Ronald Reagan was laid to rest in the rolling California hills that he loved on Friday in a sunset ceremony that ended a week of national mourning for the 40th president -- the last chapter of what President George W. Bush called "a great American story."
Hundreds of close friends and family paid a final farewell to Reagan, whose passing at age 93 stirred an outpouring of emotion from a nation nostalgic for his warmth, charm and optimism.
PHOTO: AFP
At the burial ceremony at the Reagan Presidential library, a lone bagpiper played Amazing Grace, US navy jets flew overhead in what is called a "Missing Man Formation" and an honor guard presented widow Nancy Reagan with the flag that had draped his coffin for his last journey home.
She dabbed her eyes, hugged the flag to her chest and then walked to the coffin, placed her cheek on the polished wood and began to weep as her children Ron and Patti comforted her.
The frail 82-year-old widow placed a single kiss on the coffin and reluctantly allowed herself to be led away so that the burial service could be concluded.
In contrast to the formal, state funeral service held earlier in the day in Washington, DC, where President Bush told an assembly of world leaders that "a great American story" had ended, Reagan's burial was a family affair attended by some 700 close friends, many of them people the late president had known since his days as a Hollywood actor.
In short but moving speeches, his three surviving children spoke lovingly of the man they knew as a father rather than a world leader and celebrated his humor and odd habits like pulling a stranger's earlobe.
"He is home now. He is free. In his final letter to the American people, Dad wrote, `I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life.' This evening he has arrived," his youngest son Ronald Prescott Reagan said, briefly touching his father's flag draped coffin.
"History will record his worth as a leader. We here have long since measured his worth as a man," he added.
Michael Reagan, the son he adopted during his first marriage to actress Jane Wyman, told the crowd his father once gave him marital advice: "You'll never get in trouble if you tell her `I love you' once a day. I am sure that he told that to Nancy."
Daughter Patti Davis told how her father, when she was a young girl, gave such a touching burial service for a pet goldfish that she offered to kill all the other fish in the tank and he had to spend a lot of time dissuading her.
The ceremony concluded with the playing of "Taps" and a flyover by US navy jets.
Among those in attendance at the burial service were Margaret Thatcher, Reagan's political soul-mate, as well as ex-US Secretary of State George Shultz and such celebrities as Nancy Sinatra, Tom Selleck, Merv Griffin, Bo Derek and Larry King. Also there was another actor inspired to go into politics by Reagan's example -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Selleck, who worked with Nancy Reagan on her "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign, said the national wave of emotion of the past week "would mean a lot to him. ... I think he would be touched in his own self-effacing way."
CNN's Larry King, a personal friend although at odds with Reagan politically, said "He didn't hate. I think one of the reasons people are acting this way this week is they miss that."
In a touch typical of California, many at the burial service wore sunglasses. And many sobbed.
In the week since Reagan died more than 150,000 people, in Simi Valley and in Washington, D.C., have filed passed his flag-covered casket as his body lie in state.
As the casket carried Reagan home to southern California for the final time on Friday afternoon, throngs of people lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the motorcade, some waving flags or dabbing tears from their eyes.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese