November 22, 1963
Nov. 22nd, 2010 02:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bradygirl_12Wow! It's been 47 years since JFK was shot in Dallas.
It's almost been half a century!
The day suits the anniversary. It's cold and gray, with the leaves off the trees and everything brown and gray.
That day was a psychic shock. No matter what party you were, unless you were a die-hard Kennedy hater, the man leading your country had his head blown off on the streets of an American city and his widow ended up covered in his brains and blood.
All kinds of bizarre events surrounding that. Incredible incompetence and strange occurrences. Why was the Secret Service ordered off the running boards of the presidential limousine just before they left Love Field, Dallas' airport? Why did the Dallas Police allow Jack Ruby, a known associate of Chicago gangsters, free access to the police garage on November 24th to allow him to shoot Lee Harvery Oswald? America got to see its first murder on live TV.
I know the prevailing 'official' opinion is that conspiracy theorists are nuts and the Oswald was the lone gunman, but there's just so much that doesn't fit. Maybe it is a case of people trying to make sense out of a senseless act. Maybe disgruntled Lee Harvey Oswald took an Italian Mannlicher-Carcano rifle known for its unreliability and inaccuracy and made the luckiest shot in history.
It was a major shock in heavily Irish Catholic Massachusetts. The man who had evoked such great pride in the Irish-American tribe was gone. I was a very wee lass, but it was the first time I saw my mother cry.
Just some thoughts on a cold, gray, New England day.
Free Counters
It's almost been half a century!
The day suits the anniversary. It's cold and gray, with the leaves off the trees and everything brown and gray.
That day was a psychic shock. No matter what party you were, unless you were a die-hard Kennedy hater, the man leading your country had his head blown off on the streets of an American city and his widow ended up covered in his brains and blood.
All kinds of bizarre events surrounding that. Incredible incompetence and strange occurrences. Why was the Secret Service ordered off the running boards of the presidential limousine just before they left Love Field, Dallas' airport? Why did the Dallas Police allow Jack Ruby, a known associate of Chicago gangsters, free access to the police garage on November 24th to allow him to shoot Lee Harvery Oswald? America got to see its first murder on live TV.
I know the prevailing 'official' opinion is that conspiracy theorists are nuts and the Oswald was the lone gunman, but there's just so much that doesn't fit. Maybe it is a case of people trying to make sense out of a senseless act. Maybe disgruntled Lee Harvey Oswald took an Italian Mannlicher-Carcano rifle known for its unreliability and inaccuracy and made the luckiest shot in history.
It was a major shock in heavily Irish Catholic Massachusetts. The man who had evoked such great pride in the Irish-American tribe was gone. I was a very wee lass, but it was the first time I saw my mother cry.
Just some thoughts on a cold, gray, New England day.
Free Counters
no subject
Date: 2010-11-22 11:00 pm (UTC)I've read sections of the Warren Report and some of the conspiracy theorists and even though some theorists are nutjobs, others really present a case. The Warren Report is the biggest mess ever foisted upon the American people.
Anyway, JFK's death was an American tragedy, basically stealing our national innocence, if there ever was such a thing. I was much more personally affected by Bobby's death (months of horror and depression), and I was sorta re-traumatized when JFK Jr's plane disappeared. That was a horrible summer for me.
I remember Bobby's death and how it was like, "They've killed another Kennedy!" 1968 might have been the most depressing year in American history when you examine all the events of that year and its cumulative effect.
When it comes to JFK, I'll never forget being at home and watching Oswald killed on live TV. Everyone else was at church, and I evidently was sick, sleeping in the hide-a-bed in the living room in front of the TV. And, as usual, nobody believed me when they got home, said I must have been dreaming.
I was with my dad in the living room watching TV when it happened, and we called my mother, who was in the kitchen preparing Sunday dinner. My sister was just a baby and was in her playpen. I was too young to understand the import of everything, though I knew that weekend was different. I've seen the documentary about the funeral, but I have some personal memories of the sound of those drums and the clip-clop of Black Jack's hooves on the street.
The Kennedys have certainly had lifetimes of tragedy . . . whether people love or hate them, they should certainly admire their consistent public service. It's inspiring to me, and it always has been.
They lost Joe, Jr., during a mission in World War II, Kathleen in a plane crash in '48, and then Jack and Bobby to assassins' bullets. They have been a family touched by tragedy and they were the politicians that drew me into politics in the first place.