Who Killed President John Fitzgerald Kennedy?
I remember that day. November 22, 1963 was a Friday. I was eleven years old and in the sixth grade. When our teacher got the news she was visibly shaken. She rolled a small black and white television into the classroom and we watched the news until it was time to go. everyone was heartbroken and hoping everything would be alright. In reality he died instantly and the media either did not know or would not say.
We had been practicing for a nuclear attack for quite some time. Sometimes we would all have to get under our desks while other times we would march out of the classroom single file and sit in the hallway against the cement block wall and cover our heads with our hands and arms. When the alarm sounded we did not know if it was real or not, but we all knew That President Kennedy was strong and smart and would know what to do.
My first thoughts were that the Russians had somehow got to him. They were our enemy for sure but that idea faded as Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson took the oath of office on an airplane in the chaos. I did not like Johnson at all. I did not like the way he looked. He appeared to be mean. He wasn’t saddened or worried like we were. He seemed to want to be in charge now. His emotions about the assassination did not match mine or the people around me. I have always felt that this powerful Texan had something to do with that sad day in Texas.
It has been over 60 years since this all happened and they feel it would still be harmful to national security to release all the infomation that the government has on the assassination. I think I know why.
At seventy-one years old, there are many many of us that remember that day. We remember the emotions and fear that day brought. To learn that our own government was involved and instrumental in this murder would still bring rage and unruly discontent. Some of the people that may have been involved could perchance be alive! In their nineties but still alive with powerful families and connections. Some may have made fortunes that would be in jeopardy if the truth was known.
If we were to learn now that Booth was assigned to the assassination of Lincoln by the government, and that he did not act on his own, most people, including myself would not be alarmed or extremely concerned. It wouldn’t affect us as it is not a personal story that we lived through.
They will wait until the last of them and the last of us have all died before releasing the truth.