November 22, 2013
JFK+50 HONORS THE MEMORY OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH
Dallas (JFK+50) 50 years ago today at 12:30 p.m. CST, November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated here in Dallas, Texas.
The President was shot while riding through the streets of the city in an open automobile. Most witnesses reported hearing 3 shots as JFK was traveling down Elm Street in Dealey Plaza.
JFK was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital where doctors attempted valiantly to save his life. The President was wounded just below the Adam's Apple and had sustained a major injury of the right side of the head.*
*JFK also had a bullet entry wound in the upper back, 5 1/2 inches below the collar line, but since the ER doctors did not turn him over, they did not see this wound.
The 35th President of the United States was officially declared dead at 1:00 p.m. CST. Assistant Press Secretary Malcolm Kilduff made the formal announcement in a classroom at the hospital.
Vice-President Lyndon Johnson, who was riding in another car in the motorcade and was not hurt, was spirited from the hospital to Air Force One at Love Field where he took the oath of office and became the 36th United States President at 2:38 p.m.
Lee Harvey Oswald, an employee of the Texas School Book Depository, was charged with both the assassination of JFK and also the killing of Dallas police officer, J.D. Tippit in an effort to escape.
On Sunday morning, November 24, as Oswald was in the process of being transferred to County Jail, the alleged assassin was shot by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby.
Oswald died less than 2 hours later.
President Kennedy was buried on Monday, November 25, 1963 in Arlington National Cemetery. By request of his wife, Jacqueline, his grave was marked with an Eternal Flame.
Ten months later the President's Commission on the Assassination of John F. Kennedy headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren issued a report saying that JFK was the victim of a lone assassin and that there was no evidence of conspiracy "foreign or domestic."
President Barack Obama has declared that today, November 22, 2013 the Flag of the United States of America will be lowered to half-staff in memory of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
AMERICA LOSES A PRESIDENT, A TEENAGER LOSES A HERO
Knoxville, Tennessee (JFK+50) I was a 15 year old sophomore at Young High School here in Knoxville 50 years ago today, November 22, 1963.
We were in an afternoon class when our principal came on the intercom and announced that President Kennedy had been shot.
In a state of shock, we listened to the "on the air" radio reports from Dallas.
When the announcement came that the President had died, the principal shut the radio off and asked us to stand at attention as the school bugle corps played "Taps" and the American Flag was lowered to half-staff.
The moment that we learned John F. Kennedy had died was one that I will never forget. Other than the loss of family members and close friends, it remains the saddest day of my life.
When my Dad came home from work late that night, he had with him the day's
final edition of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
JFK+50 HONORS THE MEMORY OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH
Dallas (JFK+50) 50 years ago today at 12:30 p.m. CST, November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated here in Dallas, Texas.
The President was shot while riding through the streets of the city in an open automobile. Most witnesses reported hearing 3 shots as JFK was traveling down Elm Street in Dealey Plaza.
JFK was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital where doctors attempted valiantly to save his life. The President was wounded just below the Adam's Apple and had sustained a major injury of the right side of the head.*
*JFK also had a bullet entry wound in the upper back, 5 1/2 inches below the collar line, but since the ER doctors did not turn him over, they did not see this wound.
The 35th President of the United States was officially declared dead at 1:00 p.m. CST. Assistant Press Secretary Malcolm Kilduff made the formal announcement in a classroom at the hospital.
Vice-President Lyndon Johnson, who was riding in another car in the motorcade and was not hurt, was spirited from the hospital to Air Force One at Love Field where he took the oath of office and became the 36th United States President at 2:38 p.m.
Lee Harvey Oswald, an employee of the Texas School Book Depository, was charged with both the assassination of JFK and also the killing of Dallas police officer, J.D. Tippit in an effort to escape.
On Sunday morning, November 24, as Oswald was in the process of being transferred to County Jail, the alleged assassin was shot by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby.
Oswald died less than 2 hours later.
