5-30-99 [NARA Press Release] [CNN] [AP] [Washington Post] [NYTimes] 6-01-99 [AllPolitics] [AP - Karen Gullo] [AP - NBC's Pete Williams] [AP - Deb Riechmann] 6-02-99 AP - WFAA Dallas Documents Photos: Dallas Bronze Coffin offloaded at Andrews Airforce Base

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[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Metal Shipping Casket

Funeral Casket Related Materials History-Matters Website News Stories JFK's Family Insisted on Casket's Disposal WASHINGTON Jun 01 -- It was the Kennedy family that insisted that the polished bronze casket

used to carry President Kennedy's body from Dallas to Washington be dumped into the ocean,

newly released documents say. Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a mahogany coffin and there have been

lingering questions about what ever happened to the casket used in Texas after Kennedy was

assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963. "What I would like to have done is take it to sea," Robert Kennedy, the president's brother, told an

official of the General Services Administration in February 1966. Despite concerns that the casket was government property, Kennedy told GSA Administrator Lawson

Knott Jr. that he believed it belonged to the family "and we can get rid of it any way we want to,"

according to a memo recounting their telephone conversation. About two weeks later, on Feb. 18, 1966, an Air Force van picked up the casket at the National

Archives building in downtown Washington. To make sure that it would sink, the casket was loaded with three 80-pound bags of sand. Numerous

holes were drilled into the coffin and a pine box that encased it. It was bound with metal banding

tape and rigged with parachutes to break the impact of hitting the water. At 8:38 a.m., a C-130 airplane carrying the casket left Andrews Air Force Base and flew off the

Maryland-Delaware coast. The plane descended to 500 feet and at 10 a.m., the tail hatch of the

plane was opened and the 660-pound load was pushed out. "The parachutes opened shortly before impact and the entire rigged load remained intact and sank

sharply, clearly and immediately after the soft impact," John Steadman, special assistant to the

defense secretary, wrote in a Feb. 25, 1966 file memo. "The aircraft circled the drop point for some 20 minutes at 500 feet to ensure that nothing returned

to the surface," wrote Steadman, who was on the plane. The drop point -- in 9,000 feet of water beyond the continental shelf -- was chosen because it was

away from regularly traveled air and shipping lines and would not be disturbed by trawling and

other sea-bottom activities, the documents said. The government paid for the bronze coffin, but it was unclear whether it was covered by a law that

made certain items of evidence related to the Kennedy assassination government property. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach said in a Feb. 11, 1966 letter to the GSA that he felt it was

necessary to dispose of the coffin. "I am unable to conceive of any manner in which the casket could have an evidentiary value, nor

can I conceive of any reason why the national interest would require its preservation," Katzenbach

wrote. "It is obvious that it could never be used for burial purposes and its public display would be

extremely offensive and contrary to public policy." Reporter: The Associated Press

Copyright: 1999 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. top Coffin used to transport Kennedy's body sunk at sea June 1, 1999

Web posted at: 5:33 p.m. EDT (2133 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, June 1) -- At the Kennedy family's insistence, the

polished bronze casket used to carry President John F. Kennedy's body from

Dallas to Washington was dumped into the ocean in 1966, according to newly

released documents from the National Archives. Its whereabouts had long been a mystery and questions lingered about the

casket after Kennedy's burial at Arlington National Cemetery in a mahogany

coffin following his assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963. "I think it belongs to the family and we can get rid of it any way we want

to," Robert Kennedy, the president's brother and the former attorney general,

told Lawson Knott, the administrator of the General Services Administration,

according to a memo recounting their February 1966 telephone conversation. "What I would like to have done is take it to sea," Kennedy told Knott. "I

don't think anybody will be upset about the fact that we disposed of it." There were concerns that the casket was government property since the

government purchased it from Dallas undertaker Vernon Oneal. The casket,

lined with brushed satin, was replaced because it was damaged. It was also

unclear whether it was covered by a law that made certain items of evidence

related to the Kennedy assassination government property. Researchers of President Kennedy's assassination consider the coffin evidence

that should not have been destroyed, including author David Lifton. "We are dealing with evidence," said Lifton, whose 1981 book detailed medical

evidence in the Kennedy assassination. Kennedy family spokeswoman Melody Miller said Tuesday that destroying the

casket was appropriate and "in keeping with the tradition of President

Kennedy's naval service and his love of the sea." The new documents show that the casket was stored in the basement of the

National Archives building in downtown Washington in February 1966 when

Robert Kennedy, then a U.S. senator from New York, called the GSA, which

oversees government property, and asked for it to be released to the military

for destruction.

