11/22/13 — SJAFB pilots did 1963 flyover

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SJAFB pilots did 1963 flyover

By From staff reports
Published in News on November 22, 2013 1:46 PM

Nov. 25, 1963, three days after the assassination, aviators from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base participated in Kennedy's funeral.

At 2:54 p.m., 50 military aircraft -- 30 of them F-105s from Seymour Johnson -- performed a flyover above Arlington National Cemetery shortly after the procession arrived. The number of jets coincided with the number of U.S. states.

A passage from "4th Tactical Fighter Wing History, 1 July - 31 December 1963" reads, "On 25 November the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing proudly flew 30 of its F-105 aircraft in formation with 20 U.S. Navy planes over the grave site at Arlington National Cemetery as a final tribute to their fallen Commander-in-Chief, John Fitzgerald Kennedy."