John F. Kennedy's Eternal Flame Getting Fixed - East Idaho News
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John F. Kennedy’s Eternal Flame Getting Fixed

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GETTY 5113 EternalFlame?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1367397150652iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The Eternal Flame has burned at the gravesite of President John F. Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery since Nov. 25, 1963, three days after the 35th commander in chief was assassinated in Dallas.

Kennedy’s widow, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, made the request for the Eternal Flame so that her husband would always be remembered by the American people.

Now, Lt. Col. David Fedroff, the cemetery’s engineering chief, says the Eternal Flame has been removed because its original parts, now 50 years old, are in need of some upkeep.

Visitors to the site where Kennedy is buried won’t be disappointed, however, since a temporary flame has taken the place of the real one until the repairs are completed.

Says Fedroff, “We feel like we are continuing a tradition…an important tradition in our nation in honoring President Kennedy.”

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