Knott told Kennedy that destroying the coffin might "raise loads of

questions" in light of an upcoming book about the assassination and said the

Justice Department would have to authorize release of the casket. Kennedy

served as attorney general before he entered the Senate in 1965. Kennedy said he would contact his successor as attorney general, Nicholas

Katzenbach. Eight days later, Katzenbach wrote in a February 11, 1966 letter

to Knott that he felt it was necessary to dispose of the coffin.

"I am unable to conceive of any manner in which the casket could have an

evidentiary value, nor can I conceive of any reason why the national interest

would require its preservation," Katzenbach wrote. "It is obvious that it

could never be used for burial purposes and its public display would be

extremely offensive and contrary to public policy." "As long as the casket remains ... there is always the possibility that it

could be misused or misappropriated," he added. Documents show that Oneal, the Dallas undertaker, wanted to get the casket

back and display it in his funeral home. On February 18, 1966, an Air Force van picked up the casket at the National

Archives building in downtown Washington and took it to Andrews Air Force

Base. The casket was loaded with three 80-pound bags of sand. Numerous holes were

drilled in both the casket and the pine box it was encased in "to ensure that

no air pockets would develop," according to a memo written by John Steadman,

special assistant in the office of the Secretary of Defense. Both casket and pine box bound with metal banding tape and the whole

apparatus was rigged with parachutes to break the impact of hitting the

water.The Defense Department had sought the advice of a submarine officer

with special training in hydraulics to devise a way to airdrop the coffin at

sea, according to the documents. At 8:38 a.m., a C-130 airplane carrying the casket took off from the Air

Force base and flew off the Maryland-Delaware coast. The plane descended to

500 feet and at 10 a.m., the 660-pound load was pushed out of the plane's

opened tail hatch. "The parachutes opened shortly before impact and the entire rigged load

remained intact and sank sharply, clearly and immediately after the soft

impact," Steadman wrote in a February 25, 1966 file memo.

"The aircraft circled the drop point for some 20 minutes at 500 feet to

ensure that nothing returned to the surface," wrote Steadman, who was on the

plane. The drop point -- in 9,000 feet of water beyond the continental shelf -- was

chosen because it was away from regularly traveled air and shipping lines and

would not be disturbed by trawling and other sea-bottom activities, the

documents said. The document released were from the National Archives and Record

Administration's records of documents relating to Kennedy. Congress passed a

law in 1992 requiring that all assassination-related material be housed in a

single collection at the National Archives with the intent of opening most of

the records for research. The Associated Press contributed to this report. top Kennedys Urged JFK Casket Be Sunk .c The Associated Press By DEB RIECHMANN WASHINGTON (AP) -- It was the Kennedy family that insisted that the polished

bronze casket used to carry President Kennedy's body from Dallas to

Washington be dumped into the ocean, newly released documents say. Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a mahogany coffin and

there have been lingering questions about what ever happened to the casket

used in Texas after Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963. ``What I would like to have done is take it to sea,'' Robert Kennedy, the

president's brother, told an official of the General Services Administration

in February 1966. Despite concerns that the casket was government property, Kennedy told GSA

Administrator Lawson Knott Jr. that he believed it belonged to the family

``and we can get rid of it any way we want to,'' according to a memo

recounting their telephone conversation. About two weeks later, on Feb. 18, 1966, an Air Force van picked up the

casket at the National Archives building in downtown Washington. To make sure that it would sink, the casket was loaded with three 80-pound

bags of sand. Numerous holes were drilled into the coffin and a pine box that

encased it. It was bound with metal banding tape and rigged with parachutes

to break the impact of hitting the water. At 8:38 a.m., a C-130 airplane carrying the casket left Andrews Air Force

