(Columbia) July 1, 2003 - South Carolina and the nation said good-bye to South Carolina's oldest and longest serving US senator on Tuesday. The body of former Senator Strom Thurmond was loaded onto a horse drawn caisson on the south side of the State House. The body was taken to Columbia's First Baptist Church for the funeral, which began at 1:00pm.

The South Carolina Army National Guard Band played "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" as Thurmond's casket was carried down the State House steps. A military honor guard carried the national and South Carolina flags in front of the casket. A red flag with two gold stars was also carried to indicate Thurmond's military rank.

Thurmond's wife, Nancy, and their sons and daughter followed the casket down the steps. Several hundred people were at the State House to watch the ceremony. A light rain fell on the procession.

An honor guard of the US Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard carried the flag draped casket into First Baptist Church on Hampton Street in downtown Columbia. The casket was carried between two lines of General Assembly lawmakers on the church steps. Governor Mark Sanford, former Governor Carroll Campbell and other dignitaries awaited the casket at the top of the steps.

The ceremony began with the choir singing "America the Beautiful" before Thurmond's body was carried into the sanctuary. Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former Senator Bob Dole, Governor Mark Sanford and others filed into the church before the service.

"Onward Christian Soldiers" opened the formal ceremony followed by the national anthem sung by Barbara Bowens. After the anthem, Wendell Estep, pastor of First Baptist Church of Columbia, welcomed those in attendance and spoke briefly about Thurmond.

Thurmond's eulogists made mention of some his past segregationist views, but also noted he was a product of his time who had the courage to learn and to change. They noted how he made a point of reaching out to blacks, coming full circle from his divisive past by voting in 1983 in favor of a holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr.

Vice President Dick Cheney was one of six who delivered eulogies. Cheney praised Thurmond as a patriot, "Always, and above all, he was a proud and brave American patriot. Strom Thurmond's name will live on in American history and in the memory of all who were privileged to know him."

Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D) Delaware spoke about Thurmond's renowned physical vigor, "Not 15 years ago, I was coming across after a vote in the Senate, going up the escalator and a fellow who apparently had held a longtime grudge against Senator Thurmond, a tourist, literally interposed himself between me and Strom and said, 'If you weren't so old I would knock you,' Reverend I won't say what he said, 'I will knock you down.' And I immediately stood between them. And Strom immediately took off his coat and said, 'Hold my coat, Joe.'"

Biden went on to say that Thurmond responded to the man by immediately doing a series of push-ups and then telling the man, "If you weren't so young, I'd knock you down."

Richland Co. Senator Kay Patterson (D) says Thurmond helped people regardless of race, "Helped my constituents through the bureaucratic maze of Social Security. It was Strom that helped my constituents with drainage and sewer projects. Strom touched the many lives here in South Carolina and throughout the nation. He touched yours and he certainly touched mine."

US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Billy Wilkins says Thurmond may no longer be with us, but, "He lives on in his family. He lives on in the laws he passed. He lives on in the institutions he shaped. And he lives on in the people he helped. He lives on in the untold thousands of lives that he touched and he lives on by that shining example he set."

Richland Co. Senator John Courson (R) and Bettis C. Rainford, a businessman from Edgefield and longtime family friend also eulogized the late senator.

After the eulogies, Rev. Fred W. Andrea of Aiken delivered the message where he spoke about Thurmond rising above the frailties of the human condition, "In spite of our inhumanity to one other, there are bright goals that lie ahead worth every ounce of energy one has to give to them. And I do not mean that Strom was never discouraged. I do not mean to suggest that he never saw the darkness. For he did. But for Strom, the darkness did not blot out the stars. The darkness only made the stars seem to glow more brightly."

Thurmond's body was led out of the church by a military guard and a bagpiper playing "Amazing Grace." The family followed behind the casket.

Thurmond was interred at a family plot in his hometown of Edgefield.

Updated 9:14pm by BrettWitt with AP