming past the open casket of a former President or American military hero was an opportunity to pay tribute, look upon the face of a fallen hero, and find closure in another storied chapter of American History.

Yet, as much as Jackie wished to replicate Lincoln’s funeral, she was dismayed at the thought of an open casket for John F. Kennedy. Jackie had seen what the assassin’s bullet had done to her husband. As Kennedy’s motorcade raced to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas minutes after the shooting, Jackie wouldn’t allow doctors and Secret Service agents to remove President Kennedy’s body from the limousine until an agent covered Kennedy’s head with his suit jacket, shielded the President from the view of others, and preserved some of the dignity that was so important to the Kennedy image. As the morticians from Gawler’s worked on JFK, Jackie once again expressed her wish that her husband’s coffin would be closed. Bobby Kennedy, however, didn’t think that the decision was up to the family. RFK felt strongly that JFK belonged to the people, too, and that the American people would want their opportunity to say goodbye.

Following his assassination in 1865, Abraham Lincoln’s remains embarked on an epic, 20-day-long train trip that retraced the route he took to Washington in 1861 prior to his Inauguration. In major cities throughout the Northeast and Upper Midwest, hundreds of thousands of Americans turned out to pay their respects to their “martyred” President. Embalming was a relatively newly-mastered American art at the time of Lincoln’s death – a technique which had been much-improved upon and much-practiced during the Civil War when young men frequently died far from home and families looked to preserve their fallen loved ones so that they could have one last look at them before they were laid to rest.

However, even today, embalming can’t guarantee perfect preservation for an extended amount of time. In 1865, there were definitely some worries about Lincoln’s extended, national funeral. After all, the warm weather of spring had started throughout the United States and Lincoln would be honored with open casket viewings by Americans in well over a dozen cities between Washington, D.C. and Springfield, Illinois in the twenty days after his death. Some people worried whether it was appropriate to view Lincoln’s corpse at all considering the fact that he had died from a gunshot wound to the head. Lincoln’s wound was far less devastating visually than Kennedy’s. The bullet that killed Lincoln had entered his brain, but did not exit Lincoln’s skull. The only damage visible was a black eye from bruising of the facial bones close to where John Wilkes Booth’s bullet had lodged in Lincoln’s brain. Undertakers accompanied Lincoln’s body on the funeral train back to Springfield and as time passed, they certainly became necessary. Lincoln’s face blackened considerably by the time his remains reached Springfield – partly from the facial bruising, partly from the dirt and dust of twenty days exposure to the elements, but also partly due to the beginning stages of decomposition. At some cities, the undertakers who accompanied Lincoln home would brush his face with chalk to make him more presentable to the citizens who came to pay their respects. In a few cities, it also became necessary to surround Lincoln’s casket with fragrant flowers and spray the area with heavy perfumes for reasons that I’m sure aren’t too difficult to surmise.

John F. Kennedy was not going to be viewed by the public for twenty days in over a dozen cities throughout the country and the funeral industry had made even larger strides in the century since Lincoln’s death. However, JFK was severely disfigured by the bullet that killed him. Unlike in Lincoln’s case, the bullet that tore through Kennedy’s skull and brain also exited his head, causing major damage that would be difficult for even the most-skilled mortician to disguise. The team from Gawler’s were perhaps the best in the business, but it wasn’t simply a matter of brushing some chalk or cosmetic makeup on Kennedy’s face to cover up some bruising or minor discoloration. Entire pieces of JFK’s skull were missing and parts of the President’s head needed to be synthetically reconstructed. The morticians also had to pack his skull with cotton and Plaster of Paris in the place of his brain -- parts of which were removed during the autopsy and other parts of which were in countless places including (but not limited to) the fabric of his wife’s Pink Chanel dress, the windshields of the motorcycle cops escorting his motorcade in Dallas, the backseat and trunk of his limousine, and all over Dealey Plaza in Dallas.

