50TH ANNIVERSARY OF JFK'S DEATH

AMERICA LOSES A PRESIDENT, A TEENAGER LOSES A HERO

Knoxville, Tennessee (JFK+50) I was a 15  year old sophomore at Young High School here in Knoxville 50 years ago today, November 22, 1963.

We were in an afternoon class when our principal came on the intercom and announced that President Kennedy had been shot.  

In a state of shock, we listened to the "on the air" radio reports from Dallas. 

When the announcement came that the President had died, the principal shut the radio off and asked us to stand at attention as the school bugle corps played "Taps"  and the American Flag was lowered to half-staff.

The moment that we learned John F. Kennedy had died was one that I will never forget.  Other than the loss of family members and close friends, it remains the saddest day of my life.

When my Dad came home from work late that night, he had with him the day's
final edition of the Knoxville News-Sentinel. 

The Knoxville News-Sentinel

November 22, 1963

Final Edition

"MR. PRESIDENT, YOU CAN'T SAY THAT DALLAS DOESN'T LOVE YOU"

Dallas, Texas (JFK+50) After landing at Love Field here in Dallas at 11:37 a.m. CST, President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy joined Governor John Connally and his wife Nellie in the Presidential limo for a motorcade through the city.

JFK was scheduled to give a luncheon address at the Trade Mart.

Thousands of people lined the route, holding signs, smiling and waving.

Mrs. Connally was so pleased with the reception, she turned to JFK, just after they made the turn from Main to Houston Street, and said...

"Mr. President, you can't say that Dallas doesn't love you."

Then the Presidential car turned in front of a red brick building called, The Texas School Book Depository, onto Elm Street, and the rest, unfortunately, is history.

IF OSWALD KILLED JFK, WHY DID HE DO IT?

Dallas, Texas (JFK+50)  Millions of people in the United States and around the world remember this day 50 years ago when the youngest elected President in history, John F. Kennedy, was shot down here in Dallas.

Thousands will come to this city for a memorial service and an annual conference on the assassination.

The airways of radio and television have been literally filled with JFK programming over the past couple of weeks.  Newspapers, magazines and new books have covered the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's death in detail.

Many Americans and people from nations around the world believe a conspiracy was behind the assassination, even 50 years after the fact.

One of them, however, is not James Swanson whose latest book, "End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy" has just been published.

Mr. Swanson discounts the possibility that any other individual was involved either in the planning or execution of the assassination.

He does admit, however, that the alleged lone assassin's motive is unclear.

Swanson writes...

"Perhaps his motive was not politics but fame.  Anyone who remembers John Kennedy remembers the man who murdered him."

While the first part of this comment can be questioned, the second part is surely without question.

James Swanson surmises that if Oswald's motive was neither politics nor fame, then perhaps the answer...

"lies beyond rational human understanding:  Lee Harvey Oswald was evil."

Texas School Book Depository

Photo by Andrew J. Oldaker

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