I was thinking about a topic for the blog today and I realized that today marks fifty-three years since President John F. Kennedy was gunned down in Dallas. I have heard surprisingly little in the media about this most tragic day in Texas History, at least as far as the rest of the nation is concerned. I wonder if we are in danger of forgetting the great sacrifice John F. Kennedy made for this nation.
Just like those of us who witnessed the events of 9/11/01, Americans who were alive in 1963 can to this very day remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when the news of the President's death was flashed around the world. I, of course, do not really remember where I was, because on that day I was just over two years old. But as I grew older, my parents and other adults in my life remembered each year what they were doing and how they felt when they heard the news that day. I could not experience the feelings and emotions they felt, but I could at least to some degree understand their sadness at the loss of the young President and the loss of the things John F. Kennedy hoped to accomplish.
As the years went by, I learned to read and to think for myself. I was able to review the information available concerning the events of that day in November back in 1963. I have to admit that for the first few years that I studied the accounts of the assassination, I accepted without any doubt the "main stream" version, the "Lone Gunman" theory. As a young student I had no concept that our "Government" could or would lie about anything, particularly about something so serious as the murder of our President. I particularly remember an editorial cartoon that someone showed me. This cartoon showed President Lincoln's statue weeping as it sat in the Lincoln Memorial. Later, I read summaries of the Warren Commission investigation on Kennedy's assassination, and like many at the time, I swallowed the story, as incredible and unlikely as it was.
Today, after years of searching all sorts of sources, including "alternative" sources, I have come to believe, as have many Americans, that the Warren Commission report was merely an attempt to "give closure" (I can't stand that phrase) to the American people and assure them that an "insane" ex-military "gun nut" defeated the all the security measures the United States government could muster. In other words, the government set out to convince the nation, and the world, that there was no conspiracy to murder President Kennedy.
But more than this, I read and learned about President John F. Kennedy, the World War II hero who became President. I learned that the longer President Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khruschchev of the Soviet Union "faced off" during the Cold War, both of them realized they had something in common. A couple things, as a matter of fact. First, both of them wanted their children and grandchildren to live in a peaceful world, at least as much as peace could be possible on this planet. Second, both of these men realized that neither one of them wanted to "push the button" that would start nuclear war, and would inevitably destroy the world, for all practical purposes.
In the few months between the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis and President Kennedy's death, Kennedy and Khrushchev had reached an understanding with each other that there was a better way. An interesting side item was the fact that Kennedy secretly agreed to move OUR missiles out of Turkey, directly on the Russian border, in return for the removal of missiles from Cuba, and the return to the USSR of both the missiles on the Soviet ships and the FULLY FUNCTIONAL missiles in Cuba that were ALREADY AIMED at the United States. In reality, Khrushchev and/or Fidel Castro could have destroyed the United States at any time during 1962/63 but Khrushchev himself had refused to do so. A sad truth that I discovered for myself was that had Kennedy been able to complete his term, he and Khrushchev would have actually begun the first steps of bi-lateral disarmament. A second sad truth I learned was that the Military/Industrial complex HAD NO INTENTION of allowing the Cold War to end anytime soon.
Like many of you, I came to realize that in some ways, Kennedy's presidency paralleled that of Lincoln, one hundred years earlier. You see, President Lincoln realized that the steps he took toward a peaceful reconciliation of the States would cost him his life. I believe Abraham Lincoln knew he would not leave the White House alive, but he pursued a peaceful, relatively non-punitive reconstruction of the nation anyway. In the same way, I believe President Kennedy knew he would not leave the White House alive. He knew that pursuing peace and the eventual reduction and destruction of nuclear arms along with Premier Khrushchev, a plan literally to save the world, would cost him his life. Kennedy knew that the Military/Industrial Complex had, in only two decades, become such a strong force that the legitimate and elected government of the United States could not rein this monster in. In the same manner Khrushchev knew that his cooperation with President Kennedy would cost him, at the very least, his role as Premier, and very likely his life as well.
