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Tuesday, January 27, 2015

SENATOR YARBOROUGH'S AFFIDAVIT

"THE MOST TRAGIC EVENT OF MY LIFE"

Tahlequah, Oklahoma (JFK+50) Recently we received an email from Norma Boren, the wife of the late Dr. James H. Boren who served as Chief of Staff to Texas Senator Ralph Yarborough.

Mrs. Boren was kind enough to share some of her recollections about her husband's experiences during those days.  She said that her husband was in Washington, D.C. on November 22, 1963 and that he met the Senator upon his arrival back from Dallas.

Senator Yarborough shared with Dr. Boren the account of that terrible day. Mrs. Boren says that the Senator was never asked to testify by the Warren Commission but was permitted to submit a written affidavit.

In this document, the Senator wrote that he heard "a loud blast" which came from close by, followed by two more shots.  It was his view that the first two shots were closer together than the third and that all the shots seemed to come from the area of the railroad tracks.

The affidavit is dated July 10, 1964.

Mrs. Boren accompanied her husband to visit Ralph when he was in his 90s. She says that at that time he still did not agree with the conclusions of the Warren Report.  

The Senator was riding in the back seat of an open car with Vice-President and Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson at the time of the shooting.   He described his witnessing the assassination of JFK on November 22, 1963 as "the most tragic event of my life."


Senator Ralph Yarborough
Texas (D)

RALPH YARBOROUGH DIES

Austin, Texas (JFK+50) Texas Senator Ralph Yarborough died 19 years ago today, January 27, 1996, here in Austin.  

Ralph Webster Yarborough was born in 1903 and graduated from the University of Texas Law School in 1927.  He became State Attorney General and was in the US Army during WWII.

RWY served as US Senator from 1957-1971 and led the liberal wing of the Texas Democratic Party.  He was the only Southern Senator to vote for every civil rights bill proposed between 1957 and 1970.


INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBERANCE DAY

New York City (JFK+50) One decade ago today, the United Nations designated January 27 as International Holocaust Rememberance Day.

The largest death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau located in Poland, was liberated by Soviet troops on January 27, 1945. 


United States Holocaust Museum 
Photo by John White (2007)