Most People Don't Know John F. Kennedy Had Two Caskets- Or What Happened To The First One

The lasting fascination with the assassination of John F. Kennedy, America's 35th President, remains strong in the pages of U.S. political history. Following fatal gunshot wounds to his head and neck, his body was transported from Texas to Washington, DC, in a bronze casket. Interestingly, it's not commonly known that the casket used for transportation was different from the one in which he was ultimately buried.

John F. Kennedy's assassination

On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy , accompanied by Texas Governor John Connally and their spouses, was traveling in a motorcade through downtown Dallas. At 12:30PM, gunfire erupted from the Texas School Book Depository, targeting the procession. The assailant responsible for the shooting was identified as US Marine Corps veteran Lee Harvey Oswald , who'd recently gotten a job at the book depository.

Kennedy sustained injuries to his head and neck, and Connally was struck in the back. Kennedy was promptly taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he was declared deceased at 1:00 PM. Despite sustaining serious wounds, Connally eventually recuperated from his injuries.

Shortly before 2:40 PM, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson , who had been traveling with the Kennedys in the motorcade and was positioned two cars behind during the incident, was inaugurated as the 36th president of the United States aboard Air Force One .

The need for two coffins

Right after Kennedy's assassination, a member of his team phoned O'Neal's Funeral Home in Dallas, specifically requesting the finest casket they could provide to be transported to the hospital. Vernon O'Neal, the proprietor of the funeral home, opted for a bronze casket with a white satin inlay, crafted by the Elgin Casket Company. This selection came with a hefty price tag of $3,995, equivalent to over $36,000 in today's currency.

Upon loading the casket into a hearse, O'Neal proceeded to the hospital, only to be taken aback by the state of Kennedy's remains. Blood was still seeping from the gunshot wounds, prompting O'Neal and some assisting nurses to swiftly wrap the body in linen sheets and line the casket with plastic to prevent any staining of the interior.

The casket was not useable for the viewing

At the request of Jacqueline Kennedy , the autopsy was performed at Bethesda Naval Hospital , near Washington, DC . Her husband's body was loaded into the passenger section of Air Force One and flown back to the nation's capital. When the coffin was opened at the hospital, the doctors found the protective efforts made by O'Neal had been inefficient.

By the time the body was embalmed, the casket was no longer considered useable for Kennedy's viewing at the Capitol Building and was replaced. Not knowing what to do with the original, the funeral home that embalmed Kennedy kept it in their possession for more than a year.

Preventing it from falling into the hands of the "morbidly curious"

After Kennedy was buried, a dispute arose between the US government and Vernon O'Neal regarding the cost of the original coffin. The government considered the price to be exorbitant, while O'Neal sought its return to Dallas, having received offers of $100,000—almost $1 million in today's money—from interested buyers.

Not wanting the casket to fall into the possession of the "morbidly curious," the government settled its debt with O'Neal and stored it in the National Archives , where it stayed for two years.

Burying the casket at sea

In 1999, records were released concerning the final fate of the casket after its time in the National Archives. Robert Kennedy, who served as the United States Attorney General at that time, had petitioned the government to ensure it was buried at sea, preventing it from falling into the wrong hands of people seeking to exploit his brother's death. After receiving approval, the responsibility for its disposal was entrusted to the US military .

A submarine commander was assigned the task of coming up with a secure method to drop and sink the casket. It was then handed over to the US Air Force , where it underwent the process of having 42 holes drilled into it and being loaded with three 80-pound sandbags. Additionally, two parachutes were installed to prevent it from breaking apart upon impact with the water.

A transport plane took it out to the Atlantic Ocean

On a brisk February morning in 1966, a C-130 Hercules transport plane took off from its base and flew out into the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 100 miles east of Washington, DC. The area, used as the military's dumping ground for unused and outdated ammunition and weapons, was chosen because it was out of the way of regular shipping and air travel and would "not be disturbed by trawling and other sea-bottom activities."

After descending to 500 feet, the tail hatch of the plane was opened and the casket was dropped into the water. According to a February 25, 1966 memo from the special assistant to the defense secretary, "the parachutes opened shortly before impact and the entire rigged load remained intact and sank sharply, clearly and immediately after a soft impact." After circling the area for 10 minutes, the C-130 flew back to the mainland.

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The casket's fate was rather fitting, as Kennedy, a Navy veteran, had once considered a burial at sea.