Lauren Bessette

Lauren Gail Bessette, 34, who died along with her younger sister Carolyn and brother-in-law John F. Kennedy Jr. in the crash of Kennedy's plane off Martha's Vineyard, Mass., Friday night, was a highly successful financial executive with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Friends and colleagues described her as brilliant and driven, with a dry sense of humor and a nearly photographic memory.

Regarding the recovery of John F. Kennedy Jr.'s aircraft, July 22: It's reassuring to know that if my loved ones go down at sea in a private plane the combined might of the Coast Guard, Navy, NOAA, the White House, local law enforcement and the press corps will charge out there and make it their "first priority" to get them back. I just remembered that I'm not wealthy--that wouldn't have anything to do with it, would it? MATTHEW P. MACKENZIE Temple City I do not feel that President Clinton has to explain to anyone why he used the Coast Guard to search for the bodies of the Kennedys and Lauren Bessette.

Speaking in Providence, R.I., for his grief-stricken relatives, Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.) thanked Americans for their expressions of sympathy over the death of his cousin, John F. Kennedy Jr. "It made an enormous difference in my family's ability to cope with this very tragic loss," said Kennedy, 32, a son of U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.). JFK Jr.'s private plane crashed off Martha's Vineyard, Mass.

Speaking in Providence, R.I., for his grief-stricken relatives, Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.) thanked Americans for their expressions of sympathy over the death of his cousin, John F. Kennedy Jr. "It made an enormous difference in my family's ability to cope with this very tragic loss," said Kennedy, 32, a son of U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.). JFK Jr.'s private plane crashed off Martha's Vineyard, Mass.

Regarding the recovery of John F. Kennedy Jr.'s aircraft, July 22: It's reassuring to know that if my loved ones go down at sea in a private plane the combined might of the Coast Guard, Navy, NOAA, the White House, local law enforcement and the press corps will charge out there and make it their "first priority" to get them back. I just remembered that I'm not wealthy--that wouldn't have anything to do with it, would it? MATTHEW P. MACKENZIE Temple City I do not feel that President Clinton has to explain to anyone why he used the Coast Guard to search for the bodies of the Kennedys and Lauren Bessette.

Friends and family members gathered Saturday to bid a final, heartfelt farewell to Lauren Bessette and her sister Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, who perished with John F. Kennedy Jr. in a plane crash in the Atlantic Ocean. In the week since the accident, there have been countless eulogies for the 38-year-old son of Camelot, the husband of Carolyn.

To the accompaniment of gospel and reggae music, and to the words of Shakespeare and Irish bards, family and friends bade a final farewell Friday to John F. Kennedy Jr., remembered by his uncle as a young man of wit and grace who, like his father, "had every gift but length of years." Continuing a sad tradition that has seen him take charge through decades of family tragedy, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.

In a simple, solemn ceremony aboard a Navy destroyer, the ashes of John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and Lauren Bessette were committed to the ocean Thursday morning, not far from where they died last week when their private plane spiraled into the sea. About 15 Kennedy and Bessette family members were present for the somber farewell on the deck of the Briscoe, about five miles off Martha's Vineyard.

The "splash-down point" of John F. Kennedy Jr.'s plane was roughly identified on Tuesday, and federal officials provided more details of the flight's final minutes. As Kennedy descended toward Martha's Vineyard, in what appeared to be a normal approach, he sharply turned to the right and then the plane dropped rapidly to the water, diving at 10 times the normal rate, officials said Tuesday.

Search crews frantically looking for survivors or significant wreckage of the small plane carrying John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife and his sister-in-law found neither for a second day Sunday, and gave up on finding any of the three alive.

Friends and family members gathered Saturday to bid a final, heartfelt farewell to Lauren Bessette and her sister Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, who perished with John F. Kennedy Jr. in a plane crash in the Atlantic Ocean. In the week since the accident, there have been countless eulogies for the 38-year-old son of Camelot, the husband of Carolyn.

Two flatbed trucks under police escort transported wreckage from the John F. Kennedy Jr. plane crash to a Coast Guard hangar here, where it will be examined in detail by federal investigators. Kennedy's single-engine Piper Saratoga, described as "twisted metal," arrived late Friday night, a Coast Guard official said.

Here is the text of the eulogy delivered Friday by John F. Kennedy Jr.'s uncle Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.): Thank you, President and Mrs. Clinton and Chelsea, for being here today. You've shown extraordinary kindness through the course of this week. Once, when they asked John what he would do if he went into politics and was elected president, he said, "I guess the first thing is call up Uncle Teddy and gloat." I loved that. It was so like his father.

To the accompaniment of gospel and reggae music, and to the words of Shakespeare and Irish bards, family and friends bade a final farewell Friday to John F. Kennedy Jr., remembered by his uncle as a young man of wit and grace who, like his father, "had every gift but length of years." Continuing a sad tradition that has seen him take charge through decades of family tragedy, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.

If you dare to raise questions about any of this, you're immediately branded a heartless, soulless, mindless cretin. However . . . Now that John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife and sister-in-law have been buried at sea on live television--delivered there Thursday like heads of state and eulogized by somber celebrity anchors against a medley of chopper pictures from the heavens and file footage of a toddling John-John--doesn't this set a precedent?

In death, John F. Kennedy Jr. proved to be that rarest of celebrity: one who unleashes a national outpouring of shared grief. Celebrities lurk in front of every camera in this era of 500 cable television channels, but those whose deaths became occasions for spontaneous demonstrations of emotion in recent decades can be counted on one's fingers--and most of them are Kennedys. Princess Diana was the most recent before John Kennedy Jr. In the 1960s, his father and uncle, John F.

The flight of John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife and sister-in-law was normal until about 17 miles from the airport off Martha's Vineyard, when the plane suddenly lost altitude in an apparent "graveyard spiral," an indication that pilot error was the most likely cause of the crash, air safety experts said Monday. The plane lost 1,100 feet in only 14 seconds--a descent rate of 4,700 feet per minute--before it disappeared from radar coverage, National Transportation Safety Board officials said.

The search for the remains of John F. Kennedy Jr. in the waters off Martha's Vineyard, Mass., was more aggressive and sophisticated than efforts usually launched for average citizens. But federal officials said that--at least in the early days when the focus was on finding survivors from Kennedy's missing plane--the mission essentially was like thousands of others. "Until just a couple of days ago . . .

In a simple, solemn ceremony aboard a Navy destroyer, the ashes of John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and Lauren Bessette were committed to the ocean Thursday morning, not far from where they died last week when their private plane spiraled into the sea. About 15 Kennedy and Bessette family members were present for the somber farewell on the deck of the Briscoe, about five miles off Martha's Vineyard.

The search for the remains of John F. Kennedy Jr. in the waters off Martha's Vineyard, Mass., was more aggressive and sophisticated than efforts usually launched for average citizens. But federal officials said that--at least in the early days when the focus was on finding survivors from Kennedy's missing plane--the mission essentially was like thousands of others. "Until just a couple of days ago . . .