Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny. Thomas Jefferson
I've always felt that the great JFK legacy was built on 'what might have been' rather than any actual accomplishments. He was a Kennedy. Look how the ones who lived performed.
Broncos are officially the worst team in the nation this year.
Before he was killed, a lot of folks wouldn't have been very sorry about his death, but I think the reality of it was quite different. Regardless of how you felt about him, the assassination was a terrible blow to the country, one we've yet to fully recover from. As some have mentioned, compared to what we've got now, he was a prize. At least he knew how to behave in public.
What's most interesting to me is that there's information about his death that's been officially sealed for, I believe, 100 years. To me, that means that it it were revealed, we would have been forced to go to war in retaliation. Logically, that implicates the Cubans and their Soviet masters. None of us will ever know, of course.
In one of W.F. Buckley's spy novels, the hero, Blackford Oakes, has to choose between warning the President about the assassination plot, or stopping a rouge nuclear launch against a U.S. city. Kennedy dies, of course. Given Buckley's connections, it's quite possible that half of that plot, that the assassination is in retaliation for an American attempt on Fidel, is based on fact.
Too many people grab onto the fact that JFK and RFK used the Mob to try and kill Castro. Failing that they then tried to wipe out the Mob. Then, out of the blue a lone nut case, with a Russian Wife, and who lived in Russia for a bit, was shocking lucky to get a job in the Dallas Book Depository 6 weeks before the JFK parade....a parade whose route wasn't finalized until 2 weeks before the election. Then, the original Dallas officer who was supposed to be a hero by killing Oswald on the run got himself killed by Oswald. Then an even odder event in that a Man, with known MOB ties, simply walks up to Oswald and takes him out.
Really crazy story but it's silly for folks to get all worked up over silly conspiracy stories........
Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny. Thomas Jefferson
11th grade. Rumor started in the yard during lunch. Then back in class (French?) the teacher had a student get a transistor radio to listen to the news. Then an official notice came up from the office.
Kennedy was a good looking man with a beautiful wife, darling kids. At 16 or so we were trying to make sense of it, being not quite adult, but not children either. The whole nation shut down for the funeral, dirges on all the radio stations, and the whole procession and service on TV.
We also got to "see" Ruby shoot Oswald.
I still wonder if Oswald acted alone. I feel great sympathy for Jackie, Caroline, and little John (remember the salute pic?) Also a tragedy for Marina, hope she found some happiness in her next marriage, and a bit of anonymity that came with time.
Up to that time you could order a gun from the back pages of Mechanics Illustrated and other mags, came in the mail. Remember the Carcano was a poor rifle, certainly not an assault weapon. BTW, the round noser bullet was meant to tumble in flesh.
11th grade. Rumor started in the yard during lunch. Then back in class (French?) the teacher had a student get a transistor radio to listen to the news. Then an official notice came up from the office.
Kennedy was a good looking man with a beautiful wife, darling kids. At 16 or so we were trying to make sense of it, being not quite adult, but not children either. The whole nation shut down for the funeral, dirges on all the radio stations, and the whole procession and service on TV.
We also got to "see" Ruby shoot Oswald.
I still wonder if Oswald acted alone. I feel great sympathy for Jackie, Caroline, and little John (remember the salute pic?) Also a tragedy for Marina, hope she found some happiness in her next marriage, and a bit of anonymity that came with time.
Up to that time you could order a gun from the back pages of Mechanics Illustrated and other mags, came in the mail. Remember the Carcano was a poor rifle, certainly not an assault weapon. BTW, the round noser bullet was meant to tumble in flesh.
We certainly were all shocked, but after his death it came out that there were so many people who potentially wanted him dead, from the Vice President, Mob, Castro and the CIA it's surprising he lasted as long as he did.
I agree with you. This country was not the same then. I was young and in high school but we did not have all the issues we face today. I think JFK would be considered conservative today or at least very moderate.
I didn't know about his private affairs and the way the Kennedy's got their money. All I knew was that he was a genuine war hero, he showed he had balls over Cuba, he was young and had a magnetic personality.