The mortuary team from Gawler’s took over three hours to work on President Kennedy, clean him up, dress him (in a bluish-gray pinstriped suit with a white shirt, black shoes, and blue tie with dots), place him in a brand-new casket and put a rosary in the hands of the nation’s only Catholic President. A little after 4:00 AM, President Kennedy, his widow and Bobby Kennedy arrived at the White House after a solemn motorcade through the darkened streets of Washington. In the first nod to Lincoln’s funeral, JFK’s flag-draped casket was carried by an honor guard into the East Room of the White House and placed on a replica of the black catafalque that Lincoln’s coffin once rested on. After Kennedy’s casket was situated in the East Room, Jackie Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy entered the room and asked that the lid be opened. Both Jackie and Bobby were exhausted and emotionally drained, and Jackie was still wearing the Pink Chanel dress that she had cradled her dying husband’s head in. The front of her dress was smeared with the dried blood and brain matter of the President. As ghastly as the sight was, Jackie continually refused to change, noting that she wanted everyone to see what “they” did to her husband. As the casket lid was opened, Jackie snipped a lock of her husband’s hair with scissors and turned to Bobby, saying, “It isn’t Jack” – once again alluding to her wish that the casket remain closed.

Jackie left the East Room and headed upstairs to the White House Residence to finally change her clothes and attempt to sleep. In the East Room, Bobby remained near his brother’s coffin with a couple of friends, close aides, and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. The stoic RFK – always much tougher than his older brother – was a wreck by this point, after attempting to stay strong and supportive throughout the night for his stunned sister-in-law. Bobby had not yet looked at JFK’s remains. To finally make the decision about whether or not JFK would have an open casket, RFK took a look at his brother’s face. When he saw Jack in the coffin, RFK immediately agreed with Jackie’s feelings, “She’s right. Close it.” While the team from Gawler’s had done an admirable job of repairing the massive trauma to the President’s head, JFK was virtually unrecognizable as the man he once was. To those who saw his body as the casket was briefly open in the East Room early that morning, it was apparent that the American people wouldn’t want to remember their fallen President in that way – as if he were a wax museum knock-off of the real John F. Kennedy. The funeral ceremonies over the next few days would all be closed casket and the nation would remember JFK as the young, lively, inspirational President that he had been for so many Americans.

••• Since the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, there have been so many unanswered questions and theories and allegations. Many are the result of sloppy work on behalf of the government in the hours following the shooting, during the autopsy, after the autopsy, and in the failure to protect the suspected assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, as he was being transferred to a new facility to face charges of murdering President Kennedy and Dallas Police Office J.D. Tippit. Evidence has been lost or misplaced, and some records remain sealed until 2017 – 54 years after the assassination and 100 years after JFK’s birth.

There is one aspect of this story that received some closure, however, and that is what happened to JFK’s original casket – the expensive Handley Brittania coffin that Clint Hill ordered from Vernon O’Neal’s Funeral Home in Dallas in the hectic minutes after President Kennedy was pronounced dead.

After JFK’s autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital and the hard work by the mortuary team from Gawler’s Funeral Home to make him presentable, President Kennedy couldn’t be placed back in the beautiful but bloodstained bronze coffin that had carried him home from Texas. Gawler’s had brought with them to Bethesda another elegant casket fit for a President – a $3,160 Marsellus 710 coffin that was crafted from “hand-rubbed, five-hundred-year-old African mahogany”. It was that flag-draped casket from Gawler’s that John F. Kennedy, Jr. saluted and Americans saw being laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery.

The history of Vernon O’Neal’s casket did not end that night at Bethesda when President Kennedy was transferred to a different coffin. Gawler’s Funeral Home took possession of JFK’s original casket after they placed him in the undamaged casket that their mortuary team had brought to Bethesda Naval Hospital following Kennedy’s autopsy. Whether it was as a morbid souvenir or simply due to confusion about what to do with it, Gawler’s stored JFK’s original coffin in a warehouse in Washington, D.C. In January 1964, less than two months after JFK’s burial, Vernon O’Neal submitted a bill to the federal government for $3,995 for the casket that Secret Service Agent Clint Hill ordered in Dallas and JFK was transported to Washington in.

