Jimmy Carter’s long public farewell began Saturday in the southern state of Georgia where the 39th U.S. president’s life began more than 100 years ago.
The motorcade carrying Carter’s flag-draped coffin heads to his hometown of Plains, passes his boyhood home, and heads toward Atlanta. The procession began at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, where former Secret Service agents who protected the late president served as pallbearers. A sad whistle echoed in the clear air, and the pallbearers turned toward the hearse, hands on their hearts, to say their final farewells.
The Carter family, including the former president’s four children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, are accompanying their patriarch as he begins his six-day state funeral.
Carter, the longest-serving president of the United States, died on December 29 at his home in Plains at the age of 100.
Families lined the procession route in downtown Plains, near the historic train depot that was Carter’s presidential campaign headquarters. Some carried bouquets of flowers or wore commemorative pins with photos of Carter on them.
“We want to pay our respects,” said Will Porter Shellbrock, 12, who was born more than 30 years after Mr. Carter left the White House in 1981. To achieve. ”
It was Shelbrock’s idea to travel from Gainesville, Fla., to Plains with her grandmother, Susan Cohn, 66, to witness the beginning of Carter’s final journey. Shelbrock said he admired Carter’s humanitarian work, including building homes and peace efforts, and installing solar panels on the White House.
Mr. Carter and his late wife Rosalyn, who passed away in November 2023, were born in Plains and spent most of their lives in and around the town, except for Jimmy’s career in the Navy and his terms as governor and president of Georgia. Ta.
The procession stops in front of Carter’s home on a family farm outside Plains. The National Park Service will ring the old farm bell 39 times in honor of his status as the 39th president. Carter’s remains will then travel to Atlanta, where there will be a moment of silence in front of the Georgia State Capitol and a ceremony at the Carter Presidential Center.
There he will lie peacefully until Tuesday morning, when he will be transported to Washington and lie in state in court at the U.S. Capitol. His state funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Washington National Cathedral, before returning to the Plains for an invitation-only service at Maranatha Baptist Church.
He will be buried near his home next to Rosalynn Carter.
___
Bill Barrow is based in Atlanta and has covered national politics, including multiple presidential campaigns, for The Associated Press since 2012.
Source link
