Kennedy Family Gravesites

"And so my fellow Americans, Ask not what your country
can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
John Fitzgerald Kennedy - January 20, 1961

On January 20, 1961 on the east front of the United States Capitol, the 43 year old, vibrant John Fitzgerald Kennedy stood and took the oath to become the 35th President of the United States of America. He told the world that day "To let the word go forth from this time and place to friend and foe alike, that the Torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans..." His charisma and energy created a new era of hope for the world.

And then on November 22, 1963, the Earth stopped as citizens of the world heard of the assassination of this beloved leader. It is rare that individuals who were alive on that tragic day cannot remember exactly where they were when they heard the fatal news. Images of his beautiful and heroic wife, Jacqueline, and their two children, Caroline and John, instantly flash into one's memory as you recall the funeral procession heading from Saint Matthew's Cathedral into Arlington National Cemetery. And it was his courageous widow Jacqueline, with the help of his brother Robert, who knelt on a hillside in Arlington National Cemetery and lit a flame which throughout all eternity will carry John Kennedy's legacy of hope from generation to generation. John Fitzgerald Kennedy now rests beside his widow Jacqueline and two of their children who predeceased them.

And resting only a short distance away, beneath a simple, white wooden cross, is his brother Robert Francis Kennedy, who for but a few short years carried that Torch and again brought the world hope for a brighter tomorrow. His promise for a better world tragically ended when he, too, was assassinated on June 6, 1968 after he had just won the Democratic Primary for the presidency in California.