The government felt that O’Neal’s bill was “excessive”, particularly since he had merely delivered the casket to Parkland Hospital in Dallas and had not performed any other funeral services such as embalming, chapel services or transportation of mourners. O’Neal lowered the price by $500, but the government still had an issue with the $3,495 price tag. What Vernon O’Neal actually wanted was the casket itself. O’Neal had received offers of $100,000 by parties interested in collecting and displaying the casket as a unique relic of the slain President. For the Kennedy Family – still reeling from the assassination and its aftermath – the last thing they wanted was a spectacle surrounding a bloodstained coffin that JFK had spent just a few hours in. At the family’s urging, the federal government paid O’Neal (he received $3,160 for his services on November 22, 1963) and the General Services Administration took possession of the object in 1965.

In September 1965, the House of Representatives passed a bill which required the government to preserve any objects related to the Kennedy Assassination which might contain evidentiary value. Several days later, Representative Earle Cabell from Texas sent a letter to Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach (who had replaced Bobby Kennedy at the Justice Department a year earlier). In his letter, Congressman Cabell suggested that the casket had no value for anyone other than “the morbidly curious”. Since the Kennedy Family “did not see fit to use this particular casket in the ultimate interment of the body”, Cabell felt that it was “surplus” material owned and controlled by the federal government. To shut down those who might be “morbidly curious”, Cabell recommended that the casket “be declared the proper property of the USA and, as such and in keeping with the best interest of the country, be destroyed.”

The Kennedy Family agreed with Congressman Cabell’s sentiments and Attorney General Katzenbach ensured everyone that the casket had no evidentiary value, no good reason for display or storage, and that it was the property that the government had the right to dispose of in whichever way it sought fit. On February 18, 1966, several members of the Air Force picked the casket up from a secure building at the National Archives just a few blocks from the White House. The casket was placed in an Air Force truck and transported to Andrews Air Force Base – the very place that the casket had originally landed in Washington with President Kennedy inside of it less than three years earlier. At Andrews, the Air Force team from the 93rd Air Terminal Squadron loaded the coffin on to a C130 transport plane.

To dispose of the casket, the Air Force had decided to take it to a place that JFK had once considered being buried: the Atlantic Ocean. Kennedy loved the sea and was said to have considered being buried at sea when he died. Of course, we know that Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery instead, but for many reasons, the Atlantic Ocean was the perfect place for the disposal of the casket that had brought him back to Washington following his assassination.

The Air Force wanted to ensure the integrity of the casket and not allow it to become a souvenir by someone who happened to come across it floating in the ocean or washing up on the shore. The C130 flew about 100 miles east of Washington, D.C. and descended to about 500 feet above the water. Before taking off, the Air Force had drilled over 40 holes into the casket and filled it with three 80-pound sandbags. It was also secured inside of a wooden crate and sealed shut in a manner so that it wouldn’t break apart upon hitting the water.

At approximately 10:00 AM, the C130’s tail hatch was opened and the casket was pushed out of the aircraft. Parachutes softened its fall and the coffin began to sink instantly. The airplane circled the drop zone for about 20 minutes to make sure that the coffin didn’t resurface, but they had no reason to worry. The Air Force had chosen an area of the Atlantic that saw very little air or sea traffic, and the casket settled in about 9,000 feet of water. The Kennedy Family was relieved that they no longer had to worry about a bloody casket going on display somewhere for the “morbidly curious”.

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if-you-fan-a-fire · 3 months

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"[David] Dellinger meanwhile continued to speak out against the war, riding the rails and hitchhiking as needed to reach whoever would listen. In delivering an antiwar speech to a Christian student conference in Ohio over the Christmas break of 1941–42, he had met lively, twenty-one-year-old Elizabeth Peterson, a minister’s daughter known as Betty, whom he would quickly marry. Both were radical Christians with a demonstrated commitment to activism. And despite two brothers in the armed forces, Betty was a pacifist. “David was my ideal,” she recalled years later.

