The Assassination of John F Kennedy. Why It Matters...

JFK's Gravesite and Eternal Flame, Arlington
November 22, 1963

Where was I? I was in math class, a junior in high school, waiting for the teacher to assign us homework so we could leave. A student with a fist full of notes walked in, gave one to the teacher and left. That was odd.

 He read it in silence, as we watched him, curious. He looked shocked. He adjusted his glasses and read the note to us: "President Kennedy has been shot today in Dallas. He has been pronounced dead. School is canceled for the rest of the day."

 For decades after that, it was a common question, "Where were you when JFK died?" It was a question, like this one, "Where were you on 9-11?" What usually ensued was a dialogue centered on another, bigger question: "How are we supposed to deal with the fact that no one can breathe?"

 There was life before that day and life after. America had had a firm grasp on its successful reality, then a single event destroyed that reality in a day. One day. What did we do? In 1963, we slowly, painfully, picked up the pieces and carried on with our lives. 

 But there was never any doubt about this: we'd been forced, by a few people who wished us harm, to leave treasured pieces of a safe America by the roadside. Those "few people who wish us harm" are still out there and their minions are increasing. We need to be clear-eyed about that. 
Arlington image by Mary Bettini
We don't need to hide under the bed but we do need to remember this: millions of our fellow Americans have, as they've fallen, passed the flag they were carrying on to us. A flag is just a piece of cloth but ours has been soaked with lots of American blood. That makes it a powerful symbol, the most powerful symbol we all, as Americans, share.

 In today's society we need to agree that we are all Americans. All of us. We all sleep under the same stars. We all drink the rain that falls from the same sky. We can rally around that flag and what it symbolizes. Especially when it's at half mast, like today.

 No one gets to proclaim division as our destiny. I'm convinced today that what really matters is that we not ask a question but make a statement: "We're neighbors. Let's find a way to live with each other before we start soaking our flag with blood again."

 My co-author Bob and I wrote our book about how our friendship overcame a major division. You can see it here. And if you don't want to talk about prostate cancer (but you're a man over 40) you should read this.


Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 29, 2019 at 10:21 PM

    I remember that day. I was in the Deke house at OU when the news came on and a group of us gathered in the TV room on the second floor to watch the events unfold. I had to leave to go to a Geology class and took my little transistor radio with me with an earpiece and listened to broadcasts while in class. We were also in the TV room when we watched the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby. There was a lot of talk/discussion, the details of which I don't remember, other than disbelief that this was happening and what it meant. Lots of conspiracy theories emerged over time (and continue today), but the idea of assassination was not one that was usually thought about, until it happened. And the threat of it it continues with those in office/power positions.
    Bill Iseminger

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