Putting all these fears behind him, President Kennedy pressed on toward peace with the Soviet Union. And here is where all my investigating led me to depart from the "main stream" theory of the "Lone Gunman." President Kennedy's cabinet, advisors, military chiefs, and Wall Street banker friends, all knew that Kennedy had made a breakthrough with Khrushchev. The details had yet to be worked out, but the basic framework was in place. Kennedy and Khrushchev wanted more than "détente." What both men wanted was a world free of the threat of global destruction. With these two men in power, that goal was reachable - an agreement was only months away. President Kennedy knew the Military/Industrial Complex was dead-set against any strategy that not only would reduce or eliminate nuclear weapons already deployed around the world, but would also destroy the demand for more and "better" nuclear weapons. Further, I believe President Kennedy knew that, though his dream might one day be a reality, he would not live to see that day come.
Documented history shows that Kennedy was warned by several people to post-pone his trip to Dallas that November. Kennedy himself shared his own misgivings. But he made the trip just the same. He would not be deterred, not even by the very Face of Death. President Kennedy went to Dallas, where he was received by one of the warmest crowds ever. The President was loved by so many, and even in Texas, where he had not carried the state in the election, the people were happy to see him, happy to just be near this man who truly rolled into the White House on the biggest wave of popularity since, well probably, since the victorious colonists begged General Washington to declare himself "King" of the fledgling nation.
I believe that events had taken shape and that an image was faintly visible to President Kennedy. I believe that President Kennedy felt he would more than likely not leave Dallas alive. But John F. Kennedy, unlike some of our more recent presidents, and notwithstanding his family's checkered past, was a true hero. He was the kind of hero who knew that "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (St. John 15:13)
Today in Texas History, President John F. Kennedy gave his life for his fellow men, and in fact for all people throughout the world.
I, for one, will never forget this man's sacrifice, made when I was so young. I pray that this nation will never forget President Kennedy, never forget his desire for peace, and especially never forget that he was willing to lay down his life for yours and mine. Were any presidents since then willing to do the same?
May God Bless America.
Just like those of us who witnessed the events of 9/11/01, Americans who were alive in 1963 can to this very day remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when the news of the President's death was flashed around the world. I, of course, do not really remember where I was, because on that day I was just over two years old. But as I grew older, my parents and other adults in my life remembered each year what they were doing and how they felt when they heard the news that day. I could not experience the feelings and emotions they felt, but I could at least to some degree understand their sadness at the loss of the young President and the loss of the things John F. Kennedy hoped to accomplish.
As the years went by, I learned to read and to think for myself. I was able to review the information available concerning the events of that day in November back in 1963. I have to admit that for the first few years that I studied the accounts of the assassination, I accepted without any doubt the "main stream" version, the "Lone Gunman" theory. As a young student I had no concept that our "Government" could or would lie about anything, particularly about something so serious as the murder of our President. I particularly remember an editorial cartoon that someone showed me. This cartoon showed President Lincoln's statue weeping as it sat in the Lincoln Memorial. Later, I read summaries of the Warren Commission investigation on Kennedy's assassination, and like many at the time, I swallowed the story, as incredible and unlikely as it was.
Today, after years of searching all sorts of sources, including "alternative" sources, I have come to believe, as have many Americans, that the Warren Commission report was merely an attempt to "give closure" (I can't stand that phrase) to the American people and assure them that an "insane" ex-military "gun nut" defeated the all the security measures the United States government could muster. In other words, the government set out to convince the nation, and the world, that there was no conspiracy to murder President Kennedy.
But more than this, I read and learned about President John F. Kennedy, the World War II hero who became President. I learned that the longer President Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khruschchev of the Soviet Union "faced off" during the Cold War, both of them realized they had something in common. A couple things, as a matter of fact. First, both of them wanted their children and grandchildren to live in a peaceful world, at least as much as peace could be possible on this planet. Second, both of these men realized that neither one of them wanted to "push the button" that would start nuclear war, and would inevitably destroy the world, for all practical purposes.