He believed in voluntary poverty, which was something I was coming to after working in a migrant camp one summer. And he believed in communal living, which I felt was closer to the original idea of Christian living.

She could not possibly have known what she was in for, yet despite years of trials their marriage would endure. It did so despite the burdens of five children, the lack of money, the notoriety, David’s protracted absences, and infidelities by both parties. It endured even though, as Betty later told an interviewer, “I was not active in David’s causes.” It even survived a period of separation late in life, when decades of accumulated grievances and rising feminist consciousness drove her to explore living apart. David, too, came to feminism as time went by, but in 1941 it wasn’t a paramount concern. He was, with his fellow male radicals, the creature of an era when only a quarter of women worked outside the home, and ideas about gender roles were different. It’s not clear that Betty had any more feminist consciousness in those days than he did. She could not know the fullness of the future when she got married, and she knew relatively little about her fiancé when they were wed. She likely knew nothing of his bisexuality and was even ignorant of his family background:

He hid a lot from me before we got married. I didn’t know he’d gone to Yale. I didn’t know his family was very well off. I was mending his pants the day before we got married because there was a hole in the knee.

But she knew he was a draft resister, and that his continued resistance meant another arrest was likely. He’d already told her how, hitchhiking west for his own wedding in Seattle, the police had arrested him in the Sierra Nevada mountains because they thought he had helped steal the car he was riding in. He was innocent, of course, but, worried about his lack of a draft card, decided to risk escaping through the window, which involved leaping onto a nearby fire escape. Still athletic, he managed to get away. Once married, he and Betty took a bus to Salt Lake City (in order to disguise their real transportation plans from her parents) and then hitchhiked the rest of the way across the country, including a stop in Chicago to visit Union Eight chums. They covered the last few miles on foot, suitcases in hand, arriving at the ashram exhausted. Betty had never been east of Detroit, never stayed in a hotel or motel, never hitchhiked. Years later she called the journey “traumatic.” As a newlywed, she now had the communal living she would later say she had wished for. “It was quite a cultural shock,” she said. There was little privacy, and a bunch of people with whom to work out household chores such as cooking, cleaning, and maintaining the building, not to mention all the other exigencies of group living. But there was also teamwork on the ashram’s outreach programs and cooperative store, among many other ventures. Dave for a while worked the graveyard shift five nights a week at a big commercial bakery to bring in money. Dallas and Benedict worked there, too (but the latter soon moved on to a similar project in Detroit). Dellinger insisted on being paid in cash so as not to contribute to the war effort through his taxes, a policy he would follow for the rest of his working life.

Life at the ashram wasn’t easy for women, especially for Betty. “She was the most fragile of the group,” Henry Harvey, who lived at the ashram at the time, observed in a 1988 interview. Harvey was a pacifist and Union Theological alumnus whose mother was first cousin to the secretary of war, Henry Stimson. Evidently young Harvey came from money; he and fellow Union student Francis Hall had put up $1,000 each to buy the house, according to Willa Winter. Told that Betty was still married to Dellinger after all those years, the elderly Harvey said with a laugh: “She’s a lot tougher than I thought.” Betty’s focus was homemaking, she would recall, and there was plenty of it to do. Draft resisters slept on floors and sofas, antiwar meetings were held, and supporters including Dorothy Day came out from the city. “We were deluged with visitors,” Dellinger writes, many of them staying for days or weeks. Among residents, there was continual turnover. The ashram was a well-known center for draft resisters and their supporters, and as the war progressed the FBI hauled away one resister after another. Virtually all the men present—and of course their loved ones—lived under the cloud of future arrest. “Every man there was either on his way from prison or on his way to prison,” Betty recalled. “Every woman there was related to one of these men and had that sense of never knowing when it was going to happen…There was quite a bit of anxiety.” Sutherland was arrested at the ashram in July of 1942. Benedict was picked up in Detroit in 1943 and would serve a second, personally quite consequential prison term at Danbury. Dallas, too, would be back in custody before long. “The FBI was always floating around,” he recalled years later. “It got so we could spot them anywhere.”

