Agent Hill: Between Love Field and downtown Dallas, on the right-hand side of the street there was a group of people with a long banner which said, Please, Mr. President, stop and shake our hands. And the president requested the motorcade to stop, and he beckoned to the people and asked them to come and shake his hand, which they did. Bob Jackson: The person behind it was not visible. John F. Kennedy was promoted to Lieutenant and continued as the skipper of the PT-59 but by 1944 the injuries sustained with the collision with the Japanese destroyer sent him stateside to receive treatment and physical therapy at Castle Hot Springs, a military hospital in Arizona. In his remarks to the massive audience, which was nearly exhausted by the long afternoon of oratory, King had spoken for five minutes from his prepared text when he extemporaneously began to preach in the familiar cadence that had helped make him so effective a voice in the movement. Jim Wright: I worked with what powers that be in Fort Worth to put on a good, effective breakfast meeting of the civic, business and commercial leadership of the community. For me, it is a deep personal tragedy. I entered an automobile immediately behind the ambulance. I was just answering the phones on the city desk when we got this call, and this woman said, Is there somebody there who can give me a ride to Dallas? And I said, Well, you know, lady, this is not the taxi, and the presidents been shot. She said, Well, I heard it on the radio, and they say my son is the one who shot him. And it was Lee Harvey Oswalds mother. Otro sitio realizado con . That was followed by a breakfast at the hotel in the big dining room with a large crowd of people there, local people, and the president, after introducing Mrs. Kennedy and having a few remarks, made his speech. Kennedy couldnt risk attempting to canoe with the natives for fear of being seen by a Japanese patrol boat or plane. While the Battle of the Bulge raged to the south, the 29th Division patrolled aggressively over the Roer and prepared for the Allied offensive to resume as the enemy offensive petered out and winter weather waned. Jim Wright: I heard the first shot. James Chambers: I was in my office about 8:15 or so, the phone rang, and it was the president. Soon Kennedy and his crew of eleven sailors were conducting nightly attacks on Japanese barge traffic frantically attempting to resupply their isolated garrisons in New Georgia. Agent Hill: We didnt really hit the crowds until we hit Main Streetwhere they were surging into the street. Agent Hill: The right rear portion of his head was missing. While Kennedy tried to ease the problem with executive actions that expanded black voting, job opportunities and access to public housing, he consistently refused to put a major civil rights bill before Congress. His time aboard the 101 was only for training with the Navys Motor Torpedo Squadron Four located in Melville, Rhode Island and later for testing in the tropics in Panama, but it gave the young officer the thrill of commanding a roaring wooden hulled boat across the sea but this time with a compliment of torpedoes and heavy machine guns. Sixty-eight years ago, JFK was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal and Purple Heart for his actions while in command of PT-109 during World War II. His weight sank to 120 pounds, and bouts of fever turned his skin a ghastly yellow. Lieutenant Commander Thomas Warfield, an Annapolis graduate, was in charge at the base on Lumbari. In the hallway we had some 200 news reporters and cameramen with big cameras and little cameras and cables running on the floors to where we could hardly get in and out of the officeand each time we went through that hallway to and from the jail we had to pull him through all those people, and they, of course, would holler at him and say things to him,and I dont think that helped at all in questioning him. Life turned down Herseys literary experimentprobably because of its length and novelistic touchesbut the New Yorker published the story in June. Kennedy attended Naval Reserve Officers Training School at Northwestern University. Captain Fritz: I also asked Lieutenant Day to bring the rifle down after I sent after [Marina] Oswald, and had her look at the rifle. Running for president, he gave out PT-109 lapel pins. Squad Leader Police locate the rifle on the 6th floor of the Depository, and Police Lieutenant Carl Day inspects for fingerprints. She put it [a ring] on one of his fingers, and I dont know which one she took it off of and which one she put it on, and then she turned and