Amanda Davis kneeled in the warm afternoon sunshine Wednesday and laid the granite box containing remains of her father on the Arlington National Cemetery burial plot.

She kissed the box engraved "Capt. Edward A. Davis, USN (Retired), Aug. 16, 1959 - Nov. 7, 2006" and left a red rose beside it.

The gesture concluded a majestic funeral for Davis, a decorated Vietnam War hero and Pennsylvania native who was buried with full military honors before about 250 mourners and military officers.

Among those were about 45 people from Sertoma Club of Lancaster, where Davis was a member.

Davis, 67, a prisoner of war for 7½ years in Hanoi, Vietnam, was cremated after dying of cancer Nov. 7 at Lancaster County's Essa Flory Hospice Center. Two memorial services held in Lancaster for Davis about a week after his death drew hundreds of people.

The military burial at Arlington was scheduled to mark the anniversary of Davis' marriage proposal to his wife, Karen Wheeler Davis.

The hourlong service started at 1:05 p.m., after a trio of military jets flew above the cemetery.

Six white horses pulled the caisson and the flag-draped casket. Because Davis was cremated, a compartment in the casket contained the box of his remains.

About 25 members of the U.S. Navy Band, dressed in white uniforms, played as the officers aboard the horses pulled away from the 30-foot-high McClellan Gate, near the main entrance to the cemetery.

Karen Davis, flanked by her two adult stepdaughters, Amanda Davis and Jennifer E. Meyer, slowly walked behind the caisson for about 200 yards until reaching the interment site.

After reaching the grave, nine members of the Davis family sat in black velvet chairs under a canopy as a Navy chaplain spoke about service to country, God and experiencing peace.

Six Navy seamen held the outstretched American flag above the granite box of Davis' remains as the chaplain spoke.

A 21-gun salute punctured the quiet. Some mourners wiped away tears after hearing the chaplain reflect on Davis' patriotism and selfless devotion to others.

Near the line of seven soldiers holding rifles, a bugler played "Taps."

The seamen folded the flag and handed it to a Naval officer, who extended it to Karen Davis.

Still seated, Karen Davis cradled the fabric and said, "Thank you."

Amanda Davis placed the box containing the remains at the grave, beside which were placed several coins, a medallion and flowers.

The coins, a military funeral tradition, symbolized someone giving their last nickel away.

A headstone had yet to be placed at the plot as of Wednesday.

An Air Force veteran who died in 2004 and an World War II Army sergeant who died in 2001 also rest in the row of graves where Davis' remains were buried.

Edward Davis, a Philadelphia native and 1962 Naval Academy graduate and pilot, conducted 57 combat missions during the Vietnam War before being shot down Aug. 26, 1965, over North Vietnam.

He endured more than seven years as a prisoner of war before returning to the U.S. on Feb. 12, 1973.

Davis was the commanding officer of the Navy Recruiting Center in Harrisburg. He moved to Millersville in 1984 and later served on the Penn Manor School District Board of Directors.

Davis was awarded three Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit with Combat Citation, four Bronze Stars with Valor Device, five Air Medals, two Purple Hearts and three Navy Commendation Medals with Valor Device before retiring from the Navy in 1987.

Davis also was a motivational speaker, but he rarely revealed details of the years he spent as a POW.

In a 1989 newspaper interview, Davis said surviving the ordeal was difficult.

"When you find yourself under starvation and torture for not just minutes but hours and days, you find out what's on your mind," he said.

The experience changed his outlook on life.

"I'm very much a today person, a here-and-now person," he said.

"I don't think much about making future plans or travel and so on. There's enough to keep me fascinated right where I am."

E-mail: blovelace@lnpnews.com