Dave and Betty knew his time was coming, but he didn’t lay low or move far away. On the contrary. In the first few months of 1942, by which time his father was chairman of the Boston United War Fund, Dellinger had joined the War Resisters League in a move emblematic of his increasingly secular radicalism. He would be joined there by many of his fellow war resisters, who were eventually to take over the place. Meanwhile he launched his own miniature antiwar organization, the People’s Peace Now Committee, which conducted small public protests against the war that all parties were prosecuting with such terrible ferocity around the world. Prospects for peace seemed to grow worse in January of 1943, when FDR was flown secretly to a conference with Winston Churchill in Casablanca. After the meetings, Roosevelt made public a notion previously discussed among the Allies privately: that they would require from the Axis powers “unconditional surrender” in order to end the war. The news dismayed pacifists, who hoped that a negotiated end to the fighting might save countless lives. The People’s Peace Now campaign held small protests in Newark and outside the Capitol in Washington. “Month after month the peoples of Europe and Asia are being shattered by mass bombing raids, deliberate starvation and total war,” said a leaflet from Dellinger’s group. In a poke to the eye of Selective Service authorities, the leaflet added: “Peaceful Americans have been conscripted to help commit these acts of destruction.”

On April 6, 1943, the twenty-sixth anniversary of U.S. entry into the previous world war, Betty and David attended a Peace Now protest in Washington, outside the Capitol, where they distributed leaflets saying that “Truth and Brotherhood will not be helped by Unconditional Surrender.” The flyers predicted Hitler’s overthrow by the German people and called for an end to anti-Semitism, Jim Crow, and colonial exploitation. (Police confiscated leaflets and signs but made no arrests.) Dellinger attended other antiwar events as well, each time putting himself further at risk. He and Betty, knowing what was ahead, decided quite deliberately to have a baby. Betty’s first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage, but she managed to conceive again.

The whole time, her husband had been engaged in a tussle with his local draft board, which conscripted him just a month after his release from prison on the basis of the registration form completed on his behalf—and against his will—by Danbury’s warden. After ignoring a series of official notices, Dellinger finally wrote back explaining his religious objections to war and pointing out that he’d already served a prison term for his stance. In 1942, his Newark draft board responded with a furious condemnation of conscientious objectors:

Citizenship should be taken from them regardless of their birthplace and, as soon as it is practicable, all such should be removed from the soil they refuse to defend…Cowards, slackers, and hypocrites, who hide behind so-called conscientious scruples, must be denied membership in a free society. We owe it to our fighting men.

A.J. Muste rose to Dellinger’s defense, writing to Hershey and Biddle to suggest the removal of the board members, whose words he feared could incite violence against COs, and who appeared either ignorant of the law or eager to flout it. “Unfortunately,” Muste added, “a good many members of local boards throughout the country have expressed similar opinions regarding conscientious objectors.” The difference is that those other unlucky COs didn’t have organized pacifism, what little there was of it, in their corner. Dellinger’s corner was not an easy one to inhabit, as Muste would soon learn.

Later that summer the Dellingers risked arrest again at another antiwar event, attended by about thirty people, in downtown Newark, where they encountered no interference. But when they returned the next day for another protest, Dellinger reports, police confiscated their materials. Andwhen they returned home to 37 Wright Street, federal agents waiting there arrested him, probably on July 7, 1943. In custody, he refused to pay bail— another lifelong practice, albeit with exceptions. “I usually refuse because I believe the amount of money that a person can command should not determine whether or not he or she stays in jail,” he wrote later, describing defendants who can’t make bail as “hostages” held “for a ransom that neither they nor their families or friends are able to pay.” Betty, pregnant, went to see the judge, explained her husband’s point of view, and Dave was soon free on his own recognizance. She picked him up in “a flamboyant new sports car” driven by their friend Louis McMillan, a naval lieutenant in uniform who nonetheless supported the Dellingers’ work in Newark. Dellinger was borne away from jail by capital in concert with military power, but he still managed to enjoy the ride." - Daniel Akst, War By Other Means: How the Pacifists of World War 2 Changed America for Good. New York: Melville House, 2022. p. 220-224