walked slowly out of the room. I was inside the door. I told them I was waiting for Mrs. Kennedy and for the presidents body to be placed on the plane, and would not return prior to that time. Police begin to scour the building, and manager Roy Truly discovers Oswald is gone. Then, in a matter of a second and a half, another shot. 35th President Of the United States. Helping to close the pincer around Aachen, the 116th fought one of its most severe battles of World War II in the town of Wrselen, an Aachen suburb. In October 1943 he took command of. Though PTs patrolled only at night, Japanese floatplane crews could spot their phosphorescent wakes. So we took our camera and went over there and made several shots of that. Kennedy had lost two men, and he was clearly troubled by their deaths. Americans loved the story and what they thought it said about their young president. Also while at Fort Polk the division's missile unit became the first Army National Guard unit to fire the Honest John nuclear-tipped surface-to-surface missile. My God, this guys going to get us all killed! one man told Cluster. Mary took the picture and fell on the ground and of course there were more shots. At 24, he was already something of a celebrity. He turned the corner of Patton and Jefferson, going west, and put the gun in his pants and took off, walking. After a few months of healing up in the rear but still wanting to stay in the fight, Lieutenant JG Kennedy requested another PT boat. The presidential party touches down in Dallas at 11:40 a.m. SHOTS FIRED AT THE MOTORCADE 12:30 P.M. PT-59 had to be towed to base by another boat. And if I wrapped the thing up, its likely to mess up the powder or prints that are on there. He also put a stop to his fathers efforts to bring him home. Nothing had happened by the time the limo was exactly opposite us. Gayle Newman: I had no idea that it was gunfire. OSWALD MISSING FROM DEPOSITORY 1:03 P.M. Judge, do you know who I am?. Patrol Torpedo boat 109 was idling in Blackett Strait in the Solomon Islands. Ninth Army divisions on either side of the 29th were pulled out of theline and rushed to the Ardennes as Gerhardt extended his front along the Roer River to cover the vacated space. We left the room and were ushered by a cordon of agents to cars which were awaiting us. About 9:25 I received word from Special Agent Duncanthat the president requested Mrs. Kennedy to come to the mezzanine, where he was about to speak. The men worked until mid-May to ready it for sea. In eleven months of nearly continuous combat from D-Day to the Elbe, the 29th Division had participated in seven major offensives, gaining a reputation as one of the U.S. Armys finest outfits in World War II. So I unloaded the camera and put the film in an envelope. High-velocity shells exploded around his boat as well as Liebenows. Mrs. There were several officers grabbing for Oswald. I think all these things came together.. The 80-foot craft had orders to attack enemy ships on a resupply mission. Now he only wanted to get back to the little island he had left that night.His mind seemed to float away from his body. I know that the world shares the sorrow that Mrs. Kennedy and her family bear. The first two noises sounded like firecrackers, and I think both of ushad the same impressionthats really in bad taste, you know. Young John F. Kennedys future was one of privilege and opportunity with his graduation from Harvard University in 1940. Ironically the Japanese destroyer didnt even realize that they had struck an enemy vessel and kept motoring forward soon out of earshot. I had always thought it was a disaster, but [Hersey] made it sound pretty heroic, like Dunkirk.. PRESIDENT KENNEDY IN PARKLAND Ike Pappas: I was trying to get to Henry Wades office and up comes this guy in a black pin-striped suitand a little fedora.little stubby little guy.He comes up to me, and he says, Are you a reporter? I said: Yeah, Im a reporter. Mr. Dealey had written an unkind editorial about him, saying he ought to be riding Carolines tricycle or something like that. Kennedy and the others first thought the dark shape was another PT boat. On July 15, three months after Kennedy arrived in the Pacific, PT-109 was ordered to the central Solomons and the island of Rendova, close to heavy fighting on New Georgia. The exhausted 29th Division called off its offensive on December 8. Here Kennedy made a reckless gaffe. With only six hours to prepare, it was uncertain that his counselor and speechwriter, Ted Sorensen, would be able to deliver a polished text in time. During Jacks medical leave, the navy won the