Reagan remembered anniversary of death

[USA11B]

Reagan remembered on second anniversary of death






By JEFF WILSON, Associated Press Writer
Last Updated: June 5, 2006, 01:45:32 PM PDT

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) - Two years after the death of Ronald Reagan, former first lady Nancy Reagan visited the hilltop grave site of the nation's 40th president and gently tapped his tombstone.

Mrs. Reagan and daughter Patti Davis arrived Monday afternoon at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and went to the gravesite for a private, five-minute visit.

Mrs. Reagan placed a bouquet of white roses at the granite memorial, paused and then gently placed her hand on the headstone.

"It was a poignant moment. You could feel the loss and feel the love," library director Duke Blackwood, who escorted the former first lady, said afterward.

Library visitors were kept about 50 yards away during Monday's visit.

"It's hard to believe it's been two years since Ronnie died, and I miss him every day," Mrs. Reagan said in a statement.

Reagan was 93 when he died June 5, 2004, at his Bel-Air home after a decade-long battle with Alzheimer's disease. He had told the world of his illness in 1994, five years after ending his two-term presidency.

"People from all over the world have written wonderful letters to tell me of their love for Ronnie and their concern for me, and I am so grateful for everyone's kindness and continuing support," Mrs. Reagan said in her statement.

Earlier Monday, son Michael Reagan visited the memorial and prayed, his publicist Michael Sands said. In a statement, Reagan's son noted the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was on its way home to San Diego.

"I wish my father were alive today so he could greet and thank the men and women of the USS Ronald Reagan when they return from the war in Iraq," his son said.
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