Remembering JFK, this week the 50th anniversary of a dark day

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Monday November 25, 1963. The fourth and maybe most solemn day of the continuous television coverage of the entire events of 50 years ago. The State Funeral of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. CBS began its coverage at 8:00am. EST. Look how young Mike Wallace is...and some of you old-timers might recognize veteran CBS reporter Roger Mudd.

8am to 9am

9am to 10am

10am to 11am

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After nearly 300,000 people passed through the Capitol Rotunda to pay their respects to John F. Kennedy as his body lay in state, the MPDC (Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia) cut off the line of mourners waiting to get in at 8:25a.m EST...the last people got inside at 9:05a.m.

Originally, the plan was to close the Rotunda to public viewing at 9pm Sunday night and reopen it Monday morning at 9am. But the throngs of people were so massive that they decided to keep the Rotunda open throughout Sunday night and into the morning to allow the people a chance to get in. Being that it was late November in DC, temps were near freezing, yet still hundreds of thousands braved the chill and waited for hours to pay their respects.

The schedule of the State Funeral on Monday November 25, 1963 (from wikipedia):

As people were viewing the casket, military authorities held meetings at the White House, at MDW headquarters, and at Arlington National Cemetery to plan Monday's events.^[76]First, they decided that the public viewing should end at 9:00 a.m. EST and that the ceremonies would begin at 10:30 a.m. EST.^[77][78] On Sunday evening the State Department issued its Official Narrative of Events for November 25th:

1. Approximately 50 minutes after leaving from the front of the Rotunda, the Marine element of march, which directly precedes the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Caisson, will have arrived on Pennsylvania Avenue directly opposite of the Northeast gate of the White House. At that point, one platoon of the Marine company will detach itself from the main body and enter the Northeast gate and will be followed by all elements in their rear, i.e., the Joints Chiefs of Staff, the Personal Flag, the Caparisoned Horse and the car bearing Mrs. Kennedy and the Attorney General.

2. The column that has entered the White House grounds will proceed on the drive, NOT passing under, but keeping to the right of the portico, until the head of the platoon of Marines reaches the Northwest gate, which is on Pennsylvania Avenue. There it will be halted. Mrs. Kennedy's car will pull under the portico roof and halt at the front steps of the White House, at which point she will dismount with the Attorney General. Upon her leaving the car, it should be backed up 10 or 15 yards.

3. It is presumed Mrs. Kennedy will mount the steps with the Attorney General and be met by members of the Presidential staff.

4. The entire driveway in the White House grounds will be cordoned by Navy enlisted men, bearing State and Territorial Flags. They will render the appropriate honors upon the passage of the Caisson.

5. It is presumed that the Presidential Military Aides will remain in column behind the Joint Chiefs of Staff. If the Aides decide they wish to enter the White House, it is their responsibility to position themselves back in the column prior to Mrs. Kennedy's leaving the White House to follow the Caisson on foot.

6. It is assumed that the foreign dignitaries have been formed in the proper column inside of the White House, extending from the East Room down the hall to te North Entrance. When Mrs. Kennedy mounts the steps and has been met by the Presidential staff, she will be told by a member of that staff when the entire group within the White House is ready to move off. Mrs. Kennedy is then free to move down the steps and to the left along the drive towards the Northwest gate on foot.

7. On descending to the driveway Mrs. Kennedy will find the Caisson followed by the Caparisoned Horse some 20 - 30 yards to the left and on the driveway. As she approaches the Caisson, the Marine platoon, halted at the Northeast gate, will move the column off so that Mrs. Kennedy will not have to halt behind the Caparisoned Horse. The normal distance for marching behind the Caparison Horse is approximately 10 to 15 yards. The dignitaries, already formed at the White House, will move out immediately behind Mrs. Kennedy. It is presumed that Mrs. Kennedy will be escorted by her brother-in-law, the Attorney General. It is further presumed that the other mourners and dignitaries on foot will keep about a five (5) yard distance in rear of Mrs. Kennedy and her escort.

8. The mourners behind Mrs. Kennedy and her escort should maintain a five or six man front.

9. As the Marine Platoon moves out of the Northwest gate the Black Watch will move in following the Marine Platoon and immediately in front of the Joints Chiefs of Staff.

10. The Naval Academy Choir, positioned on the lawn opposite the North portico, will begin to sing as the Caisson enters the Northeast gate. They will sing three hymns only.^[79]

Unlike Sunday's procession, which was led by only the muffled drum corps,^[80] Monday's was expanded to include other military units.^[81][82][83] Military officials also agreed to requests from Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline Kennedy.^[76] They agreed that the Marine Band should lead the funeral procession,^[76] which would include two foreign military units—pipers from the Scottish Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) marching from the White House to St. Matthew's Roman Catholic Cathedral, a group of 26 Irish Defence Forcescadets—at the request of Mrs. Kennedy—performing silent drill at the grave site, and placement of an eternal flame at the grave.^[84] The cadets came from the Curragh Camp, County Kildare. ^[83][85] The cadets traveled with Irish President Éamon de Valera, and together they paid tribute to Kennedy's Irish ancestry.^[83]

