Pomp on slate for farewell to Thurmond

An honor guard salutes the casket containing the body of Sen. Strom Thurmond as he lies in state in the S.C. Statehouse Monday afternoon. Staff/Owen Riley Jr. e-mail this story to a friend Related Related stories: • Thurmond funeral reminiscent of Byrnes memorial • Remembering a legend Photo gallery • View a gallery of images from Monday

Vice President Dick Cheney will attend the 1 p.m. service at Columbia's 3,300-seat First Baptist Church and will be one of the speakers. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will also be among the Washington dignitaries in attendance.

Ron McLendon, a spokesman for the Military District of Washington, which is involved in the funeral planning and logistics, said 45 to 65 members of the Senate may attend. He would not identify them.

Burial will follow in the Thurmond family plot at Edgefield's Willowbrook Cemetery.

Jennifer Millerhouse, Cheney's spokeswoman, said the vice president's remarks will be "a tribute to (Thurmond's) life."

Thurmond died at age 100 Thursday night at Edgefield County Hospital where he had occupied a two-room suite since his Senate term ended Jan. 5.

The oldest and longest serving senator was also a former judge, governor, World War II combat veteran, retired Army Reserve major general, Armed Services Committee chairman and one of Congress' most vociferous supporters of the military.

From 9 a.m. through 7 p.m., mourners filed by Thurmond's flag-draped casket in the second-floor lobby of the Statehouse, under its massive dome. Sunday, people passed the casket and visited briefly with Thurmond family members, State Protective Services officers said. The family was not present Monday.

By day's end Monday, the two-day total of people passing the casket reached 4,577, according to the electronic counter at the security checkpoint at the Statehouse's public entrance.

Jonathan Spencer of Columbia was one of them.

"I'd heard so many good things about him, the lives that he has touched, so I wanted to come pay my respects and go down in history as one of the people who came to see him," Spencer said.

The lying in state will continue today from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. At 12:30 p.m. the casket will be placed on a horse-drawn artillery caisson for the four-block procession to the church at 1306 Hampton St.

SLED Chief Robert Stewart declined to discuss security arrangements, including whether those attending the funeral will have to pass through Magnetomers and have their purses searched.

SLED is assisting the U.S. Secret Service, which is involved because it is responsible for security at any site occupied by the vice president.

McLendon said those attending the funeral service will have to pass through Magnetometers. Mourners will not be allowed to bring in still or video cameras, cell phones, beepers, pagers or recording devices, and should not carry any sharp objects in their pockets or purses.

Stewart said the church is large and should provide ample room for those attending, but he advised arriving early because security checks will slow access.

He said the doors will open at 11 a.m.

Much of the planning for the funeral involved officers from the Military District of Washington, but some details, including who will speak besides Cheney, were not announced by late Monday afternoon.

State Sen. John Courson, R-Columbia, had been handling media relations for the Thurmond family, but his office deferred comment on funeral service details to the Shellhouse Funeral Home. An employee said any information would have to come from Military District officials in Edgefield and Columbia.

McLendon said at mid-afternoon that changes were being made in the funeral service and he could not comment on speakers.

Kevin Bishop, a spokesman for Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said a Senate group would fly from Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, assemble at the Statehouse to pay their respects before the casket, and then motorcade to the church. They will not attend the burial service, he said.

Millerhouse said that Cheney will go directly to the church and return to Washington after the service.

Officials urged mourners to seek out parking decks that loosely ring the church, which has few parking places.

On-street parking in downtown Columbia is limited and metered with limits of 30 minutes, one hour and two hours.

Large parking garages near the church and Statehouse are accessible from Assembly Street between Gervais and Lady streets, and from Sumter, Marion and Gervais streets.

The procession to the church will begin at the Statehouse's north side, turn right onto Gervais Street, then left onto Sumter Street and right onto Hampton.

The funeral procession to Edgefield will travel from the church to Interstate 20, taking Exit 18 onto State Road 19 and U.S. 25 into Edgefield.

By mid-afternoon Monday, city crews in Columbia had delivered stacks of disassembled sawhorses for blocking streets crossing the procession's route.

At the church, which sprawls over a full city block, sextons power washed walkways and sidewalks.

Television satellite trucks have staked out parking places around the perimeter.

Jim McMahon of South Carolina Educational Television said most commercial stations in the state will air its live feed of the funeral, including WYFF.

SCETV will not broadcast the funeral, but will air it on tape at 10 p.m. Officials said they didn't want to interrupt regularly scheduled children's programs.

James T. Hammond of the Columbia bureau contributed to this report.

Dan Hoover covers politics and can be reached at 298-4883