Base and flew off the Maryland-Delaware coast. The plane descended to 500

feet and at 10 a.m., the tail hatch of the plane was opened and the 660-pound

load was pushed out. ``The parachutes opened shortly before impact and the entire rigged load

remained intact and sank sharply, clearly and immediately after the soft

impact,'' John Steadman, special assistant to the defense secretary, wrote in

a Feb. 25, 1966 file memo. ``The aircraft circled the drop point for some 20 minutes at 500 feet to

ensure that nothing returned to the surface,'' wrote Steadman, who was on the

plane. The drop point -- in 9,000 feet of water beyond the continental shelf -- was

chosen because it was away from regularly traveled air and shipping lines and

would not be disturbed by trawling and other sea-bottom activities, the

documents said. The government paid for the bronze coffin, but it was unclear whether it was

covered by a law that made certain items of evidence related to the Kennedy

assassination government property. However, Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach said in a Feb. 11, 1966 letter

to the GSA that he felt it was necessary to dispose of the coffin. ``I am unable to conceive of any manner in which the casket could have an

evidentiary value, nor can I conceive of any reason why the national interest

would require its preservation,'' Katzenbach wrote. ``It is obvious that it could never be used for burial purposes and its

public display would be extremely offensive and contrary to public policy.'' AP-NY-06-01-99 1120EDT Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. top Kennedys Ordered JFK Coffin Dumped .c The Associated Press By KAREN GULLO WASHINGTON (AP) -- Loaded with 240 pounds of sand and drilled with holes so

it would stay on the ocean floor, the coffin that carried John F. Kennedy's

body from Dallas to Washington was dumped at sea in 1966 under orders of the

Kennedy family. Documents released Tuesday by the National Archives showed that despite

concerns over whether the casket should destroyed, the government honored the

Kennedy family wishes and took pains to ensure that the casket would remain

in a watery grave. The Defense Department even sought the advice of a submarine officer with

special training in hydraulics to devise a way to airdrop the coffin at sea. Kennedy, assassinated in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, was buried at Arlington

National Cemetery in a mahogany coffin obtained in Washington. The first

coffin, made of bronze and lined with brushed satin, had been purchased from

Dallas undertaker Vernon Oneal to take the body to Washington. It was

replaced because it was damaged. Its whereabouts had long been a mystery. And Kennedy assassination

researchers consider the coffin evidence that should not have been destroyed. Documents show that the casket was in the basement of the National Archives

building in downtown Washington in February 1966 when Robert Kennedy, then a

U.S. senator from New York, called the General Services Administration, which

oversees government property, and asked for it to be released to the military

for destruction. ``I think it belongs to the family and we can get rid of it any way we want

to,'' Kennedy told Lawson Knott, GSA administrator, according to a memo

recounting the conversation. ``What I would like to have done is take it to sea,'' Kennedy told Knott. ``I

don't think anybody will be upset about the fact that we disposed of it.'' Kennedy family spokeswoman Melody Miller said Tuesday that destroying the

casket was appropriate and ``in keeping with the tradition of President

Kennedy's naval service and his love of the sea.'' To ensure that the coffin would sink, three 80 pound bags of sand were put

inside, metal banding tape was wrapped around it and it was placed inside a

pine box that was also wrapped in metal tape, documents said. Numerous holes were drilled in both the casket and the box ``to ensure that

no air pockets would develop,'' according to a memo written by John Steadman,

special assistant in the office of the Secretary of Defense. One last precaution was taken: To keep the 660-pound load from shattering

when it hit the water, two parachutes were attached to it. On Feb. 18, 1966, an Air Force van picked up the casket and transported it to

