Ordinary bodies are flown all over the continent for various reasons. Here’s a touching article about a military rep escorting a fallen soldier back home to his family in Utah on a commercial Delta flight.
I thought that the decision to fly Brown back to NYC fit his flamboyant personality. I can’t imagine actually going to such a thing (“Hey kids! We can either go see “Eragon” or James Brown’s dead body. You make the call.”), but to each her own.
Flying Ford to D.C. was appropriate because: a) he’s a former head of state and protocol dictated a state funeral; and b) A head of state funeral usually means a lot of VIPs and dignitaries will be present and that requires top notch security. The FBI and SS are already familiar with DC and DC presumably is very secure already… D.C. made the most sense.
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As far as frequent flyer miles go, no, the dead body does not get miles because it’s being flown in cargo. Dogs flown in cargo don’t get miles either. Now if you notify (Delta, American) etc. that the frequent flyer is dead, then the account will be shut down because miles are non-transferrable. However, frequent flyers are allowed to purchase tickets for anyone they want, so if the airline doesn’t KNOW that they’re dead… :dubious:
There are actual websites devoted to these kinds of issues.
I’m not big on viewings (or formal funerals) to begin with. I realize the religious folks have their traditions, but it’s not for me. Immediate family and close friends at a gathering at my home, listening to music and reminiscing…that’s all I want. No body, no gravesite.
A 24-carat solid gold coffin? If he was buried in something as insanely valuable as that… well, he won’t stay buried for long. It just *has *to be gold-plated.
They had to preserve James Brown’s reputation as “The Hardest Working Corpse in Show Business”. What I want to know is, was there a cape draped over the fancy gold coffin?
Ford’s family looked exhausted yesterday. His poor wife is in her late 80’s, all that flying around and multiple services has to be hard on her too!
I think it’s all a bit much but then again he is a president, so I would expect a lot more going on than average. I don’t know how they could skip the D.C one, and they had to fly him from California to Michigan anyway to be buried here. A normal person could be remembered with much less pomp and circumstance but I doubt they would cut corners with a president. There are so many services though…I had them on pretty much all day as I did stuff and by the end of the day I was tired of them, I can’t imagine what the family must be thinking by then with CNN in your face as you are having your dad’s funeral. The service at the church was right around the corner from my house and the road was closed all day, they are being shuttled from one place to another all day long. I listened to most of it and they had the little grandchildren do readings, that was touching.
I could see the military fly over from our yard and that was pretty cool though. I highly recommend a fly over at your funeral if you can get it. And a cannon salute.
No, but a princess of the blood royal has. Queen Elizabeth II’s sister, Princess Margaret, was cremated in order to be buried in Westminster Abbey (they’re running out of room).
It use to be, not sure if it is still in effect, that if Grandma died whilst in Florida ( home or vacation) the funeral home guys would get mileage for picking US air or someone else, to ship grannie home to the north where she was originally from.
So, to answer your question: yes and no.
The family, however, got jackshit. which I thought was just wrong as they were paying for the ‘ticket’ anyways.
Burying Gerald Ford in Michigan brings the total of famous dead people buried here to two. We just don’t know where Hoffa is buried, though it isn’t from a lack of trying.