battles of Midway and the Coral Sea. Bill Newman: I remember a flash of white and then a flash of red, and President Kennedy going over across the car seat into Mrs. Kennedys lap and her hollering out, Oh my God, no! I knew theyd put him in one of those vehiclesI thought that probably at the most, I might get three frames or two. I swung my camera up, too, just so I could see better with the long lens and zoomed in and no one was visible in the window. Once in Melville, Jack realized that Bulkeley had been selling a bill of goods. Glen Gatlin: We had a very good view of the parade route. Gayle Newman: As the car came closeras it got directly in front of us, the third shot rang out and the side of his head was hit, and you saw bits of red flashing up and then some white matter come out of his head, and Mrs. Kennedy screamed, Oh my God, no! Because of the crowds in the street, the presidents driver, Special Agent Greer, was running the car more to the left-hand side of the streetto keep the president as far away from the crowd as possible, and because of this the motorcycles on the left-hand side could not get past the crowd and alongside the car, and they were forced to drop back. Gibson, who was not even at Lumbari, can be seen as a Monday-morning quarterback. The senior Kennedy persuaded Kirk to let a private Boston doctor certify Jacks good health. Its hard to come out.you dont want to say it because once youve said it.That by saying it, its so, and if I dont say it, it wont be so. McMahon was almost helpless. The journey proved harrowing. So, as he stepped into the clearing, Im ready to shoot, I see a figure step out very quickly. I jumped from the follow-up car and ran up to the left rear portion of the automobile with my back toward Mrs. Kennedy viewing those persons on the left-hand side of the street. About a half-hour later, I asked someone to find out if Mrs. Kennedy would stand with us during the administration of the oath. The natives were trusting towards Americans after witnessing poor treatment at the hands of the Japanese. The Globe story and others heaped praise on Lieutenant (j.g.) I saw Kennedy get hit. Henry Wade: Aaron Ward was a justice of the peace at Parkland. Of course, I had an empty camera. I didnt realize I wasnt supposed to be here. And I got out of there. Its three huge Packard motors needed a complete overhaul. Worried about an all-black demonstration, which would encourage assertions that whites had no serious interest in a comprehensive reform law, Kennedy asked Walter Reuther, head of the United Automobile Workers, to arrange substantial white participation by church and labor union members. Roy Truly: Some of my boys were over in the west corner of the shipping department, and there were several officers over there taking their names and addresses and so forth. Despite heavy losses, the 116th penetrated the enemy defenses and established a tenuous beachhead by nightfall. Kennedy, they said, was hell-bent on redeeming himself and getting revenge on the Japanese. Frank Peregory ofCompany K, 116th Infantry, and S/Sgt. He will tell you whether you can remove this body or not. I said: It doesnt make any difference. The 29th Division joined with the 1st Division to assault Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. That story was gone. Kennedy kept his speed to a crawl hoping to keep the wake and noise to a minimum in order to avoid detection. (His interest in how men and women react to life-threatening pressures would later take him to Hiroshima, where he did a landmark New Yorker series about survivors of the nuclear blast.) Small arms rounds were hitting the wooden boat and bouncing off the armor plates Kennedy had installed. I just said, Mr. He said people will forget that within a few days and there would be another president. When I heard the shots, I went out on this front porch. At 2 a.m. Kennedy noted a vague silhouette of vessel approaching in the darkness. TO PERPETUATE THE FRIENDSHIPS WE CHERISH; TO KEEP ALIVE THE SPIRIT THAT NEVER KNEW DEFEAT; TO GLORIFY OUR DEAD, AND TO FURTHER KEEP BEFORE OUR COUNTRY, THE RECORD OF THE 29TH DIVISION IN ALL THE WARS; WE ASSOCIATE OURSELVES IN AN ORGANIZATION KNOWN AS THE 29TH DIVISION ASSOCIATION, THE STONEWALL BRIGADE MUSEUM (116th Infantry Regiment). Determined to prove he was not spoiled, Jack joined his crew scraping and painting the hull. This is the president of the United States and there should be some consideration in an event like this. And I told this gentleman, You are going to have to come up with something a little stronger than [the] law that this body