Andrews Air Force Base, where it was loaded onto a C-130 airplane, the

documents said. The plane took off at 8:38 a.m. and flew over a calm ocean to

a point approximately 131 nautical miles off the Maryland-Delaware coast. The drop point -- in 9,000 feet of water beyond the continental shelf -- was

chosen because it was away from regularly traveled air and shipping lines in

an explosives dumping area. The pilot descended to 500 feet and at 10 a.m., the plane's tail hatch was

opened and the load was pushed out. ``The entire rigged load remained intact and sank sharply, clearly and

immediately after the soft impact,'' wrote Steadman, who was on the plane. Leaving nothing to chance, the plane circled the drop point for 20 minutes

``to ensure that nothing returned to the surface.'' Knott had cautioned Kennedy that destroying the coffin might ``raise loads of

questions'' in light of an upcoming book about the assassination. It was

unclear whether the casket was covered by a law that mandated that certain

items of evidence related to the Kennedy assassination be preserved. The Justice Department would have to authorize release of the casket, Knott

told Kennedy, who had been attorney general before he entered the Senate in

1965. Kennedy was adamant and said he would call his successor as attorney general,

Nicholas Katzenbach. Eight days later, Katzenbach wrote Knott and said the

casket had no evidentiary value and didn't need to be preserved. ``As long as the casket remains ... there is always the possibility that it

could be misused or misappropriated,'' he added. Documents show that Oneal, the Dallas undertaker, wanted to get the casket

back and display it in his funeral home. Author David Lifton believes the government was wrong to dump it. ``We are dealing with evidence,'' said Lifton, whose 1981 book detailed

medical evidence in the Kennedy assassination. AP-NY-06-01-99 1642EDT Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. top JFK's family ordered coffin dumped

Newly released documents describe disposal at sea

ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON, June 1 "It was the Kennedy family that insisted that the polished

bronze casket used to carry President John F. Kennedy's body from Dallas to

Washington be dumped into the ocean, newly released documents say. NBC's Pete Williams reports on documents that explain one of the lingering

mysteries surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. KENNEDY WAS buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a mahogany coffin

and there have been lingering questions about what ever happened to the

casket used in Texas after Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963.

"What I would like to have done is take it to sea, Robert Kennedy,

the president's brother, told an official of the General Services

Administration in February 1966.

Despite concerns that the casket was government property, Kennedy told

GSA Administrator Lawson Knott Jr. that he believed it belonged to the family

"and we can get rid of it any way we want to, according to a memo recounting

their telephone conversation.

About two weeks later, on Feb. 18, 1966, an Air Force van picked up

the casket at the National Archives building in downtown Washington.



RIGGED WITH PARACHUTES

To make sure that it would sink, the casket was loaded with three

80-pound bags of sand. Numerous holes were drilled into the coffin and a pine

box that encased it. It was bound with metal banding tape and rigged with

parachutes to break the impact of hitting the water.

At 8:38 a.m., a C-130 airplane carrying the casket left Andrews Air

Force Base and flew off the Maryland-Delaware coast. The plane descended to

500 feet and at 10 a.m., the tail hatch of the plane was opened and the

660-pound load was pushed out.

"The parachutes opened shortly before impact and the entire rigged

load remained intact and sank sharply, clearly and immediately after the soft

impact, John Steadman, special assistant to the defense secretary, wrote in

a Feb. 25, 1966, file memo.

"The aircraft circled the drop point for some 20 minutes at 500 feet

to ensure that nothing returned to the surface, wrote Steadman, who was on

the plane.

The drop point " in 9,000 feet of water beyond the continental shelf "

was chosen because it was away from regularly traveled air and shipping lines

and would not be disturbed by trawling and other sea-bottom activities, the

documents said.



EVIDENCE LAW UNCLEAR

The government paid for the bronze coffin, but it was unclear whether

it was covered by a law that made certain items of evidence related to the

Kennedy assassination government property.

However, Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach said in a Feb. 11, 1966,

letter to the GSA that he felt it was necessary to dispose of the coffin.

"I am unable to conceive of any manner in which the casket could have

an evidentiary value, nor can I conceive of any reason why the national

interest would require its preservation, Katzenbach wrote.