President Kennedy was buried on Monday, November 25, 1963 in Arlington National Cemetery. By request of his wife, Jacqueline, his grave was marked with an Eternal Flame.
Ten months later the President's Commission on the Assassination of John F. Kennedy headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren issued a report saying that JFK was the victim of a lone assassin and that there was no evidence of conspiracy "foreign or domestic."
President Barack Obama has declared that today, November 22, 2013 the Flag of the United States of America will be lowered to half-staff in memory of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
AMERICA LOSES A PRESIDENT, A TEENAGER LOSES A HERO
Knoxville, Tennessee (JFK+50) I was a 15 year old sophomore at Young High School here in Knoxville 50 years ago today, November 22, 1963.
We were in an afternoon class when our principal came on the intercom and announced that President Kennedy had been shot.
In a state of shock, we listened to the "on the air" radio reports from Dallas.
When the announcement came that the President had died, the principal shut the radio off and asked us to stand at attention as the school bugle corps played "Taps" and the American Flag was lowered to half-staff.
The moment that we learned John F. Kennedy had died was one that I will never forget. Other than the loss of family members and close friends, it remains the saddest day of my life.
When my Dad came home from work late that night, he had with him the day's
final edition of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel
November 22, 1963
Final Edition
JFK SAYS: "THERE ARE NO FAINT HEARTS IN FORT WORTH"
Fort Worth, Texas (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy began his last day on earth, November 22, 1963, addressing a crowd of 5000 outside the Texas Hotel here in Fort Worth.
Before going down to speak, the President said...
"If somebody wanted to shoot me from a window with a rifle, nobody can stop it, so why worry?"
The people had waited for hours in a damp, drizzling rain. JFK's first words to them were...
"There are no faint hearts in Fort Worth."
Someone shouted: "Where's Jackie?"
The President smiled and answered...
"She's organizing herself. It takes longer, but she looks better than we do when she does it."
After the speech, JFK went down the rope line shaking hands and then disappeared back inside the hotel where he and the First Lady would attend a Chamber of Commerce breakfast.
After giving his last speech, JFK flew to nearby Dallas.
"MR. PRESIDENT, YOU CAN'T SAY THAT DALLAS DOESN'T LOVE YOU"
Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) After landing at Love Field here in Dallas at 11:37 a.m. CST, President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy joined Governor John Connally and his wife Nellie in the Presidential limo for a motorcade through the city.
JFK was scheduled to give a luncheon address at the Trade Mart.
Thousands of people lined the route, holding signs, smiling and waving.
Mrs. Connally was so pleased with the reception, she turned to JFK, just after they made the turn from Main to Houston Street, and said...
"Mr. President, you can't say that Dallas doesn't love you."
Then the Presidential car turned in front of a red brick building called, The Texas School Book Depository, onto Elm Street, and the rest, unfortunately, is history.
IF OSWALD KILLED JFK, WHY DID HE DO IT?
Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) Millions of people in the United States and around the world remember this day 50 years ago when the youngest elected President in history, John F. Kennedy, was shot down here in Dallas.
Thousands will come to this city for a memorial service and an annual conference on the assassination.
The airways of radio and television have been literally filled with JFK programming over the past couple of weeks. Newspapers, magazines and new books have covered the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's death in detail.
Many Americans and people from nations around the world believe a conspiracy was behind the assassination, even 50 years after the fact.
One of them, however, is not James Swanson whose latest book, "End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy" has just been published.
Mr. Swanson discounts the possibility that any other individual was involved either in the planning or execution of the assassination.
He does admit, however, that the alleged lone assassin's motive is unclear.
Swanson writes...
"Perhaps his motive was not politics but fame. Anyone who remembers John Kennedy remembers the man who murdered him."
While the first part of this comment can be questioned, the second part is surely without question.
James Swanson surmises that if Oswald's motive was neither politics nor fame, then perhaps the answer...
"lies beyond rational human understanding: Lee Harvey Oswald was evil."
Texas School Book Depository
Photo by Andrew J. Oldaker
Uploaded by
Weatherdrew@en.wikipedia