cant be removed., Shortly he leaves this little room and it seems like a few minutes he is back and he has another gentleman with him, and he said: He is a judge here in Dallas. She couldnt identify it positively, it looked like the rifle that he had, but she couldnt say for sure. Therefore, this is the right message. She never, never blinked an eye, twitched a muscle, and in some of the pictures, you can see the blood on thatsuit of hers. Ignoring enemy fire from shore, Kennedy and his crew pulled alongside and dragged the Marines aboard. Prone on the deck, he thought: This is how it feels to be killed. Sounded like an elephant rifle to me. We broke and all ran up there, and then President Kennedy headed straight for the fence and started walking along the fence shaking hands with people.I was always a little quicker than other guys. He had two 40-millimeter anti-aircraft guns installed along with an additional array heavy machine guns. Although Kennedy delivered part of the talk extemporaneously, it was one of his best speechesa heartfelt appeal in behalf of a moral cause that included several memorable lines calling upon the country to honor its finest traditions. Hes got to get up on that flatbed trailer and speak to that crowd in the rain. [Then] the clouds disappeared, the sun came throughbright, beautiful, sun-shining day. Such missions took a toll on Jacks weakened body. Machinists Mate Patrick Pop McMahon warned that the boats war-weary engines might conk out, but Kennedy paid no heed. MORNING IN FORT WORTH Worse, their 1920s-vintage torpedoes had a top speed of only 28 knotsfar slower than most of the Japanese cruisers and destroyers they would target. Liebenow fired twice and also missed. He ran right by me. And I said, This way. And I ran diagonally across to the northwest corner of the building. Moreover, Kennedy feared that as many as 30 Southern cities might explode in violence during the summer. The alternative to civil rights legislation was civil strife that would injure the national well-being, embarrass the country before the world and jeopardize the Kennedy presidency. As commander of a PT squadron, he had whisked General Douglas MacArthur and family from the disaster at Bataan, earning a Medal of Honor and fame in the book They Were Expendable. Malcolm Couch: When Jackie and President Kennedy got off the plane, the press was supposed to stay back about 100 feet, but we didnt. And I was just so nervous, they took me offwith the children, and Julie Benell fixed both of the boys a ham sandwich and tried to calm me down with coffee, and I didnt drink coffee. American Campaign Medal I never saw that picture in my life.. Lieutenant Day: Captain Fritz had Marina Oswald in his office.He came up to my office and said he wanted her to look at the gun to see if she could identify it, but he didnt want to bring her out into the reporters out there in the hall. They killed him! and the people that I met on the way didnt even know what happened, and they kept yelling: What happened? And I was irate. Its nickname, the Blue and Gray Division, derives from the lineage of its constituent militia regiments, which fought on opposite sides during the Civil War. No voluntary movements, only the spasmodic respirations. Detective Graves: We were told the car would be backed up there right in position where all wed have to do was walk out and get in it. Jim Wright: President Kennedy and I and John Connally had a discussion on Air Force One.There had appeared in the Dallas News that morning a scurrilous ad calling him a traitor and other unflattering things.He had seen that. I was about 10 or 15 steps at the most from Officer Boone when he hollered, Here is the gun! I stepped over thereI had to look twice before I actually saw the gun laying in therestuck between these cartons in an upright position. People were scrambling to get telephones. And then I just remember falling on him and saying, Oh, no, no, no! I mean: Oh, my God! Malcolm Couch: A fella from Channel 4, KRLDwas next to me. After being out on the town all night with local and national newsmen, Bob Shiefferthen a Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporteris awakened by his brother. I was not aware of that at the time. This downgrade hinted that those high up in the chain of command did not think much of Kennedys performance on the night of August 2. Doctors in mid-November found a definite ulcer crater and chronic disc disease of the lower back. On December 14, nine months after he arrived in the Pacific, he was ordered home. 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