The Auditorium....

 

 

"Sometimes history finds us if we are prepared for it or not..."

It was fifty years ago today. Seems only like yesterday. I was in the 9th grade at the former Robbinsdale Junior High School. For some reason which I cannot remember, we all gathered in the auditorium to watch a movie on something educational. I do remember it was boring. That is all I can remember. Of course, for boys my age, most movies in school were boring. About half way though the movie the principal, a very good man named Mark Woodward, came into the auditorium and the movie stopped. With a very somber face he addressed the class. "The President has been shot in Dallas. We have just received word that he died from his wounds."

We were ushered back to our classrooms from the auditorium. Most of us were speechless. To me, President Kennedy was not only a war hero, he was a dreamer. He laid out the challenge for the country to accept. We were going to land on the moon before the end of the decade. The man who backed the Russians down in Cuba, had told us we were going to the moon. Everyone believed we would do it.

The next day, the nation went into a mourning period. We were home from school and with our families. We watched CBS in order to listen to "Uncle Walter". Many of us at that time trusted Walter Cronkite - he was the Godfather of network news. We thought  what he said was true - it was beyond question. At home, we saw the aftermath of the assassination. We saw the capture of Lee Harvey Oswald. We saw Oswald get gunned down on is way to jail by Jack Ruby. It was the first time that history revealed itself while we sat in our living rooms with our families.

It was a long time ago. We saw the White House change after Lyndon Johnson was sworn in standing next to a blood soaked former First Lady. We saw the Viet Nam War rip this county apart. We saw not only a different President in Lyndon Johnson, but also a different First Lady in Lady Bird Johnson. However, what we did see more than anything else was the beginning of the end of innocence. None of us knew that that at the time. In the next few years we would lose Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Looking back, we do know this - fifty years ago was a time which took us from Camelot to something far more sinister and evil. It was a time which changed us forever.

So to President Kennedy, I say this - your tenure was short, but your impact was huge. What else you could have done for this country will never be known. All I know is this - for what you did as an Officer on PT 109 in World War II, for what you did as a Senator, and for what you did as President, you will always be honored. When I was a young boy who looked to the stars, having you tell us we were going to the Moon was like living as Tom Swift in a modern world.

Thank you JFK. You were not a perfect man - none of us are. But your were a man of courage and vision. For that we will always remember you with fondness.