PLAINS, Ga. (AP) 鈥� 's long public goodbye began Saturday in south Georgia where the 39th U.S. president's life began more than 100 years ago.
A motorcade with Carter's is heading to his hometown of Plains and past his boyhood home on the way to Atlanta. The procession began at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, where former Secret Service agents who protected the late president served as pallbearers. A mournful train whistle filled the clear air as the pallbearers turned to face the hearse for a final goodbye, their hands on their hearts.
The Carter family, including the former president's four children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, are accompanying their patriarch as his six-day state funeral begins.
The longest-lived U.S. president, Carter died at his home in Plains at the age of 100.
Families lined the procession route in downtown Plains, near the historic train depot where Carter headquartered his presidential campaign. Some carried bouquets of flowers or wore commemorative pins bearing Carter鈥檚 photo.
鈥淲e want to pay our respects,鈥� said 12-year-old Will Porter Shelbrock, who was born more than three decades after Carter left the White House in 1981. 鈥淗e was ahead of his time on what he tried to do and tried to accomplish.鈥�
It was Shelbrock鈥檚 idea to make the trip to Plains from Gainesville, Fla., with his grandmother, Susan Cone, 66, so they could witness the start of Carter's final journey. Shelbrock said he admires Carter for building houses and , and for installing solar panels on the White House.
Carter and , who died in November 2023, were born in Plains and lived in and around the town, with the exceptions of Jimmy's Navy career and his terms as Georgia governor and president.
The procession will stop in front of Carter's home on his family farm just outside of Plains. The National Park Service will ring the old farm bell 39 times to honor his place as the 39th president. Carter's remains then will proceed to Atlanta for a moment of silence in front of the Georgia Capitol and a ceremony at the Carter Presidential Center.
There, he will lie in repose until Tuesday morning, when he will be transported to Washington to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol. His state funeral is Thursday at 10 a.m. at Washington National Cathedral, followed by a return to Plains for an invitation-only funeral at .
He will be buried near his home, next to Rosalynn Carter.
___
Bill Barrow, based in Atlanta, has covered national politics including multiple presidential campaigns for the AP since 2012.
Kate Payne And Bill Barrow, The Associated Press
