America Remembers John F. Kennedy 50 Years Later after that Fateful Day … “Anybody here seen my old friend John?”

November 22, 1963 … the day that shook America in Dallas, TX.

For those that were alive on that fateful day, yesterday most Americans remembered where they were the day that President John F. Kennedy was shot and assassinated while traveling in his presidential motorcade in Dallas, Texas. It was the day that shocked America, the world and forever changed the United States with innocence lost. In a time in which few can even conceive or remember when there were three news channels, no-24-7 news, no internet, no social media, no Twitter … the nation was rocked with the unthinkable, the death of a president as all watched in horror.

At 12:29 pm CST, as President Kennedy’s uncovered limousine entered Dealey Plaza, Nellie Connally, then the First Lady of Texas, turned around to President Kennedy, who was sitting behind her, and commented, “Mr. President, you can’t say Dallas doesn’t love you,” which President Kennedy acknowledged. Then life changed, everything changed as we knew it. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 pm CST, Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas. JFK was taken to Parkland Hospital, Trauma Room 1 where he was treated for his mortal wounds to his head.

At 1:00 p.m., CST President John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead. As one doctor was reported to say, “We never had any hope of saving his life.” And sadly we were presented with another good man who died too young. 

Anybody here seen my old friend John?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
I just looked around and he’s gone.

50 years later we remember President John F. Kennedy, a life taken far to soon and his vision for America that was cut short  that Day in Dealey Plaza by an assassins bullet. We remember the man who is frozen in time because of the tragic nature in how he was killed and we can only wonder how things, so many things would have been different in America had he lived. Too many focus on the “conspiracy” theories of how JFK died or his affair with Marilyn Monroe, but there was so much more to a president who captured the imagine of the country. I was not alive the day JFK died, but being a history major I had read much of his life. I have attended the Kennedy Library and been to grave, the “Eternal Flame,” at Arlington National Cemetery as well as grew up in New England so was surrounded by the lore of the Kennedy’s most of my life. JFK was a unique man, an inspirational individual who knew how to communicate with people, bring them together and make people feel good about themselves. But he was much more than that, he was a leader, a man who had big goals as seen by is efforts to get the US into space and he was the one who asked us,“ask not what your country can do for you can do for your country” (VIDEO). Where are those leaders today?

‘Abraham, Martin and John’ - Dion

U.S. President John F. Kennedy was remembered as a transcendent leader of a rising nation at a ceremony in Dallas on Friday, the 50th anniversary of his assassination, while bitterness remained for many who disbelieve the official story of how he died.

“Our collective hearts were broken,” Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings told a crowd of about 5,000 who came to a frigid Dealey Plaza, near where Kennedy was slain, for a commemoration marked with prayer, song and tears.

Remembered fondly for his youthful vigor and his glamorous wife, Kennedy remains one of Americans’ favorite presidents for his handling of the Cuban missile crisis, his call to public service with programs such as the Peace Corps and a promise – later fulfilled – to land an American on the moon before the end of the 1960s.

“A new era dawned and another waned a half century ago when hope and hatred collided right here in Dallas,” Rawlings said.

The assassination cut short “Camelot,” as the 1,000 days of the Kennedy presidency became known. He was 46 when he died

This is how I remember John F. Kennedy, as a leader, a unifier and a man with a vision of big ideas and one’s that made America better, not just a political party. Take a good listen to what a true leader sounds like. I hear an awful lot of “WE”, not me or I. JFK wanted the United States to be a leader in the world, number one, not a follower. Where has my old friend John gone, it is true that the good so die young.

“The exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join it or not. And it is one of the greatest adventures of all times. And no nation which expects to be the leaders of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space”.

“We Choose to go to the moon, not because they are easy, because they are hard”

One Response to “America Remembers John F. Kennedy 50 Years Later after that Fateful Day … “Anybody here seen my old friend John?””

1. Red on November 23rd, 2013 9:36 am

   Sorry for the delay on this was a bit ill yesterday. I will be posting many other things this weekend and next week on JFK and how his death change America forever.

   Red

Leave a Reply