Approximately one million people lined the route of the funeral procession, from the Capitol back to the White House, then to St. Matthew's Cathedral, and finally to Arlington National Cemetery.^[86][87][88] Millions more—almost the entire population of America—followed the funeral on television.^[86][89] Those who watched the funeral on television were the only ones who saw the ceremony in its entirety.^[90] The three networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC, used at least 50 cameras for the joint coverage in order to allow viewers to follow the proceedings in their entirety from the Capitol to Arlington.^[91] In addition, the networks' Washington bureau chiefs (Bob Fleming at ABC, Bill Monroe at NBC, and Bill Small at CBS) moved correspondents and cameras to keep them ahead of the cortège.^[91][92]

At 10:00 a.m., both houses of Congress met to pass resolutions expressing sorrow.^[95][96] In the Senate, Maine Republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith laid a single rose on the desk Kennedy had occupied when in the Senate.^[97]

Earlier that morning the State Department also issued the following directive:

Funeral Services of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, late President of the United States - 25 November 1963

Procession departs the Capitol at 11:00am

Mrs. Kennedy and the Attorney General in an automobile will join the military formation to proceed to the White House. Members of Congress who will participate in the funeral ceremonies (except "The Leadership") proceed directly to St. Matthews Cathedral to be seated by 11:45am.

The military formation will proceed down Pennsylvania Avenue past the White House and pause in the intersection of 17th and Pennsylvania. In the meantime, the caisson will have entered the North Gate and proceed to the North Portico followed by Mrs. Kennedy and the Attorney General. They will leave the automobile at this point and be joined by other dignitaries who will proceed with them on foot behind the caisson. The caisson will move forth and the procession will proceed to St. Matthew's via Connecticut Avenue.

The following will assemble at the White House at 11:15am preparatory to joining Mrs. Kennedy and Family on the walk from the White House to the Cathedral:

The President

Chiefs of State

Heads of Government and Chiefs of Special Delegations.

The Chief Justice

Former Presidents

Justices of the Supreme Court

Members of the Cabinet

Congressional Leadership

The Joint Chiefs of Staff

Personal Assistants to President Kennedy

Close friends

Those that are not in the procession but who have been invited to attend the requiem Mass at the Cathedral should proceed directly to the Cathedral and be in their place at approximately 11:45am.

Upon the conclusion of the ceremonies at the Cathedral, those attending the Mass enter their cars and join the procession from the Cathedral to Arlington National Cemetery in the following order of precedence:

Mrs. Kennedy and Members of the immediate family

The President and his Party

Chiefs of State, Heads of Government and Chiefs of Special Delegations.

The Chief Justice and the Supreme Court

Members of the Cabinet

Leadership of the Senate

Governors of the States and Territories

Leadership of the House of Representatives

Joints Chiefs of Staff

Personal Staff of President Kennedy

Close Friends of the Family

Others attending the funeral mass are invited to Arlington Cemetery

The procession upon arrival at the site of internment will halt and passengers will leave their automobiles and proceed to the grave site. After the internment ceremonies, those participating will return to their cars and return to the city. ^[98]

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State Funeral of John F. Kennedy. 11am to 12pm:

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The pallbearers at President Kennedy's funeral were representatives from all branches of the armed services.

Pallbearers:
Samuel R. Bird (Army, commanding)
James L. Felder (Army)...
Douglas A. Mayfield (Army)
Timothy F. Cheek (Marines) -- (Corporal Cheek was the Marine in the now famous photograph who was standing behind Mrs. Kennedy and Caroline as they knelt beside the casket.)
Jerry J. Diamond (Marines)
Hubert Clark (Navy)
Larry B. Smith (Navy)
Richard E. Gaudreau (Air Force)
George A. Barnum (Coast Guard)

Here are the remembrances of one of them, Douglas Mayfield, US Army, from San Diego:

Carrying the weight of JFK's casket 50 years ago, San Diegan was pallbearer at "the most famous funeral in history"

By Peter Rowe Nov. 16, 2013

Douglas Mayfield holds a photo of President Kennedy's funeral. In the November 1963 image, Mayfield was one of the pallbearers following the caisson. — Howard Lipin

Fifty years ago, when Douglas Mayfield was one of President John F. Kennedy’s pallbearers, the San Diego native was too busy to grieve.

U.S. Army Specialist 4 Mayfield escorted the body to its autopsy; to the White House for one last night; to the Capitol rotunda, where mourners filed past; to a cathedral for the president’s funeral; and finally, as drummers beat a measured tempo, to a plot in Arlington National Cemetery.

Then the soldier collapsed in his barracks, pursued by sad sounds.

“Those drumbeats, I’ll tell you,” Mayfield said. “That presidential drumbeat was so different and haunting. For days, I could hear those drums.”

Kennedy’s motorcade through Dallas was struck by a fusillade of bullets a half century ago, yet this distant event remains a vividly-recalled watershed in our history. This week, the assassination will be examined in docudramas, books and news stories. Conspiracy buffs spin theories about why Lee Harvey Oswald — and others? — murdered our youngest elected president. Historians wonder if our nation would have charted different paths — in Vietnam, in civil rights — if Kennedy had left Texas alive.

