Death of John Glenn: Historical Half-Staff Archive

Why John Glenn's record needs two timelines

President Barack Obama's December 9, 2016, proclamation ordered half-staff display in memory of John Glenn. The text ends the observance at sunset on the day of interment but does not supply that day's calendar date. Later evidence is therefore essential: the date of a memorial gathering cannot simply be substituted for the date of burial.

NASA's April 6, 2017, interment release confirms that Glenn was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery that day. This was months after the December proclamation. It does not follow, however, that the flag observance ran continuously for that entire interval.

The documented December return to full staff

A Connecticut governor's notice dated December 16, 2016 says that U.S. and state flags should return to full staff at sunset on December 17, in accordance with a proclamation from President Obama. Maryland's official historical flag-status entries likewise record a December 17 sunset restoration attributed to Obama.

These state notices are corroborated by President Barack Obama's December 16, 2016, proclamation returning the United States flag to full staff. Its signed attestation and White House release are both dated December 16. It directs full-staff display beginning at sunset December 17 at the White House, federal public buildings and grounds, military posts, naval stations and federal naval vessels in the District of Columbia, the United States and its territories and possessions. It also directs full-staff display on that day at the listed United States facilities abroad. The text does not name Glenn or expressly call itself a rescission of his earlier proclamation; its restoration direction and the state implementation records establish the December endpoint without implying continuous lowering until April.

Read the published restoration proclamation

Open the official restoration proclamation PDF or download the source PDF. This inline image reproduces the published page; it is not a native PDF viewer. Your browser may open the PDF before offering a download control.

A separate proclamation for the burial

President Donald Trump issued Proclamation 9588 on April 5, 2017, directing half-staff display on the day of Glenn's interment until sunset. Published April 10, that later instrument is a separate presidential action. It does not expressly describe itself as an amendment or rescission of Obama's proclamation.

The resulting chronology is precise: Obama's formal directive on December 9; his restoration proclamation signed December 16, with full-staff display beginning at sunset December 17; Trump's new directive on April 5; and actual interment on April 6. April 6 in Arlington fell in Eastern Daylight Time, while the December restoration notices concern dates in Eastern Standard Time. Neither fact converts a geographically broad sunset provision into one universal clock time.

Scope of Obama's original direction

The December text names the White House and federal buildings, grounds, military posts, naval stations, and naval vessels across the United States and its territories and possessions. The same period applies to the listed U.S. facilities abroad. Keeping this original scope intact, while explaining the later evidence separately, avoids rewriting the proclamation to resolve a historical ambiguity.

Source for the proclamation's dates, language, and scope: Federal Register record for Proclamation 9552 of December 9, 2016. The original published pages are available below. These historical dates are separate from the website publication date of this article.

Full official proclamation text

Federal government text. Line wrapping and page-break hyphenation are normalized; page furniture is omitted. The reproduced signature is shown below.

Proclamation 9552 of December 9, 2016 Death of John Glenn By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

As a mark of respect for the memory of John Glenn, I hereby order, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, on the day of interment. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same period at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-first.

Read the original published document

Read the original published pages

Historical document reproduced from the Federal Register. FORTISVEX is an independent publisher, not a government agency. Select an enlarge link to inspect a page at its full image size. The complete selectable proclamation text remains in the article above.

Open the original official PDF or download the source PDF. Your browser may open the PDF before offering a download control.

To read the original PDF file, open the official PDF or download the source document. Your browser may open the file before offering its download control.