Mourning a President – A Conversation with Major William F. Lee: Memories of a Sentinel

As a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps in Washington, D.C. in 1963, Major William F. Lee participated in the Death Watch rotations – sentry duty by the U.S. Armed Forces around the president’s casket – in the East Room of the White House and in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Lee silently observed both private moments of the Kennedy family as well as the nation’s grief as thousands paid their respects at the Capitol.