#conscientious objectors #world war ii #united states history #draft dodgers #draft evasion #war resisters #pacifism #reading 2024 #anti-war #american prison system #seminary students #new york #newark #ashram #union theological seminary #washington dc #seattle

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fivestarlimo · 3 months

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Experience Luxury Travel with 5 Star Limousine Services: The Premier Limo Service for DFW Airport

When it comes to traveling to or from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), nothing compares to the comfort, luxury, and reliability offered by 5 Star Limousine Services. Whether you're heading to an important business meeting, a special event, or simply need a ride home, our premier limousine service ensures you travel in style and arrive on time. Here's why 5 Star Limousine Services should be your go-to choice for limo service dfw airport.

Unmatched Luxury and Comfort At 5 Star Limousine Services, we understand that travel can be stressful. That's why we prioritize your comfort and convenience with our top-of-the-line limousines. Our fleet features a variety of luxurious vehicles, including classic stretch limos, sleek sedans, and spacious SUVs, all equipped with plush leather seats, climate control, and state-of-the-art entertainment systems. Whether you're traveling solo or with a group, we have the perfect vehicle to suit your needs.

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dfwexecutivecarservices · 8 days

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Experience seamless group event transportation in Dallas and DFW with DFW Executive Car Service. Whether it's a corporate event, wedding, or any special occasion, our professional chauffeurs and luxury fleet ensure timely and comfortable transfers. Book now for stress-free and reliable transportation! https://www.1executivecar.com/meeting-event-transfer.php

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onyxblackcar · 19 days

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Luxury Wedding Transportation Services in Dallas: Your Big Day, Perfectly Planned

Planning a wedding can be one of the most exhilarating yet overwhelming experiences in life. Every detail, from the venue to the décor, plays a crucial role in creating the perfect day. One often overlooked aspect of wedding planning is transportation. In Dallas, a city known for its elegance and style, luxury weddings transportation services in Dallas have become essential for couples looking to make their big day truly unforgettable. This article explores the various options available, the benefits of using luxury transportation, and tips for ensuring a seamless experience.

The Importance of Wedding Transportation

Transportation may seem like a minor detail in the grand scheme of a wedding, but its importance should not be underestimated. Proper transportation ensures that the wedding party and guests arrive at the venue on time, allowing for a smooth flow of events. Luxury wedding transportation services provide an added layer of sophistication, enhancing the overall experience.

Ensuring Timeliness and Reliability

One of the primary reasons to invest in luxury transportation is reliability. Professional services offer a level of punctuality that can ease the stress of wedding planning. With a dedicated driver, couples can rest assured that they will arrive at the ceremony and reception on time. This reliability extends not only to the couple but also to their guests, ensuring everyone can partake in the celebration without the worry of being late.

Enhancing the Experience

Luxury vehicles add an element of excitement and elegance to the wedding day. Arriving in a sleek limousine or a classic vintage car can make a couple feel special and celebrated. Furthermore, the transportation experience can be an opportunity for the couple to enjoy some private time together before the festivities begin.

Types of Luxury Wedding Transportation

Dallas offers a wide range of luxury transportation options to suit different tastes and needs. Here are some popular choices:

Limousines

Limousines are synonymous with luxury and are a popular choice for wedding transportation. They provide ample space for the bride, groom, and bridal party, allowing everyone to travel together. Many limousine services in Dallas offer a variety of styles, from classic stretch limos to modern SUVs, ensuring there’s a perfect option for every couple.

Vintage Cars

For couples looking to add a touch of nostalgia to their wedding, vintage cars are an excellent choice. Classic models, such as a 1960s Rolls-Royce or a vintage Mustang, can serve as stunning backdrops for wedding photos. In addition to their aesthetic appeal, vintage cars can create a romantic ambiance that enhances the wedding experience.

