JFK'S REMAINS REINTERRED IN PRIVATE CEREMONY
Arlington, Virginia (JFK+50) On March 14, 1967, the remains of President John F. Kennedy and two Kennedy children who died at birth were reinterred in a private ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
The JFK Memorial*, which took two years to complete, replaced the temporary grave of the 35th President of the United States. The temporary plot, 20 by 30 feet, was surrounded by a white picket fence.
The new gravesite includes irregular Cape Cod granite flagstones set around the graves. The stones were quarried near the Kennedy compound 150 years before. A new eternal flame was also installed set in the center of a five foot circular granite stone.
In the three years following JFK's death, 16 million people visited the gravesite necessitating the construction of a permanent memorial.
Only one other POTUS is interred at Arlington, William Howard Taft.
*The JFK Memorial, 3.2 acres in size, includes Lot 45, Section 30 located 20' East of the temporary gravesite of 11-25-63. The Memorial was designed by John Carl Warnecke.
The JFK Gravesite, now closed due to COVID-19, is scheduled to re-open to the public on Oct 3, 2021.
SOURCES
"President John F. Kennedy Gravesite," Arlington National Cemetery, www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/
"President Kennedy's Grave in Arlington National Cemetery," www.jfklibrary.org/