"It is obvious that it could never be used for burial purposes and its

public display would be extremely offensive and contrary to public policy. top FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 27, 1999 National Archives To Open Additional JFK Materials College Park, MD . . On Tuesday, June 1, 1999, the National Archives at

College Park will make available to the public additional documents related

to President John F. Kennedy, in accordance with the President John F.

Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. These materials

include: * Itineraries of the Presidential campaign of then Senator John F.

Kennedy in 1959 and 1960; copies of public statements and press conferences

of Senator Kennedy; documents showing the dates, starting points,

destinations, and mileage of the flights taken by the campaign plane during

1960, with the exception of July 1960; and related documents concerning the

campaign. 311 pages. * The Russell Holmes Papers. 50,000 pages of CIA documents maintained

by Holmes in his role as the custodian of the Oswald 201 file, as well as the

Segregated Collection of CIA records compiled for the investigation of the

House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA). Holmes was the CIA liaison

for all inquiries on the assassination after the end of the HSCA

investigation until his retirement. * Documents from the Department of Defense, Department of Justice,

General Services Administration, and other sources relating to the

disposition of the casket used to transport the body of President Kennedy

from Dallas to Bethesda Naval Hospital. 43 pages. * FBI records consisting of three series: 50,000 pages of "House Select

Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) Administrative Folders"; 9,000 pages of

"HSCA Ticklers"; and 13,000 pages of "JFK Act Administrative Files." * 9,000 pages of CIA miscellaneous files including the files of the

Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), CIA History files, Office of Security

files, and other records series. The subjects covered include a wide range of

issues related to the assassination: DCI meeting notes, Cuba, and other

matters. The documents will be available in Lecture Room E at the National Archives

facility in College Park, MD, located at 8601 Adelphi Road, at 9 AM on

Tuesday, June 1. Researchers will be limited to one box or file at a time.

Research Room hours are: Monday and Wednesday 8:45 A.M. - 5 P.M.; Tuesday,

Thursday and Friday 8:45 A.M. - 9 P.M.; Saturday 8:45 A.M. - 4:45 P.M.

Research cards are required. Personal property, i.e. notebooks, briefcases,

purses or fountain pens, are not allowed in the research room. Lockers are

available. Debit cards may be purchased for the photocopying machines.

DIRECTIONS:

BY CAR the new facility is approximately 40 minutes from downtown Washington,

DC. Take North Capitol Street north, turn right onto Michigan Avenue,

(Michigan Avenue becomes Queens Chapel Road in Maryland,) continue to East

West Highway, turn left on Adelphi Road and follow it to the Archives II

entrance on the right. Parking is available.

BY SHUTTLE from the National Archives in Washington, DC, board the bus on 7th

Street between Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues. The shuttle leaves on

the hour, from 8 A.M. to 5 P.M., returning to the downtown building from

Archives II on the hour. Researchers may use the shuttle on a space available

basis with National Archives staff members receiving priority boarding.

* * * *

For additional PRESS information, please contact the National Archives Public

Affairs staff at (301) 713-6000 or by e-mail. Visit the National Archives

Home Page on the World Wide Web at http://www.nara.gov. top JFK's Casket Was Dropped in Ocean .c The Associated Press By DEB RIECHMANN WASHINGTON (AP) -- A bronze casket used to transport President Kennedy's body

from Dallas to Washington was dropped from a military plane into the ocean

two years after he was killed, according to assassination documents. ``Apparently the casket is in 9,000 feet of water in the Atlantic Ocean,''

Kermit L. Hall, a member of the now-defunct Assassination Records Review

Board, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Friday night. Hall said that documents to be released Tuesday by the National Archives show

that the casket was flown several miles off the Maryland-Delaware coast in

early 1965 and dumped in an area where the military discards unstable and

outdated weapons and ammunition. ``There's actually a map in the documents that pinpoints the coordinates

where it was dropped,'' Hall said. The revelation -- on the eve of what would have been President Kennedy's 82nd

birthday --that the casket was deep-sixed resolves a lingering mystery about

its whereabouts. But it also fuels speculation among assassination

researchers that it was discarded to hide foul play. What happened to the bronze casket has been a lingering question over the

