Kennedy Brothers Together Again

We visited Arlington National Cemetery in July of 2013.   We were surprised to learn that all of the original Kennedy brothers are buried next to each other within the vicinity of the John F. Kennedy grave site.

The spring before he died, President Kennedy had made an unscheduled tour of Arlington and had remarked to a friend on the view of the Potomac from the Custis-Lee Mansion, reportedly saying it was "so magnificent I could stay forever." After the assassination, the friend who accompanied JFK to Arlington that day relayed the comment to the president’s brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver, who suggested the site to Jacqueline Kennedy, the president’s widow. Jackie, who was responsible for the final decision, toured the site on November 24 and agreed. “He belongs to the people,” she said.   This is when the decision was made to for John F. Kennedy to be buried at Arlington instead of the family plot in Massachusetts.

When Robert was assassinated in 1968, the family decided to place him near his brother at Arlington; although, Robert actually wanted to be buried at the family plot.   Later in 1994, Jackie Kennedy died after a battle with cancer, and although she had remarried and again been widowed, she was laid to rest net to her first husband, JFK.   When former United States Senator Edward Kennedy passed away in 2009, he was also laid to rest near his brothers.

Although Joseph Kennedy Jr.'s body is not located at the cemetery, there is a memorial marker just to the West of Edward Kennedy's grave site.

We put together a video explaining how John F. Kennedy was placed at the cemetery and how his brothers have now joined him.   You can check out that video below.

Please let us know down in the comments if you have been to Arlington and if you have been to the graves of the Kennedy brothers.

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