THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY: AFTER 50 YEARS...SOME AMERICANS STILL WONDER AND HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PRESIDENT'S DEATH…AND HOW THE UNITED STATES WOULD BE DIFFERENT IF JFK HAD LIVED

THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY WAS POSTPONED FROM SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24TH, 2013.    



     Three days ago - November 22nd, 2013 - was the 1st anniversary of The Controversy.  It was also the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.  I was less than two-and-a-half months shy of my 9th birthday on that fateful day, but I remember it as if it was yesterday.

     On November 22^nd, 1963…I was home from school – sick with a bad cold.  As a third-grader, I was a shrimp of a kid and my tiny, little body was propped up on pillows, as I rested in my parents’ king-size bed.  My mom was reclining at the opposite side of the bed, as she watched As The World Turns on our black and white television that featured a pair of “rabbit ears” – the antenna that allowed us to receive broadcasts – something that is so foreign to today’s younger generation of TV viewers whose color televisions with cable or satellite programming on HDTV can be received on the tiniest and the largest of screens. 

     Watching daytime dramas on television was a daily ritual for my mother - much like women all across America - to tune in to CBS "soap operas" - which they called their "stories."  It was exactly 1:40 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on that Friday afternoon when As The World Turns was interrupted by a black graphic appearing on the television screen with nothing but the words CBS NEWS BULLETIN.  A moment later - voice-over only - was the shocking 

statement by CBS News anchorman, Walter Cronkite...

"Here is a bulletin from CBS News.  In Dallas, Texas...three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas.  The first reports say that President Kennedy has been seriously wounded by this shooting."  It was the beginning of four days - of what is now - historic broadcasting.  Less than an hour later - at 2:38 p.m. EST - Walter Cronkite - now on camera - delivered the news that Americans had feared...our President was dead.  Cronkite's unforgettable announcement...as he removed his glasses and reported to the world..."From Dallas, Texas...the flash...apparently official...President Kennedy died at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time...2 o'clock Eastern Standard Time...some 38 minutes ago."  Cronkite's eyes were noticeably filled with tears...his voice cracking with emotion...as the now legendary newsman showed a truly human side of professional journalistic reporting.

     I remember my mom bursting with tears - as I did.  My younger sister and brother were sent home from school...before the usual 3 o'clock bell...and my dad recalls being home from work that day.  For the next four days...the five of us would gather together in my parents' bedroom to watch Walter Cronkite's marathon report of this enormous tragedy.  We all went to our synagogue that night for a special religious service, as did millions of other Americans...all across the United States...who spent that night...and that weekend...praying in churches and temples...as we mourned the death of our President. 

     It was four days of horror...of tears...and of sadness...but now...five decades later...the nation still remembers the pain that we suffered and felt...when President Kennedy was murdered.  And although 50 years have passed by...the question remains by some Americans - who really killed John F. Kennedy?  Was it Lee Harvey Oswald (photo deliberately not included) - acting alone - shooting from a 6th floor window from the book depository building...as the Warren Commission Report concluded?  Or was the life of our 35th President suddenly ended by another gunman in Dealey Plaza - perhaps on the grassy knoll?

     Why won't everyone in our country accept the Warren Commission's decision that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin - the single individual - who pulled the trigger of a single gun...one rifle...to assassinate the President?

     Conspiracy theorists have speculated for 50 years...creating reasons why Oswald could not have killed President Kennedy - at least not all by himself.  They have dreamed up despicable fantasies including that then Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson had either arranged for the assassination - or at the very least - knew about it.  It was publicly known that President Kennedy and Vice President Johnson were not the best of friends - and in all actuality - didn't get along very well.  And that Mr. Kennedy asked LBJ to be his running mate in 1960 because the Presidential election was expected to be a tight race - which it was -

 
between JFK and then former Vice President Richard Nixon...and that Mr. Kennedy had to win Texas to win The White House.  But despite the lack of fondness for each other...it amazes me that anyone would believe that Vice President Johnson would in any way be involved in the killing of President Kennedy.

     There have been ridiculous and ludicrous tales that Fidel Castro was behind JFK's murder.  The Cuban dictator is anything, but stupid.  If there was any proof that Castro had participated in President Kennedy's assassination... the island nation - 90 miles from the Atlantic Ocean coast of Florida - would have been blown out of the water. 

     There was apparently no pleasant relationship between John F. Kennedy and J. Edgar Hoover...so there are those who believe that the F.B.I. Director had ordered the hit on JFK.  After 50 years...that idea is so utterly foolish that it lacks total common sense.  Somebody...somebody... within the government - from the F.B.I. itself...the U.S. Secret Service...or elsewhere...would have had to know something - and by now - would have "spilled the beans" if Hoover had given such an order.  Such a notion is beyond preposterous.