past three decades. Last year a document released by the archives showed that

a General Services Administration truck picked up the bronze casket on March

19, 1964. The review panel asked the GSA where the casket was. The agency

said in the summer of 1998 that it didn't know. The documents from GSA and the Justice and Defense departments being released

describe the disposition in detail, Hall said. ``Essentially what was going on was an effort to make sure the casket didn't

turn into a historic relic for the marketplace,'' he said. Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a mahogany coffin that

had been purchased in Washington to replace the bronze one, which was missing

a handle and had been damaged. Some had lobbied to have the discarded bronze casket destroyed to keep it

from becoming an object of morbid curiosity. Earle Cabell, a then Texas congressman, wrote to Attorney General Nicholas

Katzenbach in 1965 and recommended that ``in keeping with the best interest

of the country,'' the casket be destroyed. Katzenbach said in an interview Friday that he doesn't recall details about

the disposition of the casket. If anyone had asked him if the casket should

be disposed of, ``I'd have said that's a good idea,'' Katzenbach said. Kennedy's caskets have long been a subject of controversy. And some

assassination researchers see a dark motive. ``That coffin is evidence,'' David Lifton, who wrote a book about medical

evidence in the November 1963 assassination, said Friday. ``You don't go drop

evidence into the sea.'' In the 1970s, a Navy medical technician told congressional investigators that

Kennedy's body arrived at Bethesda Naval Hospital in a body bag inside a gray

metal shipping casket -- not a bronze one. Douglas Horne, who was the chief analyst for military records at

congressionally created review board, speculated that the bronze casket was

destroyed to end the two-coffin controversy. ``I think the way to get rid of the problem is you get rid of the casket. You

throw it out of an airplane,'' said Horne. ``Then it's just a bunch of

stories.'' AP-NY-05-28-99 2205EDT top Casket that once carried JFK

reportedly discarded in Atlantic Report expected on Tuesday CNN May 29, 1999

Web posted at: 4:39 a.m. EDT (0839 GMT) WASHINGTON (AP) -- A bronze casket used to transport President Kennedy's body

from Dallas to Washington was dropped from a military plane into the ocean two years after he

was killed, according to assassination documents. "Apparently the casket is in 9,000 feet of water in the Atlantic Ocean," Kermit L. Hall, a member

of the now-defunct Assassination Records Review Board, told The Associated Press in a

telephone interview Friday night. Hall said that documents to be released Tuesday by the National Archives show that the casket

was flown several miles off the Maryland-Delaware coast in early 1965 and dumped in an area

where the military discards unstable and outdated weapons and ammunition. There's actually a map in the documents that pinpoints the coordinates where it was dropped,"

Hall said. Why was bronze casket discarded? The report, released on the eve of what would have been President Kennedy's 82nd birthday, that

the casket was dropped into the ocean resolves a lingering mystery about its whereabouts. But it

also fuels speculation among assassination researchers that it was discarded to hide foul play. What happened to the bronze casket has been a lingering question over the past three decades.

Last year a document released by the archives showed that a General Services Administration

truck picked up the bronze casket on March 19, 1964. The review panel asked the GSA where

the casket was. The agency said in the summer of 1998 that it didn't know. The documents from GSA and the Justice and Defense departments being released describe the

disposition in detail, Hall said. "Essentially what was going on was an effort to make sure the casket didn't turn into a historic

relic for the marketplace," he said. Buried in mahogany coffin Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a mahogany coffin that had been purchased

in Washington to replace the bronze one, which was missing a handle and had been damaged. Some

had lobbied to have the discarded bronze casket destroyed to keep it from becoming an object of

morbid curiosity. Earle Cabell, a then Texas congressman, wrote to Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach in 1965 and

recommended that "in keeping with the best interest of the country," the casket be destroyed. Katzenbach said in an interview Friday that he doesn't recall details about the disposition of the casket.