I was very saddened when he was assassinated. When I lived in Prince William County, Virginia I can remember when Washington, DC was inviting hunters to come in and shoot pigeons to control them. After the assassination that all stopped. Little Teddy and old Sen. Thomas Dodd of Massachusetts helped start all the gun control crap and it's never stopped.
This country is indeed in a very sad state of affairs and with the mentality of a lot of American citizens, I think it will only get worse.
From where we were in that time, I would say everyone was shocked and sad.. Although my family were Republicans they were up set.. I think later my view changed when we learned how the Kennedy's got their money, and what a womanizer JFK was..
Personally, I am feel that Oswald was set up.. I have seen reports that 3 men killed JFK, and at the time of the report 2 were still alive.. Also did a great deal of reading on LBJ.. Again I am certain if he didn't have a hand in JFK's death, he surely had a hand in the cover up. If EVER there was a dirty SOB it was LBJ.. He permitted the race riots to go on and on, pushed us into a war we could not win, and I think it was to keep the nation from demanding more information on JFK's death.. WE HAVE A SIMILAR LOW LIFE IN THE WHITE HOUSE THIS DAY!!!
More of shock than anything else. I lived in the deep south at the time.
$19.95 Caracano from Kleins in Chicago. Shipped via US Postal Service directly to Oswald.
I had two of the same rifles. That long slender 160 grainer was devastating on wild hogs and deer.
The day after the assassination I made a head shot on a big boar with the 6.5. Totally blew the skull up scattering brains all over the place. I said to myself "Bet it was a real mess in that Lincoln".
Watched Ruby shoot Oswald on live TV.
The Saturday morning edition of the Florida Times Union (Jacksonville) had a big photo of a cop holding a M94 with the lever racked open. Caption said: This is the gun that killed Kennedy.
Hmmm.
Later in life I watched a lot of the conspiracy theory TV shows. One even said there was a second shooter behind the fence with a take down M99 Savage. Witness reports said the guy that had it pulled the barrel, wrapped both pieces in a coat and disappeared into the crowd.
Another report says there was a bullet hole in the Lincoln windshield, entering from the front.
So yea. Makes a guy think.
It never will be completely answered.
Survivor of the 13th Original Colony, I escaped on December 17, 1968.
In 1963 I was just at that age ( 10) where I believed what my elders and those in authority told me. In pretty short order it gradually came to light that our own Govt. had Kennedy snuffed...with LBJ at the helm. If they are capable of that, then they are capable of anything. The fall from innocence was then complete. Events of the next decade...continuing on up to the present have done nothing but confirm......
"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
I was in 8th grade english class when the teacher announced that school was being dismissed because the president had been assassinated...I found it kind of surreal..
A good principle to guide me through life: “This is all I have come to expect, standard lackluster performance. Trust nothing, believe no one and realize it will only get worse…”
From where we were in that time, I would say everyone was shocked and sad.. Although my family were Republicans they were up set.. I think later my view changed when we learned how the Kennedy's got their money, and what a womanizer JFK was..
Personally, I am feel that Oswald was set up.. I have seen reports that 3 men killed JFK, and at the time of the report 2 were still alive.. Also did a great deal of reading on LBJ.. Again I am certain if he didn't have a hand in JFK's death, he surely had a hand in the cover up. If EVER there was a dirty SOB it was LBJ.. He permitted the race riots to go on and on, pushed us into a war we could not win, and I think it was to keep the nation from demanding more information on JFK's death.. WE HAVE A SIMILAR LOW LIFE IN THE WHITE HOUSE THIS DAY!!!
Funny you should say that WCH......my grand dad owned a ranch in West Texas that LBJ liked to come and hunt on so most of the family was pretty familiar with him.....every one of them I ever talked to about the matter was convinced that LBJ was involved....
Taxes at the time was extremely high paying off war debt, hell some countries are still paying it off, England I think just recently cleared its books a year or two ago!
