JFK Witness Interview

At precisely 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 22, 1963, I had positioned myself just around the triple-underpass around Dealey Plaza, hoping to get a glimpse of President John F. Kennedy's motorcade en route to the Trade Mart to deliver a speech.  What happened next has captivated my memory of that fateful day every year for fifty years.  Seconds after the fatal shot, Secret Service agent Clint Hill jumped on the trunk of the presidential limousine speeding to Parkland Hospital. The motorcade sped by me just two car lanes over, and that image is forever planted in my mind.

I vowed to return to Dealey Plaza for the 50th anniversary of the assassination.  While that day of the president's demise in 1963 was mild and sunny, that same day in 2013 was bitterly cold and rainy.  Since Dealey Plaza was cordoned off and open to just a few thousand people, I decided to return to my old Oak Cliff neighborhood of 1963 and photograph some "then & now" photos of where history happened within blocks of my then apartment on W. Davis. 

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF AN ASSASSINATION

On the night of August 2, 1943, a young John F. Kennedy came of an age when he heroically rescued and took responsibility of his PT-109 crew, when the Japanese destroyer, "Amagiri," sliced his craft in half in the Solomon Islands. 

From 1943 in the Solomon Islands during WWII to his death in 1963, JFK emerged as a war hero, author of "Profiles in Courage," a US Senator, a US President, a leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and a visionary of the improbable promise of landing a man on the moon.  All of this within a twenty year span of his life.  To have such an accomplished life snuffed out by the likes of Oswald remains "the crime of the century."  One of the four Dallas Times Herald photo journalists remarked that there is now more interest than ever in the JFK assassination.  People from all over the world visited Dallas for the 50th anniversary and Internet chat rooms participants worldwide exchanged conversation and opinions about JFK.

Photo credits- The archival photos are courtesy of the Dallas Times Herald, National Archives, public domain, and my own photos.  They are for historical and educational purposes only.

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