Devastating details of JFK Jr's ultra-secretive burial at sea are revealed for the first time - including his sister Caroline's heart-breaking display of grief as she said her final goodbye

Heart-wrenching caller specifications astir JFK Jr's funeral astatine oversea person been revealed for nan very first clip - 25 years aft nan erstwhile President's boy was laid to remainder alongside his woman Carolyn during nan incredibly secretive ceremony. 

In a caller book JFK Jr: An Intimate Oral Biography, by RoseMarie Terenzio and Liz McNeil, nan 2 Navy chaplains who presided complete nan funeral speak retired astir nan arena - which was, astatine nan time, shrouded successful enigma and kept mostly hidden from nan public. 

Chaplain Barry C Black discloses that he personally carried nan urns containing nan ashes of some John and his woman Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. A Roman Catholic leader carried Carolyn's sister Lauren's remains aft each 3 perished successful a tragic level clang disconnected nan seashore of Martha's Vineyard connected July 16, 1999. 

'I've officiated astatine complete a 100 funerals,' he says. 'I person not seen specified palpable condolences anyplace other successful my life.'

Unlike nan wide held astatine nan Church of St Thomas More connected Manhattan's Upper East Side - which was attended by celebrities and politicians, and was covered by hundreds of journalists - nan scattering of nan ashes was a purely family affair. 

Just 17 group were successful attendance, including Ted Kennedy, John's elder sister Caroline and her hubby Ed, Bobby Kennedy, and Maria Shriver.

There was a azygous infinitesimal of controversy, recalls chaplain Louis Iasiello, explaining that civilians are mostly not entitled to a funeral astatine oversea from a Naval vessel.

However, he adds: 'President Clinton quickly put an extremity to that discussion. When nan Commander successful Chief says this is what's going to happen, that's precisely what happens.'

The ashes of John, Carolyn, and Lauren, were scattered disconnected nan destroyer USS Briscoe, anchored adjacent to wherever they had mislaid their lives successful a level clang six days earlier.

'When it came clip to put nan ashes successful nan water,' says Black, 'I first led nan Bessettes down.'

As nan ashes went into nan water, they clumped together, he recalls, then, 'like personification from Harry Potter rubbing it pinch a wand, nan clump conscionable disappeared.'

Next, he led John's grief-stricken sister Caroline down nan steps of nan vessel. He says she touched nan urn arsenic if to awesome that she wasn't fresh to fto spell of her relative truthful quickly.

'I calmed her and we went down,' he says. 'I mean, ohio my God, contorted pinch condolences is not moreover an capable description. I tin still spot her. 

'She put nan ashes in. As nan ashes were pouring, she reached her manus into nan h2o to put immoderate h2o backmost connected her.'

He imagined her thinking: 'I'm not going to fto spell of his hand.'

Another chaplain, William Petruska, past recalls really Teddy took Caroline successful his arms arsenic she came backmost up from nan water. 'They embraced for a bully agelong while... He squeezed his eyes unopen and clenched his jaw. It was specified a grimace of pain.'

He adds: 'We had taken 3 beautiful wreaths pinch us: reddish and achromatic carnations pinch reddish roses. They were ne'er used. One of nan family members had a canvas container pinch chaotic flowers. They each took immoderate and threw them complete nan broadside arsenic nan ashes were scattered.

'I noticed that members of nan Bessette family threw envelopes into nan h2o arsenic well.'

John Kennedy Jr, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and Lauren Bessette died successful a tragic level crash disconnected Martha's Vineyard successful July 1999. 

JFK Jr was piloting nan aircraft, and nan book includes an in-depth introspection of what mightiness person happened successful those last moments, based connected nan National Transportation Safety Board's investigations.

'If I were sitting down pinch a friend and they asked what happened to JFK Jr, here's what I'd say,' recounts nan NTSB's Jeff Guzzetti.

'He took disconnected conscionable aft sunset from New Jersey. I don't deliberation he intended connected taking disconnected astatine night, but it conscionable worked retired that way.'

As he followed nan Connecticut and Rhode Island coastline, he astir apt had nary sky to follow, says Guzzetti, because it was dark, nan upwind was hazy, and he was complete nan ocean.

Those conditions would person required him to beryllium trained successful utilizing his instruments - 'however, he was not trained for instrumentality flying. He was trained to look extracurricular to get his ocular cues. There were nary ocular cues.'

Guzzetti believes he was connected autopilot for astir of nan journey, but arsenic he turned towards Martha's Vineyard, he disengaged either connected intent aliases by accident. and his flying became erratic.

'His formation way into nan h2o is suggestive of thing called spatial disorientation,' he says, describing really his soul ears would person been playing tricks pinch his consciousness of orientation. 

'Your soul receptor says you're turning to nan near and you're really not. So you correct to nan right, reasoning that you're leveling nan airplane.'

Those actions had fatal consequences: 'His formation way into nan h2o is accordant pinch what is known arsenic a graveyard spiral. The airplane makes a spiral nose-down, down, down to nan grave, benignant of for illustration going down a drain.' 

He believes nan trade past went into 1 last move earlier plunging, nose-down, into nan Atlantic, sidesplitting each 3 passengers instantly.

JFK Jr: An Intimate Oral Biography by RoseMarie Terenzio and Liz McNeil, is published by Gallery Books