John F. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States (1961-1963), the youngest man elected to the office. On November 22, 1963, when he was hardly past his first thousand days in office, JFK was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, becoming also the youngest President to die.  Do you remember that day?   “I do”

I was in 8th grade that year.  Mr. Whitler was my teacher.  He was also the principal of our little school.  We only had around 18 in our class.  It was right after dinner and we were back in our seats.  The bell had already rung.  I can see it vividly at Mrs. Flaminio, the 7th grade teacher came running in to class almost crying.  She was a short older grandma looking lady with almost white hair cut short and permed.   She wore those metal rimmed glasses all the old people wore.   She was heavy set and wore those dresses that had a waist with the gathered shirt part.  We could tell she was very upset, as every part of her full body was jiggling as she ran in our classroom.  She told Mr. Whitler what that the President had just been shot.  What happened after that, I don’t remember, but I know I watched tv all week end.  We had a portable black and white tv.  I don’t know if their was color tv yet at that time, but I thought we were lucky to even have tv.  He was assassinated on a Friday, so we were off for the weekend.  I don’t think I really understood what had happened, but I was drawn all weekend to the tv.

First lady Jacqueline Kennedy rarely accompanied her husband on political outings, but she was beside him, along with Texas Governor John Connally and his wife, for a 10-mile motorcade through the streets of downtown Dallas on November 22. Sitting in a Lincoln convertible, the Kennedys and Connallys waved at the large and enthusiastic crowds gathered along the parade route. As their vehicle passed the Texas School Book Depository Building at 12:30 p.m., Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired three shots from the sixth floor, fatally wounding President Kennedy and seriously injuring Governor Connally. Kennedy was pronounced dead 30 minutes later at Dallas’ Parkland Hospital. He was 46.

I remember, they played that video over and over.  On Sunday, right after we returned home from church, I was watching, and I seen Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald.

I remember all the reporters were in the parking garage, waiting for him to come out and be transferred.  They thought he would be safe their.    Jack Ruby was in the crowd waiting for him and shot him almost point blank.

The coverage on the tv was non stop.  Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as President on the plane returning to Washington DC.  Finally the funeral plans were begun.  The whole country was in a state of shock.

The state funeral of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th President of the United States, took place in Washington, D.C. during the three days that followed his assassination on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.^[1]

The body of President Kennedy was brought back to Washington and placed in the East Room of the White House for 24 hours.

On Sunday afternoon about 300,000 people watched a horse-drawn caisson, which had borne the body of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Unknown Soldier, carry Kennedy’s flag-covered casket down the White House drive, past parallel rows of soldiers bearing the flags of the 50 states of the Union, then along Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol Rotunda to lie in state.^[53] The only sounds on Pennsylvania Avenue as the cortège made its way to the Capitol were the sounds of the muffled drums and the clacking of horses’ hooves, including the riderless (caparisoned) horse Black Jack.^[54]

The widow, holding her two children by the hand, led the public mourning for the country.^[55][56] In the rotunda, Mrs. Kennedy and her daughter Caroline knelt beside the casket, which rested on the Lincoln catafalque.^[57] Three-year-old John Jr. was briefly taken out of the rotunda so as not to disrupt the service.^[56] Mrs. Kennedy maintained her composure as her husband was taken to the Capitol to lie in state, as well as during the memorial service.^[56]

Throughout the day and night, hundreds of thousands lined up to view the guarded casket.  Representatives from over 90 countries attended the state funeral on Monday, November 25,  The casket was placed on the caisson for the final leg to Arlington National Cemetery for burial.

 

Moments after the casket was carried down the front steps of the cathedral, Jacqueline Kennedy whispered to her son John, after which he saluted his fathers coffin.  This image taken by photographer Stan Stearns, became the iconic representation of the 1960’s. The children were considered to young to attend the burial services, so this was the time they said good bye to their father.   After the Requiem Mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, the late president was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

At the end of the burial Ceremony , Jacqueline Kennedy lit the eternal flame, that still burns continuously over the grave site.

Jacqueline Bouvier married John Fitzgerald Kennedy, in Rhode Island on September 12, 1953.

They had 2 children, Caroline, born November 27, 1957, and John Jr. Born November 25, 1960.  John Jr, died in a plane crash in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard on July 16, 1999.  The crash was ruled, pilot error, due to disorientation.  He was piloting a Piper Saratoga, with his wife and sister in law on board.  All perished.  Another son died after birth.  Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was born on August 7 1963, 5 and 1/2 months premature.  He only lived 39 hours. Another daughter was still born on August 23, 1956.

Caroline and John Jr. would play many times in the Oval office.  This picture was made famous of John playing under the Resolute Desk, as his father was working.  John called the panel his secret door.

As I was going through papers on History, I came across this information

Lincoln and Kennedy …..Odd Parallels  

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846

John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946

Abraham Lincoln was elected President on 1860

John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960

The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.

Both were particularly concerned with civil rights

Both wives lost their children while living in the White House

Both presidents were shot on a Friday

Both Presidents were shot in the head.

Lincoln’s secretary was named Kennedy.

Kennedy’s secretary was named Lincoln.

Both were assassinated by Southerners

Both successors were named Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.

Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.

Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939

Both assassins were known by their three names.

Both names are composed of 15 letters.

Lincoln was shot at the theater named “Kennedy”

Kennedy was shot in a car called a “Lincoln”

Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a ware house.

Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater

Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials

And her’s the kicker……..

A week before Lincoln was shot; he was in Monroe, Maryland

A week before Kennedy was shot, he was with Marilyn Monroe.

President John F. Kennedy….Inaugural Speech, January 20 1961