BW - EP145—011: November 1963 With Jean Shepherd And JFK—President Kennedy's Funeral Coverage

On Monday, November 25th, 1963, John F. Kennedy was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. NBC Radio was on hand with press coverage of the event. Millions of viewers watched the funeral on live TV. Present were foreign dignitaries from ninety-two countries, including eight heads of state and ten prime ministers. In addition to President Johnson, former Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower were in attendance, as was Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II; and Anastas Mikoyan, First Deputy Prime Minister of the USSR. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, Richard Cardinal Cushing, delivered the funeral mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral. For only the third time in history, telephone service in the US was halted for one minute at noon, Eastern time. Las Vegas closed all of its casinos for only the third time in its history. Three hours later, graveside services were held for Lee Harvey Oswald at the Rose Hill Cemetery near Fort Worth, Texas. The only people allowed were Oswald's wife, mother, brother, and two daughters. After a Lutheran minister from Dallas reconsidered appearing for the service, the Reverend Louis Saunders appeared on behalf of the Fort Worth Council of Churches, telling newsmen, "We do not want it said a man can be buried in Fort Worth without a minister." Oswald was buried in a family plot that had been owned for several years by his mother. Six reporters were pallbearers. Abraham Zapruder sold all rights to his famed eight millimeter film of the Kennedy assassination to LIFE Magazine for One-hundred-fifty-thousand dollars, to be paid in twenty-five-thousand dollar yearly installments. Two days later, Zapruder donated the first full payment to the widow of officer J.D. Tippit.