All Americans of a certain age can recall what they were doing, where they were and how they felt when the news hit. Here’s what a 21-year-old from Encanto felt, when his job suddenly thrust him onto the world stage: incredible tension.

"The pressure was always on us," Mayfield said. "We were thinking 'Just don’t screw up.' The world was watching."

Hero in the back

In ceremonies that stretched across four chilly fall days, Nov. 22-25, 1963, the nation bade farewell to its slain leader. Throughout this somber pageant, Mayfield stood near the edge of the drama. He never wanted to be in the spotlight and, even today, shrinks from revisiting these scenes.

“I’ve always been the type who likes to sit in the back row, furthest away from the limelight,” he said last week. “I didn’t even go to the prom — I was too shy to ask a girl out.”

Mayfield, though, is no wimp. A Lincoln High graduate, he was drafted into the Army, spending most of his two years of active duty in Virginia. As a San Diego police officer in 1971, he rescued a man from a burning building. The day receiving the department’s lifesaving medal, he responded to an altercation on Ivy Street and was stabbed in the chest. Recovering from that wound, he rose to detective’s rank.

He retired in 1993, suffering from worsening back pains. The detective traces this ailment back to his pallbearing days, saying it was exacerbated by carrying Kennedy’s casket — an episode that was news to his police colleagues.

“I never told my partner,” Mayfield said. “I didn’t tell anybody.”

“He didn’t tell me,” said Gretchen Mayfield, his wife. “I found out the first time when someone sent him a letter.”

Over the decades, hundreds of strangers have written to Mayfield. Some ask for his account of Kennedy’s funeral; many request an autograph; one boy quizzed Mayfield about the size and material of his dress uniform gloves.

Authors, too, have sought him out. He makes brief appearances in William Manchester’s 1967 “The Death of a President;” “Four Days in November,” a 2003 reprint of The New York Times’ 1963 coverage; and “On Hallowed Ground,” Robert M. Poole’s 2009 history of the Arlington National Cemetery.

While he’s been interviewed about Kennedy several times, he’d rather talk about his travels, his eight grandchildren, or the show cars he’s rebuilt. The walls of his El Cajon house are lined with photos of a 1923 Model T hot rod, a ’29 Model A, a ’34 Ford Phaeton, a ’42 Ford convertible and other classic vehicles — and only two photos from those tragic days in November 1963, when his skills as a pallbearer were tested to the utmost.

Mayfield had been part the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, the “Old Guard,” the Army’s longest-serving unit. In 1962 and early ’63, his duties with the presidential honor guard had involved a few White House functions — Jacqueline Kennedy, the first lady, once engaged him in small talk — but most of his time was spent in Arlington on burial details.

At first, Friday, Nov. 22, 1963, seemed like an ordinary day. The pallbearers had finished their shift when Mayfield noticed that detail’s bugler had a transistor radio at his ear and a dazed expression on his face.

“The president has been shot!” the bugler gasped.

“Now,” Mayfield remembered thinking, “it was going to be all hell.”

Bearing the weight

Back at the barracks, Lt. Sam Bird took charge. Then just 23 years old, Bird commanded a team of pallbearers representing every branch of the U.S. military. Their duty: Convey Kennedy’s casket to all ceremonies, public and private.

This job’s challenges began to emerge that night at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C. When Air Force One landed, a general aboard the plane refused to relinquish the casket to the honor guard. Secret Service agents struggled with their heavy burden until finally, with help from pallbearers, they loaded it onto an ambulance.

That vehicle drove toward Bethesda Naval Hospital; Bird’s team gave chase in a helicopter. Landing outside the hospital, the pallbearers removed the casket from the ambulance and brought it into a private room. There, an autopsy was performed on what had been — less than a day earlier — the world’s most powerful figure.

Early on Saturday, Nov. 23, the body was released and was transported into Washington. The pallbearers removed their precious cargo outside the White House around 4 a.m. and began marching through darkness, toward the Executive Mansion.

“All of a sudden,” Mayfield said, “lights and cameras illuminated the place like it was daylight.”

As the media’s flashbulbs popped, the six pallbearers walked toward the White House, struggling to uphold their 1,300-plus lbs. responsibility.

“With every step,” Mayfield said, “the casket was going a little bit further down.”

“Lieutenant!” Mayfield whispered.

No response.

Ignoring protocol, Mayfield turned his head and looked at Bird, three paces behind the casket.

“Lieutenant!”

Also breaking protocol, Bird stepped forward and lifted the casket, safely bringing it inside.

The next day, the lieutenant reinforced his team with two additional pallbearers.

Midnight rehearsal

The additions were welcome, as the pallbearers were working round-the-clock. When they weren’t carrying Kennedy’s casket, they were scrambling to master their duties, aware that every action had to be crisp and flawless.

They knew, for instance, that they would have to ascend the Capitol’s steep steps — “it looked more like a wall than steps,” Mayfield recalled — and deliver the casket to the rotunda.

