'We Loved This Kind And Tender Hero'

By Dan Balz, Keith B. Richburg and Shailagh Murray, August 30, 2009
On the day he was carried to his final resting place, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was remembered Saturday as a legislator of almost unequalled prowess, a political force who left a lasting imprint on the country and a husband, father and patriarch whose private acts of love and devotion helped his star-crossed family endure tragedy and misfortune. President Obama led the mourners at a solemn Roman Catholic Mass attended by 1,500 people, including three former presidents, at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston, where the Kennedy family dynasty was born. A steady rain fell, adding an elegiac touch to a day already drenched in sorrow.

Martin Edwin Andersen holds a U.S. flag that once flew over the Senate Office (Toni L. Sandys -- The Washington)

After a last flight to Washington, the Massachusetts senator who served for 47 years was laid to rest in gathering darkness near his two slain brothers, John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, on sloping ground at Arlington National Cemetery. Before the burial ceremony, the hearse carrying Kennedy stopped at the plaza on the East Front of the Capitol. There former Kennedy staffers, lawmakers, other congressional aides and members of the public were gathered to pay their respects. SEE MORE @ http://goo.gl/Y16a0Z