The John F. Kennedy eternal flame is a monument at the gravesite of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, in Arlington National Cemetery.
After the assassination of the President, the First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, requested an eternal flame for his grave site. She was apparently inspired by the eternal flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ran a gas line to the gravesite, fed by propane tanks from a distance, and the First Lady lit the flame at President Kennedy's burial service. This was seen live on nationwide U.S. television. In March 1965, Kennedy's body was reinterred in its permanent site at the cemetery, alongside a new flame device fed by an underground line of natural gas, all designed and created by the Institute of Gas Technology of Chicago.
The present device rests on top of a five-foot circular granite stone at the head of Kennedy's grave. It produces a continuous spark which re-ignites the flame whenever it is extinguished by any means (usually rain or snow). The device blows a continuous flow of air at the flame, keeping it a uniform color.
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