On the night before that mission, Bird assembled his team at Arlington for a test run. Hoisting a practice casket packed with sandbags and topped with two sturdy GIs, the pallbearers climbed the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier’s steps. This midnight rehearsal went off without a hitch, as did Sunday morning’s actual ascent of the Capitol steps.

On Monday, Nov. 25, the pallbearers descended the Capitol steps, then placed the casket on a caisson and accompanied it to St. Matthew’s Cathedral. After the funeral Mass, the pallbearers exited the church and fastened the casket to the caisson for the three-mile trek to Arlington.

Mourners had mobbed the Capitol and the cathedral, Mayfield remembered, but larger throngs lined the streets of Washington for this final journey. He did not see John F. Kennedy Jr. — “John-John” — saluting his father’s casket. But he noticed the silence, broken only by a drum corps rapping out a slow, sad beat.

At the grave site in Arlington, the pallbearers faced another challenge. Lifting Old Glory off Kennedy’s casket, they had to fold it into a tight triangle that showed nothing but a blue field and white stars. Because maneuver requires precise timing, the mixed band of pallbearers had devoted hours to practice.

“Usually,” Mayfield said, “you spend about six months training how to carry the casket and fold the flag. We had two days.”

That was enough. Mayfield delivered the perfectly-folded flag to Arlington’s director, who presented it to the widow.

Then it was over. The new president, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Charles de Gaulle of France, Ethiopia’s Haile Selassie and other dignitaries filed out. Mayfield, who had only six or seven hours of sleep across those four days, went to his barracks to rest.

“I was tired,” he said, “I was sore, I was ready to come home.”

Two months later, he did. He built a new life that makes few references to November 1963. Inevitably, though, a call or a letter stirs memories of those days and the steady, mournful sound of those drums.

“I was involved in several large ceremonies at Arlington, but nothing compared to this one,” Mayfield said. “I was proud of the fact that I was involved in the most famous funeral in history.”

peter.rowe@utsandiego.com • (619) 293-1227 • @peterroweut

© Copyright 2013 The San Diego Union-Tribune, LLC. An MLIM LLC Company. All rights reserved.

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Kennedy Pallbearer Richard Gaudreau's (Air Force) memories, from the library.thinkquest.org website.

Sergeant Richard Gaudreau is a link to the historic assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. Then head of the Air Force casket members, he was chosen to be a pallbearer by a young Army lieutenant. He was among two Army men, one Coast Guard member, two Marines, and two Naval officers. When asked how he was chosen he simply replied, “I was at the right place at the right time.”

In Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy and his wife were on their way to a luncheon in an open convertible when shots were fired. One of the bullets passed thorough the president’s neck and into the back of Texas Governor John B. Connally. The second shot struck the president’s head, and he never regained consciousness. At one o’clock p.m. the 35th president of the United States was pronounced dead at Parkland Hospital. When the body of the president was sent from Texas to Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, six men were chosen to transport the president’s body, but because of the weight of the casket two men were added to accompany the original six. Among the original six pallbearers was Sergeant Richard Gaudreau, now a resident of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.

PATCHWORK: How did you get in the military?
GAUDREAU: Coming from a small hometown in Massachusetts and seeing what they had to offer in jobs, the military was the best offer. I went down to join the Air Force and I graduated on, let’s say the 17th of June, and by the 29th I was in the Air Force, about twelve days after I graduated from high school.

PATCHWORK: So, how old were you when it all happened?
GAUDREAU: Kennedy?

PATCHWORK: Yes.
GAUDREAU: I was twenty-seven.

PATCHWORK: And how old were you when you got into the military?
GAUDREAU: Eighteen.

PATCHWORK: How long after…
GAUDREAU: Well, let me see, 1963 and I joined in ’54 so it’s nine years and I got out in 1979 so it was ’63, 16 years later after Kennedy. I spent 24 years, seven months, and three days in the military, but it was called twenty-five years for pay purposes.

PATCHWORK: What went on at the funeral service?
GAUDREAU: From beginning to end? You have to understand, when we found out that he had been assassinated and when we went out to Andrews, I think I talked to you before about how I got selected out at Andrews to the Bethesda Naval Hospital for the autopsy and we stayed there until around 4:30 in the morning, then at 4:30 we transported his body to the White House and then carried it inside to the East Room, where they put it on a catafalque and it laid there all day Saturday and into Sunday morning, and then Sunday morning we put him back on the caisson and he was brought by horse drawn carriage to the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. There we brought him into the Rotunda of the Capitol and there he lay in state all day Sunday, Sunday evening and then Monday morning we went back to pick him up and bring him to Arlington National Cemetery. Well, first of all I’m trying to remember the cathedral … I can’t remember the name, I can find it, it’s in the book. There they had the Catholic Mass, with Cardinal Cushing, from there to Arlington National Cemetery.

PATCHWORK: Who’s Cardinal Cushing?
GAUDREAU: He was the Catholic Cardinal who was quote unquote “a Kennedy” because he was from Massachusetts, so that’s why they had him presiding over the Mass.

