ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. -- To the strains of "Nearer My God to Thee," the remains of 10 Americans killed by the terrorist bomb in Kenya were borne home Thursday and received at a solemn ceremony by President Clinton. After a 10-hour, 18-minute flight from Germany, accompanied by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the coffins were draped in flags and escorted with full military honors to a tableau of 10 black hearses lining a giant hangar at Andrews Air Force Base.
Clinton watched the precision-drill ceremony with tears streaming down his face as the silver trumpets of the Air Force Ceremonial Brass Band swelled with a lush arrangement of "America the Beautiful."
Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, met privately with more than 60 of the relatives for about an hour in advance, moving from table to table for quiet conversation, so the president could learn a bit about each of those who died.
When the transport plane nudged into view of the hangar, the 25-piece brass and percussion ensemble played "Nearer My God to Thee." The back doors of the hearses were opened, and their white tail lights reflected off the glossy hangar floor as pall bearers from each branch of the services, in full dress uniforms, delivered each coffin from the plane.
At the end of the 45-minute ceremony, drivers silently pressed the hearse doors shut and drove off, one by one, with a slight delay when one hearse would not start. The hearses drove onto the airfield, where they waited until the mourners left. The hearses then returned to the hangar and the coffins were reloaded onto the transport plane for the flight to Dover.
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/africa.htm
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