I took this photo in January 2003 when I was in Dallas on business. I could not bring myself to go into the museum. It was afternoon, and the light was not the best, but I photographed for more than an hour. A homeless man slept in Dealey Plaza, a bottle in a bag nearby. Tourists walked past him. If you've never been there, it's smaller, more intimate, than you think. There is an "X" in the road where JFK took the head shot. Why?
I left to head back to NYC a few days later. As the car accelerated to get onto the highway, I felt strange. I looked back over my right shoulder, and there was the school book depository. I felt sick.
We feel something was stolen from us. Who knows what Kennedy would have done? At the time of his murder, it was not clear that he would be re-elected. But when I think of the stage JFK was setting (onto which LBJ would soon stride) I still believe. Given our present "leadership," I feel the loss even more acutely.
Neil Shakespeare has a sad remembrance here.
tags: november 22, 1963 john kennedy jfk george bush
I would love to see more of the pictures, Freude.
The promise that he and his brother (and Martin) held out for America, so tragically ripped from us, is not gone and surely not forgotten. It's been set aside as the forces of regression have had the pendulum swing in their direction, but make no mistake: Americans are good people. We will regain this lost ground.
Posted by: actor212 | November 22, 2005 at 07:21 AM
I am old, so I was in grade school when this happened. I loved JFK, and was so sad when he was killed. I have worked all my life in social services, many years in a homeless shelter, due in large part to his inspiring message. "what I would do for my country?" I was not be president, but I could make a contribution. I wish that spirit was more in evidence today. Such a loss, even today.
Posted by: larkohio | November 22, 2005 at 08:01 AM
I was young, but I remember it too, B. He was not a perfect President or a god, but the legacy of service and caring for others that he left is sorely missed. He really was an inspiration for so many people, including my mom, who, like larkohio, chose a lifelong career in social services when other, more lucrative options were open to her, and who raised us in the same tradition.
I understand not being able to go into the museum. I had a similar experience in Hiroshima when I was on tour in Japan. We were invited to go to the War Museum there. I had been away from my young children for 2 months and was really missing them. I went in the door with the rest of the people in my show, and the first thing I saw was a little girl's torn dress. I had to leave right then. I waited outside for everyone else to finish the museum tour. I simply could not handle it emotionally.
Posted by: Alicia | November 22, 2005 at 08:28 AM
but make no mistake: Americans are good people. We will regain this lost ground.
Well said - truth has a liberal bias.
Posted by: dorsano | November 22, 2005 at 08:32 AM
I was 6 years old but remember that and the following days well. It was certainly a much more innocent time so that was a huge "hit" to our nation. I think we started to wake up to how bad civility was in the country with the assassinations of JFK, MLK and RFK. So much was lost in that (turbulent) decade. We'll never know where we could be now. But we sure as hell know where we are now with the pseudo-compassionate/religious right. Large steps backwards and diagonally are being taken everyday.
And larkohio- thanks for what you do. I'm in Ohio as well, btw.
Posted by: Chuck | November 22, 2005 at 08:37 AM
And blogenfreude, forgive me. THANK YOU for remembering!
Posted by: Chuck | November 22, 2005 at 08:38 AM
No problem Chuck ... this is an easy one for me to remember.
but make no mistake: Americans are good people. We will regain this lost ground.
I am more circumspect here ... I have a horrible feeling that the next president will be a Repub, even as slight gains are made in both houses. If things get better, it will be incremental, yet not fast enough. Some Americans are good people. Others will remain in office, or be shuffled around.
Posted by: blogenfreude | November 22, 2005 at 09:02 AM
i'm a bit pessimistic on the regaining of lost ground too. there just doesn't seem to be any true leaders out there. as in forward thinking. not tweaking this or that. BIG ideas (privatizing social care is not what i consider a big idea). i mean BIG- for example, rebuild N.O. as a green city and use it as a model for the future.
i feel like a hypocrite as well when making a statement like that. why don't i get into politics? could be those pesky skeletons. and lack of $$. and no Yale degree. or secret handshake.