PATCHWORK: Going from the White House to the Capitol, was that the parade that they always like?
GAUDREAU: There were two parades really; one from the White House to the U.S. Capitol and that was Saturday morning. Then we carried him upstairs into the Rotunda of the Capitol and put him on the catafalque and that was Lincoln’s original catafalque, and there he lay in state until Sunday morning. That was a long parade. Then we took him Monday morning over to St. Matthew’s Cathedral and there they had the Catholic Mass and then from there we put him back on the horse-drawn carriage and took him to Arlington National Cemetery. And that was a long walk. Yeah, that was quite a bit of time.

PATCHWORK: Where were you when Kennedy died?
GAUDREAU: I was in my office. At that time I was an E5 Staff Sergeant and my title was Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge of Ceremonial Coordination. When Arlington National Cemetery would call for a funeral, it was my job to say okay there’s going to be a full honor funeral, we need a band, we need a bugler, we need a flight of men, we need colors, we need an officer, we need an NCO, we need guide on bearer, we need another flight, and I would have to write all that down and figure out what the times were and get the necessary transportation and if it was later then what we call the chow hall, the dining hall, if that closed and the troops were coming back, I had to make sure that they stayed open so the people get fed. I was in the office listening to the radio and that’s when the bulletin came over and I think it was like 2:30 in the afternoon. We listened to it and I told my boss, Master Sergeant Hunnicutt, and he Okayed a recall. We did a recall of all personnel, and that’s how we got out to Andrews. And I was in charge of it.

PATCHWORK: So you took people out there and you where in charge of it?
GAUDREAU: Yeah, just the Air Force Casket Team. I had eight members and we were standing by waiting for the aircraft to come when an army lieutenant came up and asked who was in charge and I said I was and he said follow me and that’s how I ended up getting into it.

PATCHWORK: Now how come, since the eight guys who were with you were the casket members, why weren’t they the pallbearers?
GAUDREAU: Now that’s a good question because instead of saying I need one of your people, he came up and asked who’s in charge? And of course I said that I was because I was, I was responsible for those eight men. And he said, “Well follow me.” So I just turned over those eight guys to somebody else and I went with him.

PATCHWORK: So you didn’t really know?
GAUDREAU: No, I didn’t know what was going on. Right, and then all of a sudden we formed up six casket members and then off loaded the casket off of the truck and into an ambulance, which went up to Bethesda Naval Hospital. We took a helicopter up and then we landed there and we off loaded his casket to the autopsy room and that’s where they performed an autopsy on the body. The casket was badly damaged and they replaced it during the early hours of the morning and I can remember them bringing in his suit and his white shirt and his tie and socks and that’s what happened. We guarded the door that led into the autopsy room.

PATCHWORK: So they had just put him in a casket to transport him.
GAUDREAU: Yeah, they went out in the early hours and bought a new casket. The one we had was, say, a bronze, and they went out and bought a mahogany; the bronze casket had a broken handle and some deep scars from rough handling on the plane.

PATCHWORK: How did you all learn to walk in-sync?
GAUDREAU: Well, that’s part of the military. Anytime you’re in the military, they teach you to march. Doesn’t make any difference whether you’re an Army man, a Marine, a Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard they teach you to march. You always lead off with your left foot, and it’s left, right, left, right. There’s a certain cadence to it and even though you’re supposed to be looking straight ahead, you can always look down at the guy in front of you to see what steps he’s walking at, and you would change accordingly. If he’s with his right foot and you’re with your left, you do a change step; it’s a skip.

PATCHWORK: So, basically when you carried it, you did the military march?
GAUDREAU: Going up the stairs to the Rotunda to the Capitol, that was terrible. The stairs are only this wide and they wanted the casket to go up level. In other words they didn’t want it tilted coming down or going up, so we practiced carrying the casket, we went to the Tomb of the Unknown Solider. We carried a dummy casket.

PATCHWORK: Is it the same type?
GAUDREAU: It’s similar that what you’re looking for, you need something to guide you for going up and down the stairs. We practiced there for, oh, it must have been six or seven hours, but we had a dummy casket and the dummy casket only weighed about four hundred pounds. And the Kennedy casket weighed in excess of seven hundred. So what we did was we took the tomb guard and put him in the casket and carried him up and down the stairs.

PATCHWORK: Is that how you learned to practice?
GAUDREAU: Well that’s how we learned how to get the empty weight in the casket. Cause if you’re the back person, the front person is way down here and the back person’s way up here. You’re carrying it level.

PATCHWORK: So you carried it like this?
GAUDREAU: You carry it depending on how you’re going. You either put your hands underneath or you put your hands on top and hold it. Now going to put it on the back of the caisson, you would hold it this way and you’d lift it up and then you’d do a side step and then it slides on and then they strap it down and there was commands, “face away,” “face me,” “ready face,” all this stuff. There are no commands given at all, it’s done silently. Let’s say we went back to the White House when we placed it on the catafalque in the White House in the East Room. Deathwatch is the term for five guys that come in and relieve us. One officer and four enlisted men were on each corner of the casket. We leave and we went back and practiced and they took over for us, that’s how that evolves. So like lying in state we were at Fort Myers practicing, either folding the flag, carrying the casket, or something similar to that while Deathwatch was watching the casket, and watching the people grieve.