If anyone had asked him if the casket should be disposed of, "I'd have said that's a good idea,"

Katzenbach said. Kennedy's caskets have long been a subject of controversy. And some assassination researchers see a

dark motive. "That coffin is evidence," David Lifton, who wrote a book about medical evidence in the November 1963

assassination, said Friday. "You don't go drop evidence into the sea." In the 1970s, a Navy medical technician told congressional investigators that Kennedy's body arrived at

Bethesda Naval Hospital in a body bag inside a gray metal shipping casket -- not a

bronze one. Douglas Horne, who was the chief analyst for military records at congressionally created review

board, speculated that the bronze casket was destroyed to end the two-coffin controversy. "I think the way to get rid of the problem is you get rid of the casket. You throw it out of an airplane," said

Horne. "Then it's just a bunch of stories." Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. top Kennedy Coffin Was Sunk Sun, 30 May 1999

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS KAREN GULLO WASHINGTON -- A bronze coffin used to carry President Kennedy's body from

Dallas to Washington is deep in the Atlantic Ocean, documents show.

Materials to be released on Tuesday at the National Archives reveal that in

1965, the coffin was dropped from a military plane into an ammunition dumping

area off the Maryland-Delaware border, said Kermit Hall of the now-defunct

Assassination Records Review Board.



Mr. Hall said the coffin was sunk so it would not become "a historic relic

for the marketplace." President Kennedy was buried in a mahogany coffin

because the bronze one had been damaged. top

Kennedy Files to Detail Casket Disposal Damaged Coffin Dumped Off Eastern Shore; Release Includes CIA Data on Oswald

By Michael E. Ruane

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, May 30, 1999; Page A02 The National Archives will release this week the latest cache of documents

relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, reportedly

including details of the dumping at sea of the bronze casket in which his

body was transported from Dallas to Washington. The release also will include 50,000 pages of CIA documents relating to the

presumed Kennedy assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, as well as intelligence files

on Cuba and other matters. It is the latest unveiling of information gathered in accordance with the

President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, which

urged government agencies to review their files for information that could be

released or declassified that might shed light on the assassination. Although the release will include CIA materials and data about Kennedy's 1960

presidential campaign, the details about the casket are likely to draw the

closest scrutiny. The 43 pages on the casket are to be made available Tuesday at the National

Archives center in College Park.

The information will reveal the disposition of the casket, the archives said,

which reportedly had a handle knocked off as it was being used to transport

the president's body from Dallas, where he was killed Nov. 22, 1963, to

Washington. The damaged casket was replaced with the mahogany one in which Kennedy was

buried by Joseph Gawler's & Sons Inc. funeral home in Washington. But the

fate of the damaged casket has long been a mystery. The archive documents will detail how the casket was loaded aboard a military

plane and flown off the Maryland-Delaware coast, where it was dropped into

water 9,000 feet deep in an area used as a military dump site. Kermit L. Hall, a historian with the now-defunct Assassination Records Review

Board, which examined Kennedy documents, told the Associated Press that a map

and coordinates marking the exact location exists.

Hall said the casket was dumped because of fears it might become an object of

morbid curiosity. There also was pressure from former U.S. representative Earle Cabell

(D-Tex.), who was mayor of Dallas when Kennedy was assassinated, to dispose

of the extra casket to keep it from becoming a public focus.

There were mixed reactions to the revelation yesterday. David Lifton, the Los Angeles historian who long has speculated about

irregularities in the investigation of the assassination, was fascinated by

the report. "If it's really true that they dropped it in the ocean, then there should be

the name of the pilot" among the archive papers, he said, suggesting another

avenue for further investigation. He said that if true, the casket's disposal at sea was deplorable. It was

forensic evidence, he said, that ought to have been preserved. "Now you're going to have this Titanic syndrome, where somebody is going to

go out there and try to take a picture of it," he predicted. "Whoever heard

of dumping a coffin in the ocean. It's so bizarre." "Here we are 35 years later," he said. "It's so disrespectful. They've set

the stage for confusion." Lifton said one of the last times the casket may have been seen was when

author William Manchester had it uncrated in a government warehouse as part

of research on the assassination and noted that it had been damaged. But William L. Joyce, associate university librarian for rare books and

special collections at Princeton University, said potential new information

about the casket's disposal was not necessarily a big deal. top