Evening star., 1949-05-26
Final Tributes Paid,
ForrestaI Now Lies
Al Rest in Arlington
by the Assoeiofsd Press


A great state funeral and burial
In Arlington Cemetery yesterday
ended the tragic story Of James v.
Forrestal.
Gathered In the amphitheater at
Arlington to pay last tribute were
President Truman and his official
family, the Nations military COM
Inanders and friends Of the former
financier who became the coun-
try's first Secretary of Defense.
In q bronze casket, with a cool
morning breeze ruffiing the edges
OF q nag draped over 1t. lay the
57-year-old little gray man" who,
his mind crushed by overwhelming
burdens. killed himself last Sum
day in a leap from a 18th floor
window Of Bethesda Naval Hos
pital.
The Rt. Rev. Wallace z. Conk-
ling, bishop of the Episcopal Dio-
cese Of Chicago and an old friend
Of the Forrestal family, read the
services.
3eC8OS IEUIH NUIIubUidHSs
For Mr.. Forrestal. who left be-
hind him the words of a Greek
poem expressing hope for eternal
sleep. the bishop read from I Cor
tnthians:
Behold. I show you mystery;
We shall not all sleep. but we shall
all be changed, In a moment, In
the twinkling Of an eye, at the last
trumpet; for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible, and we shall
be changed.
And he asked the Lord to grant
this man peace.
A gun caisson, drawn by six
grey horses. carried Mr.. Forrestal
the last half mile up the hill from
the cemetery gate to the amphi-
theater. A saluting battery. con-
cealed In q little valley, counted
OF the minutes as the cortege
climbed to the funeral place-19
guns thudding distantly in the
clear morning air.
The casket was borne onto the
stage Of the ampitheater, placed
above the banked mass Of flowers
ut the platforms foot. At the
center was the Navy emblem. done
In roses and carnations, for the
man who was Secretary of Navy
before he was chief of all the
armed forces.
Ambassadors and ministers of
the diplomatic corps, In their sober
dress, stood and doffed tall silk
hats as the cortege arrived. Bril-
liant sunlight picked out the
cleaning stars and braid OF gen.
erals and admirals as they snapped
their hands to cap brims In final
salute to their former chief.
When the Government had fin
ished with its formal tribute, the
caisson took the casket again.
bearing it back down the hill to
. spot in a grove of oaks where
the grave stood ready.
Family Bids Farewell.
There the farpily-Mrs. Forres-
tai. the sons, Peter and Michael;
the brother. Henry a few In
timate friends-bade their fare-
well. The bishop read the burial
commitment.
A Marine squad fred the volley
A Marine Corps bugler sounded
taps. And from a distance came
the haunting. sorrowing notes of
the echo taps" played by another
bugler out Of sight beyond knoll.
Mrs. Forrestal turned from the
grave and. with the flag that had
draped her husbands casket,
walked slowly to her car.
Placed temporarily on the grave
was a simple wooden marker. It's
inscription, for q man who was
flnancier and cabinet officer and
. world-known figure. said only:
James Forrestal
Lieutenant, U. s. N"
Those few words spanned the
years back to his first service for
Government, a lieutenant of the
Navy In World War I.