     There has also been conjecture that everyone from Soviet spies to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency - and all sorts of the most far-fetched presumptions - were responsible for the JFK assassination.  But there has never been any evidence whatsoever that proves categorically that anyone, but Lee Harvey Oswald killed President Kennedy.  It is arguably the biggest controversy that Americans have wondered about throughout the last half century - if not the entire history of the United States of America.

     Not every American citizen - or historian - accepts the answers that have been officially provided by the United States government pertaining to the assassination and death of President John F. Kennedy.  After 50 years of investigation...is it possible that someone besides Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed the President?  Of course it's possible.  But there has never been any definitive proof whatsoever to contradict what the Warren Report stated. 

     I do agree, however, that there are certain suspicious activities and mysterious actions that may have taken place - and if true - make little or no sense.  Are they fact...or are they fiction?  Whatever they may be...there are those who truly believe that there are inconsistencies, which haunt the official record of President Kennedy's death.  For example...why did the original, handwritten autopsy notes get destroyed - reportedly burned up by the medical examiner - U.S. Navy Captain James Humes -  in the fireplace of his home?  Captain Humes has been quoted as saying that the original documents were stained by President Kennedy's blood and, therefore, "Nobody's ever going to get these documents.  So I copied them...and burned the original notes in the fireplace."  Fact...or fiction?  And if fact...was there another reason why Captain Humes incinerated the notes?

     I could go on and on with other questions that people have raised - including, but not limited to - for what reason did Lee Harvey Oswald want to kill President Kennedy?  Did Oswald plan out the details on his own or did he have help by another American...or by someone from another country?  Was Oswald smart enough to calculate with exact precision the timing that was necessary to pull the trigger of his rifle and to be positive that one of the bullets would hit the President...and kill him?  There has been tremendous speculation on anything and everything relating to the shooting of President Kennedy and his death.  But what really is the truth?  We will probably never know for sure.

     And how would our country be different today...and how would the history of the last 50 years be different...if President Kennedy had lived?  If JFK had not been killed...the likelihood is that he would have been re-elected in 1964 in the race against Republican Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona.  And then...if Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York had not been assassinated in June of 1968...after winning the California Democratic Primary...he would have more than likely won the nomination and perhaps he could have defeated Richard Nixon for President in November, 1968.  Eight 

years later...in 1976... would Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy of Massachusetts won the nomination for President?  Think about all of this.  

Could Americans have elected three Kennedys in a row...for 24 years of Kennedys in The White House?  And if President Kennedy had not been killed...would the Viet Nam War have escalated in to a combat zone that took the lives of more than 58,000 of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines?  Interesting thoughts, all around.  Plus...if President Kennedy had lived...and if Bobby Kennedy had won the Presidency in 1968...there would have been no Watergate...and no Presidential resignation of Richard Nixon.  But of course, we don't know what other troubles there might have been.

     So there will always be questions about the assassination of President Kennedy...and how the United States would be different today...if he had not been murdered.  Many questions are valid...many are not.  Some are so puzzling that they could certainly raise eyebrows by someone who disbelieves that only one man - who was perched up high in a building - was able to fire off the bullets from behind the President when there was a hole in the front of JFK's neck.  But no clear-cut evidence has ever proven that another person was anywhere near President Kennedy's motorcade who could have possibly shot him.

     So now...50 years later...the mystery still lingers.  Will we ever know the absolute truth - for sure - about the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy?  Probably not.  After all...since Jack Ruby (photo deliberately not included) shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald on live network television... Oswald was never given the opportunity of a trial.  There was no confession by Oswald...and no eyewitness to the crime being committed.  Oh many of us saw the President get shot - or at least most Americans have seen the film that was taken on a home movie camera by Abraham Zapruder - but nobody saw Lee Harvey Oswald pull the trigger.  So therefore...we - as Americans - have got to go on...what has been determined by a federal investigation.  Or not. 

     The insatiable appetite of American curiosity will continue for many years to come.  What do you think?  I'd like to know.

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

     "We'll talk again."

P.S. - On this 1st anniversary of The Controversy, I want to thank each and every one of my readers - whether you agree or disagree with my commentaries - for the support you have given this blog.  I appreciate that you take the time to read what I write and hope you will please continue to do so in Year 2.  Thanks again.

The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions.  Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.  

The Controversy will make an effort to publish a new commentary every Sunday.  Unscheduled essays may appear, from time to time, on other days as well.

Please express your opinions in the comment box below.  You do not have to register your name and you can remain anonymous if you prefer.  The Controversy wants to know your views on the essay above and on any other commentaries written on this blog.  Just click on the word "Comments" below and write your thoughts in the box that appears.  Make sure please that when you finish your statement that you click on the word "Publish."  Thank you for your thoughts and thank you for reading The Controversy.

Copyright 2013 Gary B. Duglin and TheControversy.net.  All Rights Reserved.