WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Speakers, including U.S. President George Bush and his father, Tuesday hailed former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford during a memorial service in Washington.
Ford, who died last week in California, lay in state in Washington for two days and his casket was visited by thousands, including the current U.S. president and his wife, Laura Bush; former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara; and former President Bill Clinton, and his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
In addition to the Bushes, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw eulogized Ford as a decent man who always tried to do the right thing during the service at Washington National Cathedral.
The younger Bush escorted former first lady Betty Ford as she entered the cathedral.
A military band played "Hail to the Chief" as Ford's casket was removed from cathedral, to begin the trip to Grand Rapids, Mich., where he will be buried Wednesday in a hillside tomb at his presidential museum as a 21-aircraft flyover in missing-man formation jets up the Grand River.
A motorcade took the casket to the cathedral for the nearly two-hour memorial service, during which the church's bell tolled 38 times, to mark Ford's term as the 38th president.
