Pregnant with my 3rd child.
.
Almost 2. Likely my 3 older brothers were farting in my face every chance they got. That’s the story.
And I trust you have great memories of 3rd grade.
I was about to turn 3. I don’t specifically remember the news of his death but have a vivid snapshot memory of the funeral. It is the earliest memory I have that I can put a date on.
Sitting in the first row of the Physics 131 class in Ryerson at University of Chicago. As someone who had worked for Nixon and against Kennedy in my last year of high school, I was sorry for the death of a relatively young man, but not devastated. We all went back to our dorms and it was very quiet.
I was a kid, home from school with a cold.
I got my first horse in 1963. I was 9 years old. Those were the best days of my life.
I got my first horse in 1963. I was 9 years old. Those were the best days of my life.
Both sides thought God himself died.
I wasn’t even close to being conceived yet.
I was in Marine Corps boot camp. We had just marched to the rifle range, and the range master announced the news. We marched back to our area and were told to be ready to pack up and be issued ammo. Didn’t know where we would be going, but we were ready! Oorah!
Something electric, immediate, & vile was palpable in the air. Other students were shouting to each other. Snippets. Something was disturbingly wrong.
Got into class. Professor was dejected. Students were upset; crying.
Asked the guy sitting next to me, "What happened?"
"They killed Kennedy."
——
Spooks / mobsters committed the horrible, very public, violent slaughter of JFK on 11/22/1963. 11 + 22 = 33.
——
[Long backstory. Tell you some time.]
I had planned not to visit Dealey Plaza when we traveled to Dallas for the wedding. But we flew into Love, and wound up there anyway on February 1, 2020.
The Grassy Knoll at the 400 block of Elm Street in Dallas, Texas is [essentially] at the 33rd latitude (32.778948, −96.80889).
Dealey Plaza has been turned into a ghoulish tourist attraction.
Coincidentally that afternoon, a few hundred pro-"Palestinian" protesters with bullhorns, anti-Israel, & anti-Trump signs were swarming all over the knoll. Very aggravating.
We parked [our rental car] in the parking lot between the Texas School Book Depository (now a museum) & the Grassy Knoll. $10 insult parking fee. We parked right up against the long, original, wooden picket fence at the back of the knoll.
I got out & walked a few paces, to stand right behind the corner of the fence at the back of the knoll, directly overlooking Elm Street. This was most likely the sniper's location.
"R.I.P. JFK," "We Love You," & similar remembrances are painted on & carved into the back of the fence.
The white X painted on the street – marking the precise spot of the fatal shot – was clearly visible, < 33 yards away.
Half a century of emotional history – a good chunk of it spent researching the assassination – swept over me in a tidal wave of memories.
I took photos. A clear, easy shot.
We drove away promptly. My wife's phone GPS guided us around the block.
I immediately realized the final left turn was back onto Elm Street, taking us toward the triple underpass, right into the kill box.
Bob Dylan released [March 27, 2020] his [almost] 17-minute recording of Murder Most Foul. Lyrics include these lines:
Zapruder's film I seen night before
Seen it 33 times, maybe more
Verse 5
When you’re down in Deep Ellum, put your money in your shoe
Don’t ask what your country can do for you
Cash on the ballot, money to burn
Dealey Plaza, make left-hand turn
We drove directly over the X where the assassin[s] blew the President away, blasting the fabric of the country apart, altering the course of history, and igniting the sixties.
The afternoon's experience was profoundly disturbing.
––
I believe:
LBJ had the most to gain by the slaughter.
He knew plots were underway, but did nothing to stop them.
Mafia hated JFK & RFK for cracking down on them.
Spooks & Deep State had their own reasons.
Chicago Mob boss Tony Accardo ordered the hit.
GHWB was up to his neck in it.
Look up the video of his speech at Gerald Ford's funeral.
He praises Ford for endorsing the Warren Report, and sneers with contempt as he speaks.
Dylan:
“Shut your mouth,” said the wise old owl
Business is business, and it’s a murder most foul.
My most sincere thanks to you all for your replies.
Even to those few who gave brevity.
The shared vivid memories of that day and following events make us a sort of family.
Thank you again.
Third grade, my teacher was Mrs. Miller. I believe they dismissed school and sent us home.
Arlington, VA. 7th grade. Junior high shop class, just after lunch. Waiting for our teacher who was late to class.
He suddenly rushed in yelling “The President has been shot!!” But this guy was always pranking us so we just looked at him wondering where this was going. Finally it soaked in that he was serious.
I can’t remember what we did the rest of the day. I think school ended early and we all went home. It was a Friday, that I do remember. Arlington County of course is a suburb of DC and a lot of my friends were political animals even in jr high. We could have biked over to Fort Myer to try to see some of the funeral procession but none of us did. A missed opportunity to witness history.
I was in the second grade. I was on the playground at recess when I heard. When recess was over, my teacher Mrs. Woolum gave us more information and we were sent home early. I remember that day as a day of odd solemnness where ever you went.
I was about two months into dating my future wife.
I did ask my mother in the 80's about the 1960 presidential election and who she voted for.
She stated that they voted for JFK, since he was Catholic.
I wasn't there in 1960, but JFK was the pick of the litter, RFK in the middle and Teddy the runtest of the runts.
Just as an aside, my dad would later say that Daley stole the election by using the cemetary districts named Union and Calvary.
Probably going with my mom from Florida to New Jersey after her divorce from my dad. We moved in with my father’s oldest brother and his wife, who became a second mother to me. I was 3 and not long after, watched snow fall for the first time. I still remember it as being so magical, and so beautiful to my mom, who had lived in Cuba all her life, that she teared up.