PATCHWORK: What times did you practice?
GAUDREAU: Whatever free time we had was practicing, either carrying the casket, folding the flag.

PATCHWORK: How many of you did it take to fold the flag? Did it take all eight?
GAUDREAU: Oh yeah, all eight are holding it and then you get a tug of the thumb. Then you fold it over, you take your hands back cause you crease the flag and then it’s folded again and then you’re holding it. It starts down at this end and when it gets down here there’s no red showing or no white showing, all you have is blue and white stars. They crease it on both sides and make sure that it’s very snug. Then they pass it across. First the Marine on this side holds it and he does the same thing and then I got it and the things that are going through your mind is please don’t let me drop this flag. If you drop it, you’re gone. So anyway then it goes down the line and the last person gets it and turns around and gives it to the Arlington National Cemetery Representative. We call him “Digger” because he was at most of the funerals that we’ve seen and he gives it to Mrs. Kennedy. Then on behalf of a grateful nation we present this flag and so forth and so on. And that’s how the flag is passed on.

PATCHWORK: So did you practice carrying the casket early in the morning or during the night?
GAUDREAU: Well, when we got back from the White House Saturday morning it must have been around 4:30 when leaving Bethesda Naval Hospital. And got to the White House around 5:30- 5:45 and we were out of there at 6:30- 7 and we got over to Ft. Myers. We had been up going on 24 hours from Friday morning to Saturday morning and we were told to go home and get a couple hours of sleep and be back at Ft. Myers at 10. By the time you get your car and drive all the way home, actually drove back to the office, change clothes, then drive home, and tell the wife, I had been tied up. Well of course she knew that cause I’d tell her, then get whatever sleep you can get, back to Ft. Myers and then start practicing carrying the casket.

PATCHWORK: But you never went at like 2:00 in the morning.
GAUDREAU: Well, you practiced as long as the young lieutenant wanted you to practice. You didn’t look at your watch and say, “Come on, it’s 4 in the afternoon, I get off at 4, let me go.” No, you just stayed until he felt that it was necessary, well you practiced until he felt that you did everything great. You folded the flag, if you folded it once, you folded it a hundred times and then it’s “let’s do it again.” And then that’s what you had to do.

PATCHWORK: So would people see you practicing?
GAUDREAU: No, just like carrying the dummy casket, the Arlington Cemetery closed in the evening hours, and let’s say at five o’clock in the evening, we were there from let’s say 6:30 to 10:00 and the tomb has lights and that’s all that you were doing, nobody was around. And then folding the flag, we would go in the gymnasium or a hanger, or fold the flag, and that’s where you practiced. There wasn’t anyone around asking “What are you doing, what are you trying to accomplish?” That’s visible when you’re in the Rotunda of the Capitol, the White House, and Arlington National Cemetery.

PATCHWORK: Were you really, really nervous?
GAUDREAU: I don’t think I was nervous until it was all over. Some of things you remember; you remember the long parade from the cathedral to Arlington National Cemetery, the people that had lined the street, talking, you could hear them yelling, of course, all of the soldiers and people that lined the streets, you could see those, but it was a long parade all the way to Arlington Cemetery.

PATCHWORK: And you just didn’t really pay attention to all the people?
GAUDREAU: You were concentrating, and see, again, being in the military if you’re walking with a casket, you can’t just turn your head and say, “Hey I know that person.” No everything is straight. You have to look straight ahead and you’re focusing on what you have to do, just like standing at graveside holding the flag, you’re there and you’re hoping that you don’t want to lock your knees. If you lock you knees, your feet fall asleep, and what happens is you’re either going to keel over and you don’t want to embarrass the Air Force so you flex your knees and you flex your toes.

PATCHWORK: Do you keep your knees bent a little bit?
GAUDREAU: When you’re standing at attention, you’re wiggling your toes and every once in a while you would pop a leg and just to make sure that your knees wouldn’t lock. That’s what you would do and it was self evident in your mind that, “Hey, if anyone else was going to pass out, it wasn’t going to be me.”

PATCHWORK: Over how many days was it?
GAUDREAU: Well when he came in Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday and then we buried him Monday morning at Arlington Cemetery.

PATCHWORK: So the whole time that's what was on your mind; you weren’t doing other stuff?
GAUDREAU: I wasn’t doing anything else but carrying the casket from Andrews to Bethesda, from Bethesda to the White House, from the White House to the U.S. Capitol, up to the cathedral, from the cathedral to Arlington National Cemetery.

PATCHWORK: And you guarded it too?
GAUDREAU: No, we did not guard it, that was Deathwatch, they had that responsibility.

PATCHWORK: So all you had to do was move it from place to place?
GAUDREAU: Correct.

PATCHWORK: And then when you weren’t doing that, you were practicing?
GAUDREAU: Yeah, either carrying the casket up and down to make sure we had it level or folding the flag. Now again I told you, anytime we did something, like for example we moved the casket from the White House to the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol; we put it on the catafalque. And once you put it down, you’re standing at attention. Now Deathwatch comes in, and they form up. If this is the casket there are four people on each corner of the casket and then the officer at the head of the casket. We were all lined up on either side, there’s four on this side and four on this side, well the officer doesn’t turn around and say, “Okay you guys are dismissed, you can leave,” it’s not like that. Everything is done and all of a sudden you hear (noise made by Mr. Gaudreau) and then starts a count. Everybody comes up with a salute and you’re counting in your head and everybody goes down.

