ATLANTA — The Carter Center bid farewell to its founder Tuesday morning as former President Jimmy Carter started his final journey to Washington, D.C.
As the U.S. Army Field Band from Fort Jackson, South Carolina played “Hail to the Chief” as pallbearers from all the branches of the military carried the casket with Carter’s remains from the Carter Center to the awaiting presidential hearse outside.
Carter’s family, including his four children, stood at attention as the president’s remains were loaded into the hearse.
Finally, under the circle of flags at half-staff, the hearse pulled away taking the former president away from the Carter Center for the last time.
As that happened, members of the Carter Center staff stood outside in the freezing cold for more than an hour to pay their final respects to the former president.
“I think the vision that President Carter set forward for all of us is our North Star,” the Carter Center’s Adam Weiss told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot.
He is in charge of the program that helped eradicate Guinea Worm blindness from the world.
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While their leader may be gone, Weiss promised that the Carter Center’s mission of promoting democracy and ending diseases around the world will not end.
“There will be no change at the Carter Center in terms of our commitment to preventing disease and empowering people to live their best life,” Weiss said.
As the hearse made its way from the Carter Center, the former president’s remains made its way to Dobbins Air Reserve Base to board Special Air Mission 39 to fly to Washington, DC.
Nearly 200 guests arrived to pay their respects before Carter’s departure.
The sun beamed down just as the presidential hearse arrived, a sign of warmth peeking through a somber moment.
Carter’s family, Gov. Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens were among those who attended the ceremony before Carter’s departure.
A long moment of silence never felt so meaningful.
“It’s an honor to be here. A great opportunity,” Navy Sailor Samuel Olivos told Channel 2’s Michele Newell, who participated in the ceremony. “Jimmy Carter laid down a foundation of greatness for this nation. We should respect his life and legacy.”
The ceremony included a 21-gun salute and the United States Army Maneuver Center of Excellence Band performed Carter’s favorite hymns, reflective of the life he lived.
“Jimmy Carter is a person who you should strive to be too. At the same time, we can never reach his level of greatness,” Olivos said.
Carter’s remains were then put onto Special Air Mission 39, where he was flown to Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, DC.
The former president will lie in state in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Building through Wednesday, before his state funeral at the National Cathedral on Thursday. Following the state funeral, he will then be brought back to Georgia for a private family funeral at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, and then his interment next to his wife Rosalynn Carter on the property of their home.
Channel 2’s Richard Elliot and Michele Newell contributed to this article.
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