For those of us who were only children at the time of the event - I was in 5th grade in a school in the L.A. area of CA - it is one of those things that is indelibly fixed in our memory with vivid clarity. I was sitting in my classroom on Friday, Nov. 22nd - we were all watching a broadcast of a Spanish language lesson (I don't recall which of the 4 stations - ABC, NBC, CBS or PBS - it was on; most likely PBS) at around mid-morning - when our teacher suddenly switched the channel after getting of his phone. Walter Cronkite broke into the show on that channel and announced that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas, Texas. At that moment another teacher - who was standing in the doorway monitoring the class - gasped loudly in reaction, placed her hand over her mouth to silence it, and went down the hall in shock. We all sat in our seats, glued to the television set - which was only black and white then - and tried to comprehend just what the news man was actually telling us about. It was obviously serious, for, when Cronkite took his glasses off and wiped a tear welling up in his eye, this display of emotion was not common.
By early afternoon an announcement was made over the school's P.A. (Public Announcement) system that school was being cancelled, and that buses would be taking us home immediately. This was around 1:00 PM PST. I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the floor of our TV viewing area watching what unfolded in the news through the rest of that afternoon and evening, as well as the rest of the weekend.
Interestingly, the Press Secretary, Malcolm Killdoff, who gave a press briefing said that the doctor determined that the president died of a gunshot wound right to the head as he raised his right arm and pointed his finger directly to the area directly above the right eye on the skull. Yet, we were told that Oswald shot him with the rifle from the 6th floor window of the Texas Schoolbook Depository, from the rear. Footage from the documentary about the event titled, "The Men Who Killed Kennedy" has images of the police on the 6th floor of the building looking at the rifle with the voiceover saying, "It was an Italian Manlicher Carcano, WWII vintage, worn and rusty, and with a misaligned scope." Question... how can a marksman use a rifle with a misaligned scope to shoot someone with any chance of accuracy?
We learned of Officer J.D. Tippit being killed by a gunman, then the arrest of a suspect found in a theater not far away from there that day. Then, there was what I believe was the first ever "live on television" murder of Lee H. Oswald by Jack Ruby in the basement of the Dallas Police Hdqrts. a few days later (Sunday) when he was being transferred to another jail facility. Ruby was the owner of a strip club in downtown Dallas and it was later discovered that he was connected with the mob.
I believe it was Monday or Tuesday - school was still out due to the national mourning being observed - when the funeral procession happened. It was a long day of formal pomp and circumstance with all the trappings of state proceedings; his flag draped coffin on a wagon wheeled cart pulled by at least eight white horses and squads of soldiers from every branch of the military. Ahead of the cart was another black stallion - stunningly beautiful - with black boots placed in the stirrups backwards, full of energy to the point of the soldier who was walking next to it nearly lost control several times as he held onto its reigns. Our speculation was that someone forgot to tire this black beauty out the day before, or it was over excited by all the people lining the streets, watching in reverent silence as the coffin passed slowly by; the horses' hooves clip-clopping on the hard pavement, piercing the somber mood covering the days event.
Once the procession reached to capitol building, the coffin was moved into the rotunda underneath the vaulted dome to lay in state for a period while hundreds of thousands of mourners filed slowly and quietly passed it. At some point, Mrs. Kennedy, accompanied by Teddy & Bobby Kennedy, along with Caroline and "Little John" visited the coffin there, and the nation, if not the world, was riveted and mesmerized by the scene. A few days later the ceremony at Arlington Cemetery took place and the nation was by now, fatigued by the drawn out ordeal of mourning its loved President... almost relieved that it was coming to an end.
As the Warren Commission, led by the former Director of the C.I.A. - whom Kennedy had fired from the position earlier - Allen Dulles, and other members of the commission, interviewed Jack Ruby in jail. He pleaded to be removed from Dallas to testify in Washington, D.C. and on camera stated, in answering a reporter's question as to whether the reason the truth behind it all would be withheld from the people of the country because of individuals in high places of the government, he replied, "Yes!"
Over the next several years, the nation's innocence shattered, the new administration under Pres. Johnson began gradually escalating the war in Vietnam by sending more military advisors and troops. At the same time, the "Flower Revolution" hit the Haight/Ashbury district of San Francisco, CA only 70 miles south of where I was going to middle-school. As I reached high school, drugs were steadily proliferating our experience as our friends encouraged us to "drop out, drop in, and become enlightened" by taking an array of psychotropic drugs which supposedly would expand our horizons. At the UC Berkeley campus, protests against the "establishment" of the day were fighting police for the cause of free speech.
Amidst these years was a cultural revolution which resulted in riots in various urban areas of the country, with regular anti-Vietnam War protest marches and black arm bands worn on one arm to show "solidarity". Today, 45 years later, we're experience de ja vous,, all over again, with the new "resistance" attempting to shut down free speech because they're offended by opposing political views. How ironic! It seems our "Organizer-in-Chief" of the previous administration was effective in dividing our society using identity politics by implementing tactics and strategies espoused by his mentor, Saul Alinsky.
Footnote: I believe I understand why the CIA is not allowing all the documents released on the JFK assassination.
I
suspect that very few have ever seen the full series. If any did,
they've long forgotten the details revealed. Produced and aired by the
History Channel years ago, the 9th episode of the series is the most
plausible regarding who had the most to win in having JFK eliminated;
for both legal and political reasons. Once gone, he would then be
protected by the Secret Service.
If
this particular presentation doesn't have the most convincing testimony
by people close to the situation, then none make sense. I urge you to watch
this one episode and determine for yourself whether there's any worth to
it.
Here is the complete series for this documentary produced by Nigel Turner and aired by the History Channel:
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