PATCHWORK: All on a count?
GAUDREAU: That’s all on a count.

PATCHWORK: It’s all-together?
GAUDREAU: Yes, and then the casket people take a step to the rear and Deathwatch takes a step up. Then you see your NCO was over here he takes his head and he nods his head and then we do a facing move and he nods his head again and we just march off, and then we just disappear into the darkness and that basically how we do. The same thing coming back to relieving Deathwatch. Everything is done military.

PATCHWORK: You do that in the morning or before they had to move?
GAUDREAU: Well, they did that about a half an hour before the casket was moved. We relieved Deathwatch and then we would stand by and everything was done time wise. Typical military. You know it has to be done, it wasn’t done at 6:59 or 7:01, it was done right at 7:00 and again that’s how the military is. Now that meant you were there at 5:00 in the morning two hours before it was supposed to move. There is an old term when doing ceremonies or doing joint services you know “hurry up and wait.” You would get there two hours before the ceremony was supposed to start.

PATCHWORK: So you practiced before…
GAUDREAU: No, not on the funeral, that’s like joint service ceremonies where they brought a head of state in, and this is some of the duties I had like on the White House lawn when they had a full honor arrival ceremony when you had all the services lined up. Well if the arrival ceremony started at 11:00 in the morning, you where there at nine and you practiced trooping the colors and there’s a whole bunch of stuff to it, it’s all a part of what the Army does and the Air Force and the Marines and the Navy. You learned to live with it.

PATCHWORK: Is there anything else that you think would be vital information?
GAUDREAU: No, except for there was a lot of controversy on the Kennedy assassination, controversy on why we had to have two caskets. There was a lot of controversy on why they did not perform the autopsy in Dallas.

PATCHWORK: Why?
GAUDREAU: Because the U.S. Secret Service said, “There’s no way you’re doing it here; we’re taking the body back to Washington, D.C.”

PATCHWORK: They wanted everyone done in Washington?
GAUDREAU: Yeah, but if you look at the state laws, because of the fact that he was killed in Dallas, it should be performed in Texas, according to the Texas laws. But it wasn’t. They transported him back. The one thing that stands out in my mind is Mrs. Kennedy, when she was on the back of the truck when we reached up to grab the casket, she was standing right here. You could see all of that …

PATCHWORK: She was on the back of the truck?
GAUDREAU: Yes, and I believe that Robert Kennedy was there too. In fact one of the pictures shows him on the back of the truck. And then we found out years later that the first casket they took it out about ten miles into the ocean and dumped it and that took place and I didn’t know about that till a couple of years ago and so there was a lot of controversy. I got a lot of flack when I got back since “hey, you weren’t supposed to do this” cause those eight guys that I brought out there, they wouldn’t talk to me cause each one of those guys wanted to be there, too, they wanted to represent the Air Force.

PATCHWORK: So you were the only one representing the Air Force?
GAUDREAU: On the casket team. Deathwatch had Air Force people; one of the flag bearers was an Air Force person. So you know there was a lot of Air Force people involved, but I had to stand out cause I was the only one that went where the casket moved. Now Deathwatch was on for a half hour and off for an hour and a half.

PATCHWORK: Deathwatch switched?
GAUDREAU: Yes, they switched with another Deathwatch. Daylight hours you had an officer and four enlisted men. Evening hours, you have a non-commissioned officer and four enlisted men. Over in the corner they had a stand-by in case one of your people got sick or they passed out and that one that’s over in the corner would come over to relieve and again they all go to parade rest together. It’s not individual; it’s all done with a signal from the officer.

PATCHWORK: So there’s no command? It was all silent so you had to know everything when you started out? Were there commands?
GAUDREAU: This is practice. You practice what they call a CPX exercise and we practiced these things once a year so you have a basic knowledge and by practicing they refine it some more. Once you get to know what to do, it all comes natural; it’s repetitive. We do it over and over and over. You think you are getting out of here. You practice until he feels it’s correct.

PATCHWORK: So when you’re practicing does anything ever go wrong?
GAUDREAU: Oh sure, there’s things that went wrong. You know little things, nothing major.

PATCHWORK: Did anything every go wrong when you were carrying it in the parade?
GAUDREAU: Nope, nope, nothing, no, everything went well except when we came out of the cathedral and the cardinal wanted to bless the casket. Well, we come down a set of stairs and then you stand and now you’re carrying about 800 pounds. And if you’ve ever carried dead weight when you’re standing still, it starts getting heavier and under your breath you’re telling the cardinal, come on, just get it over with and you have to pull the flag back and he takes the holy water and he says in Latin and crosses it and you’re saying, “come on.”

PATCHWORK: And you were holding it the whole time?
GAUDREAU: Oh, of course you’re holding it. Now when he’s finished, after 6 or 7 minutes, it doesn’t sound like a long time, but now you’ve got to go back out in the middle of the street and raise the casket up and do side steps so you draw from within and say, “We’ll get through it” and we did.