In the few months between the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis and President Kennedy's death, Kennedy and Khrushchev had reached an understanding with each other that there was a better way. An interesting side item was the fact that Kennedy secretly agreed to move OUR missiles out of Turkey, directly on the Russian border, in return for the removal of missiles from Cuba, and the return to the USSR of both the missiles on the Soviet ships and the FULLY FUNCTIONAL missiles in Cuba that were ALREADY AIMED at the United States. In reality, Khrushchev and/or Fidel Castro could have destroyed the United States at any time during 1962/63 but Khrushchev himself had refused to do so. A sad truth that I discovered for myself was that had Kennedy been able to complete his term, he and Khrushchev would have actually begun the first steps of bi-lateral disarmament. A second sad truth I learned was that the Military/Industrial complex HAD NO INTENTION of allowing the Cold War to end anytime soon.
Like many of you, I came to realize that in some ways, Kennedy's presidency paralleled that of Lincoln, one hundred years earlier. You see, President Lincoln realized that the steps he took toward a peaceful reconciliation of the States would cost him his life. I believe Abraham Lincoln knew he would not leave the White House alive, but he pursued a peaceful, relatively non-punitive reconstruction of the nation anyway. In the same way, I believe President Kennedy knew he would not leave the White House alive. He knew that pursuing peace and the eventual reduction and destruction of nuclear arms along with Premier Khrushchev, a plan literally to save the world, would cost him his life. Kennedy knew that the Military/Industrial Complex had, in only two decades, become such a strong force that the legitimate and elected government of the United States could not rein this monster in. In the same manner Khrushchev knew that his cooperation with President Kennedy would cost him, at the very least, his role as Premier, and very likely his life as well.
Putting all these fears behind him, President Kennedy pressed on toward peace with the Soviet Union. And here is where all my investigating led me to depart from the "main stream" theory of the "Lone Gunman." President Kennedy's cabinet, advisors, military chiefs, and Wall Street banker friends, all knew that Kennedy had made a breakthrough with Khrushchev. The details had yet to be worked out, but the basic framework was in place. Kennedy and Khrushchev wanted more than "détente." What both men wanted was a world free of the threat of global destruction. With these two men in power, that goal was reachable - an agreement was only months away. President Kennedy knew the Military/Industrial Complex was dead-set against any strategy that not only would reduce or eliminate nuclear weapons already deployed around the world, but would also destroy the demand for more and "better" nuclear weapons. Further, I believe President Kennedy knew that, though his dream might one day be a reality, he would not live to see that day come.
Documented history shows that Kennedy was warned by several people to post-pone his trip to Dallas that November. Kennedy himself shared his own misgivings. But he made the trip just the same. He would not be deterred, not even by the very Face of Death. President Kennedy went to Dallas, where he was received by one of the warmest crowds ever. The President was loved by so many, and even in Texas, where he had not carried the state in the election, the people were happy to see him, happy to just be near this man who truly rolled into the White House on the biggest wave of popularity since, well probably, since the victorious colonists begged General Washington to declare himself "King" of the fledgling nation.
I believe that events had taken shape and that an image was faintly visible to President Kennedy. I believe that President Kennedy felt he would more than likely not leave Dallas alive. But John F. Kennedy, unlike some of our more recent presidents, and notwithstanding his family's checkered past, was a true hero. He was the kind of hero who knew that "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (St. John 15:13)
Today in Texas History, President John F. Kennedy gave his life for his fellow men, and in fact for all people throughout the world.
I, for one, will never forget this man's sacrifice, made when I was so young. I pray that this nation will never forget President Kennedy, never forget his desire for peace, and especially never forget that he was willing to lay down his life for yours and mine. Were any presidents since then willing to do the same?
May God Bless America.
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