Luxury SUVs

For those who prefer a more contemporary mode of transportation, luxury SUVs provide both style and comfort. These vehicles can accommodate larger wedding parties and offer a spacious interior, making them ideal for transporting guests. Many luxury SUV services in Dallas also provide amenities such as refreshments and entertainment systems, ensuring a comfortable ride.

Shuttle Buses

If a wedding involves a significant number of guests, shuttle buses are a practical option. They can transport guests from hotels to the ceremony and reception venues, minimizing the need for multiple vehicles. This not only ensures that everyone arrives together but also helps to manage parking logistics, making the day more organized.

Party Buses

For a fun twist on traditional wedding transportation, consider renting a party bus. Equipped with sound systems, mood lighting, and even dance floors, party buses can turn the journey from one location to another into a mini celebration. This option is particularly popular for transporting the bridal party between venues, allowing them to enjoy some pre-wedding festivities.

Features of Luxury Wedding Transportation

When selecting a luxury transportation service for a wedding, there are several features to consider. These can significantly enhance the overall experience.

Professional Drivers

A key element of luxury transportation is the quality of the drivers. Professional chauffeurs are trained to provide exceptional service, ensuring a smooth and enjoyable ride. They are familiar with the Dallas area and can navigate traffic efficiently, further contributing to the reliability of the service.

Amenities and Comfort

Luxury vehicles often come equipped with a range of amenities designed to enhance comfort. This can include plush seating, climate control, and entertainment systems. Some services even offer complimentary refreshments, allowing couples to relax and enjoy the ride.

Customization Options

Many luxury transportation companies offer customization options to tailor the experience to the couple’s preferences. This can include decorations, such as flowers or banners, that reflect the wedding theme. Couples can also choose specific routes for scenic drives or photo opportunities along the way.

Tips for Choosing Luxury Wedding Transportation

Selecting the right transportation service can be a daunting task, but these tips can help simplify the process:

Start Early

Begin researching transportation options as soon as possible. Popular services can book up quickly, especially during peak wedding seasons. Starting early will allow you to explore a variety of options and secure the best fit for your needs.

Consider Your Needs

Think about the size of your wedding party and the number of guests. This will help determine whether you need multiple vehicles, shuttles, or a single large vehicle. Additionally, consider the logistics of your wedding day, including travel times between venues.

Read Reviews

Before making a decision, read reviews from other couples who have used the service. This can provide insight into the reliability and quality of the transportation provider. Look for feedback on punctuality, vehicle condition, and driver professionalism.

Schedule a Test Ride

If possible, schedule a test ride with the transportation service. This allows you to assess the vehicle’s condition, comfort, and amenities firsthand. A test ride can also give you an opportunity to meet the driver and discuss any specific requirements or concerns.

Discuss Pricing and Contracts

Before finalizing any agreements, ensure you understand the pricing structure and any additional fees that may apply. Discuss the details of the contract, including cancellation policies and what happens in the event of unforeseen circumstances, such as mechanical issues.

The Role of Transportation Coordinators

Many luxury transportation services offer the option of a transportation coordinator. This professional can oversee the logistics of the transportation on the wedding day, ensuring everything runs smoothly. By having a dedicated coordinator, couples can focus on enjoying their day without worrying about transportation details.

Communicating with Vendors

A transportation coordinator can also serve as a liaison between the couple and other wedding vendors, such as the venue and the photographer. This coordination helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page regarding timing and logistics, further enhancing the overall experience.

Managing Last-Minute Changes

Weddings can be unpredictable, and last-minute changes may arise. A transportation coordinator is equipped to handle these situations efficiently, making adjustments as needed to keep the day on track.

Conclusion

Luxury wedding transportation services in Dallas offer couples the opportunity to enhance their wedding experience with elegance, comfort, and reliability. From limousines to vintage cars, the options are plentiful, allowing couples to choose a mode of transport that reflects their style and needs. By considering the importance of transportation, exploring various options, and planning diligently, couples can ensure that their big day goes off without a hitch. With the right transportation in place, couples can focus on what truly matters: celebrating their love surrounded by family and friends.

#Weddings Transportation services in Dallas

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