A memorial service this morning at the State Capitol gave the State and Nation’s final farewell to United States Senator Robert C. Byrd. Senator Byrd died early this week in a northern Virginia hospital and was the longest serving Senator in the history of the country. President Obama and Vice President Biden attended and participated in the service. Senator Byrd laid in repose in the United States Senate Chamber on Thursday before being flown to Charleston on a West Virginia Air National Guard C-130. Upon arrival in Charleston, his body was transported from the Robert C. Byrd Federal Courthouse in downtown Charleston by a horse-drawn caisson to the State Capitol where the public paid their respects throughout the night. Senator Byrd will be buried in a northern Virginia cemetery, beside his wife, Erma.