Posted by: mc1212 | November 22, 2005 at 10:35 AM
I was in sixth grade when that happened.
We had just come back from lunch.
I shed some tears this morning, some 43 years later, as I do every November 22.
What COULD have been..................
Posted by: TerryC | November 22, 2005 at 10:43 AM
Agit, I am with mc1212 on this one: "i'm a bit pessimistic on the regaining of lost ground too". Just seems to me that the dark side has SO MUCH INFLUENCE, from chemicals in our food, to climate change, to the resource wars....I will continue the good battle, but as I age it is getting more difficult as it gets more important.
Posted by: Mr. Natural | November 22, 2005 at 10:48 AM
I am going to be optimistic. There is much good in America, and it will get better.
Posted by: larkohio | November 22, 2005 at 11:12 AM
A JFK Quote: ( to go with the photo and also that somehow fits the times...)
" A Revolution is coming- a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough: compassionate if we care enough ; successful if we are fortunate enough- but a revolution is coming whether we will it or not. We can affect it's character, we cannot alter it's inevitability." JFK 1963
Posted by: enigma4ever | November 22, 2005 at 12:39 PM
Wow, thanks everyone, for sharing your thoughts and experiences.
From what I understand, JFK signed an executive order about one month before he was assassinated that would have allowed the US Treasury to print its own notes instead of issuing bonds as the Federal Reserve would have had it do.
JFK was an honest man, who cared about hardworking people and he paid for his compassion with his life.
I salute his courage and integrity and I implore all of you good folks not to give up because our great leaders are out there. We just have to educate them.
Enigma4ever, thanks for the beautiful quote. I will post it on my site.
Posted by: qrswave | November 22, 2005 at 01:23 PM
The one time I've been to Dealy Plaza, my initial thoughts were similar to your description: it's much smaller than photographs convey.
I was born two years after JFK's assassination, but read a lot about him as a child. Maybe it was because they were children's books, but they focused a lot on his war experiences and citations, and on the tragedy of his death.
In the mid/late 70's, if I remember right, a slew of material emphasized 1) his personal life, and 2) his medical history--I remember the latter being pushed quite a bit by extremely conservative publications, and probably as a response to Watergate revelations, i.e., a "see, they lied too" thing.
Unfortunately, all this did much to obscure what I consider to be a decent, if mixed record: Kennedy supported civil rights, but pretty tepidly, the "missle gap" wasn't...though credit where credit's due: the Test Ban Treaty in 63 was a good start, and the deal re: Cuba and Turkey, i.e., removal of ICBMs from both countries was obviously preferable to either actual war or just insane levels of tension by having missiles on the ground.
I'm inclined to think he probably would've esclated in Vietnam, but that's just my opinion...and while I'm not a fan of Castro, I wish the administration would've called off the dogs.
Don't know if this is true, but I read a while back that The Times Picayune in NOLA ran a long interview with Castro a few months prior to the assassination...in it, Fidel reported on assassination attempts against him (since confirmed), and admonished American leaders that they could be vulnerable to harm as well. I wonder if Oswald--publicly pro-Castro and living in New Orleans--might have read this interview...and, when the opportunity literally fell into his lap in November, maybe he took things to heart.
Regardless, I certainly wish he HADN'T been killed. But, alas, you can't rewrite the past.
Posted by: Michael | November 22, 2005 at 02:05 PM
It will always be an unofficial day of remembrance, much like July 20th will always be an unofficial day of human accomplishment. I'm a bit surprised nothing has been done to officially recognize these as days of national something. They were certainly something to me.
Posted by: Neil Shakespeare | November 22, 2005 at 11:18 PM
Given our present "leadership," I feel the loss even more acutely.
Thoroughly late to this thread so I won't ramble only to say I agree wholeheartedly with the above sentence. JFK was the last president this nation had that actually made us believe in our collective better nature; that we could be something *more*.
Posted by: D. | December 06, 2005 at 02:40 AM