Evening star., 1947-01-26

lHUuIG " VcH. VciyCI
Paid by Marine Corps
AT Arlington Rites
The Marine Corps paid its final
tribute to 1t. Gen. Roy Stanley
Geiger at military rites in the
Arlington National Cemetery yes
terday afternoon.
The services began when six nom
commissioned officers of the Fleet
Marine Force, Pacific, lifted the flag
draped casket from the hearse in
front of the Fort Myer chapel and
filed in between the lines of pail
bearers-Gen. Geigers friends of
many years.
Mourners of all ages and ranks
were there for the funeral of their
wartime commander Most of the
men were flyers. Gen. Geiger was
a flyer, the fifth marine ever to wear
wings on his forest-green tunic and
commander in 1912 of the Marine
planes which shot down 1853 Japs
at Guadalcanal.
Admiral Thomas Officiates.
Rear Admiral william N. Thomas,
Navy chief of chaplains, led the last
rites. They were brief, no eulogies,
few psalms, two hymns and prayer.
Clad in black, Mrs. Eunice Geiger,
took her place in the chapel with
her son, Roy, and her daughter, Mrs.
Joyce johnson.
| While the chapel organ played.
Admiral Thomas spoke the solemn
words of the hymn Mrs. Geiger
wanted for her husbands funeral.
Lead. kindly light" Gen. Geiger's
| favorite hymn, For Those in Peril
on the Sea-" was said next by Ad-
miral Thomas.
Six white horses led the black
draped caisson to the chapel door
when the ceremony ended. Behind
it stood a Marine carrying Gen.
Geiger's personal flag-red with the
three white stars of lieutenant
general.
First Marine to Lead an Army.
An Army Sergeant stood behind
the flag, his hands on the bride of
brown horse. Gen. Geiger's boots
were reversed in the stirrups and
his sword hung backwards on the
black saddle.
Army men taking part in Gen.
Geiger's rites recalled that he was
lthe first marine general ever to COM
mand a United States Army when
he took over the 10th Army on
Okinawa after Gen. Simon Bolivar
Buckner was killed by a Japanese
shell.
Just as the enlisted pall-bearers
placed the casket on the high
wheeled caisson for Gen. Geiger's 5
last ride, Marine Corsair fighter
planes from the Quantico base roar
ed over the chapel and dipped their
wings in tribute to the man who
pioneered aviation in their corps.
Marine Band Leads March.
A Marine Band playing Chopin's
funeral march led the procession to
the graveside in Arlington.
Mrs. Geiger rode first in the pro-
cession. Then came the generals
and admirals: Alexander A. Vande-
grift, commandant of the corps;
Chester w. Nimitz, who command
ed the ships which brought Geiger's
marines to the islands they took;
George Kenney, whose Army planes
helped turn the tide of the Pacific
war when Guadalcanal looked like
lost cause to all but a few like
Gen. Geiger. Next came the mill
tary representatives of France and
England. Ssu 5.l4 .s
An artillery battery of rs milli-
meter guns doomed in the distance
lis rounds a minute apart.
Flag Given Mrs. Geiger.
On the other side of the hill, and
below, on a gentle slope overlooking
the Potomac, the pall-bearers lifted
the heavy casket from the caisson
and carried it to the open grave
where Admiral Thomas performed
the last rites.
From a platoon of Marines who
had fought in the Pacific three vol
leys rang out as the service ended.
Before the smoke cleared away a
bugler sounded taps, the soldiers
command for sleep.
The Marine pallbearers folded
the banner which had covered Gen.
Geiger's casket and presented it to
Gen. Vandegrift. He, in turn, pre-
sented the flag to the widow OF the
departed hero.
Pallbearers Listed.
The pallbearers were Gen. Vande-
grift, Admiral De Witt c. Ramsey,
| 1t. Gen. Francis P. Mulcahy, U. S.
M. c., retired, lifetime friend OF Gen.
Geiger; Maj. Gen. Louis E. Woods.
Mai. Gen. Field Harris, commander
of Marine aviation, and Maj. E. H.
Brainard, U. S. M. c., retired, a
classmate of Gen. Geiger's.
Gen. Geiger entered the Naval
Hospital at Bethesda, Md, only a
week before his death, suffering
from phlebitis with pulmonary COM
plications. He would have retired
next Saturday. =
Charles A. MacD Donald Dies;