PATCHWORK: So in the parades when you were coming out of the cathedral, once you put the casket on the horse drawn carriage, where did you go?
GAUDREAU: We walked right along side of it. In one of the pictures from the White House to the Capitol we walked behind the caisson because they used other military personnel along side, but when we picked it up at the cathedral to Arlington National Cemetery we walked along side of it. They didn’t have anybody, well I shouldn’t say they didn’t have anyone else but we were the main casket team.

PATCHWORK: Now on your casket team, I know you told us this before when we had asked you, it was you from the Air Force…

GAUDREAU: No, let’s go through it: two Army, two Marines, two Navy, one Air Force and one Coast Guard. Army senior cause the two Army you had to have a senior, it’s an order of precedence. Army comes first, Marine goes second, Navy goes third, Air Force comes fourth, and then the Coast Guard. That’s the order of precedence. Every parade you ever watch, you see the Army first, then the Marines, then Navy, the Air Force…

PATCHWORK: So that’s how it was lined up along the casket?
GAUDREAU: That is correct.

PATCHWORK: So you were lined up along the back?
GAUDREAU: No, what happens is the man in charge is Army, Marine, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and then it reverses itself Navy, Marine, Army…

PATCHWORK: So you were about in the middle?
GAUDREAU: I was about the second one in from the corner (points out photos).

PATCHWORK: So, you say that that the Army mans the one in charge. You don’t have an officer?
GAUDREAU: First lieutenant Bird, he was the OIC.

PATCHWORK: So you had an officer and then the next person would be the Army?
GAUDREAU: That is correct and that was Staff Sergeant Felter. (points at picture)

PATCHWORK: Now did you have to do the whole thing that they usually do like getting it into the ground?
GAUDREAU: Now what happens if you can see these straps right here (pointing to picture) the casket sits on that so when we’re done and out of the way and all of the civilians are gone, that’s when the casket is lowered into the ground. And then they put a cap on it and you know, you don’t see them shoveling dirt on it. Course you don’t see any mound of dirt, this is all carpet here that they used.

PATCHWORK: (Talking to wife) Now did you get to see any of this?
MRS. GAUDREAU: I was pregnant, home, watching it on TV. It was bad enough everyone was crying.

PATCHWORK: Was the funeral service really long?
GAUDREAU: Well put it this way, you’re Catholic?

PATCHWORK: I am.
GAUDREAU: You ever been to a High Mass?

PATCHWORK: Ahuh…
GAUDREAU: At least an hour, if not longer.

PATCHWORK: And their family was strong Catholic
GAUDREAU: And then of course Cardinal Cushing was their family member and he was very slow, methodical, and very Irish. Everything is done and you’re thinking, “come on come on.” It was nice.

PATCHWORK: Now when they flew him back, did they fly him on Air Force One?
GAUDREAU: Yes, he was in what they call the tail section and President Johnson and Lady Bird they were in the front. The Kennedy family were all in the back. (Now referring to the funeral in the cathedral) When we went up to the front of the altar, they wanted us to carry the casket. Well he said no there’s no way, so they got a dolly and we put it on the dolly and drug it up the aisle and that’s when it dawns on you, “Wow, look at all the people here.” I mean it was crowded, you go down the aisle and then you peel off and go back up the aisles and then we waited outside, and when Mass was over, we came back down the aisle, turned the casket around and then go back out again.

PATCHWORK: Did they have the casket facing a certain way, like the head going a certain way?
GAUDREAU: The feet go forward. The only one that goes headfirst is the priest and the chaplain goes headfirst, everyone else goes feet first. There’s a reason for it.

[LedZeppfan77]

Extreme Unction as it was once called, Anointing of the Sick, or in other words more familiar to non Catholics, your last rites, were given to President Kennedy at Parkland hospital as a priest was rushed in knowing he was fatally wounded. This is a very meaningful and important one of 7 sacraments in the Catholic faith. Just imagine those doctors and even the priest, never knowing their day would wind up like this, with the president of the United States in an emergency room with no chance of survival. Along with 911 the two worst days in recent history along with Pearl Harbor and Lincoln's assassination.

ps great posts above Strider

[Strider]

I couldn't find the 12noon to 1pm footage of the State Funeral, so I'll pick up the CBS coverage from 1pm EST/10am PST. These hours cover most of the Mass and the Procession to Arlington Cemetery and the Internment.

1:00pm to 2:00pm

2:00pm to 3:00pm

3:00pm to 4:00pm...The Lighting of The Eternal Flame and the Lowering of the Casket.

[Strider]

Details about the Funeral Mass and the Burial.

At 3:34 p.m. EST, John F. Kennedy was laid to rest.

From wikipedia...

Funeral Mass at the Cathedral

About 1,200 invited guests attended the funeral Mass in the cathedral.^[118] The Archbishop of Boston, Richard Cardinal Cushing, celebrated the Pontifical Requiem Low Mass at the cathedral where Kennedy, a practicing Catholic, often worshipped.^[119] Cardinal Cushing was a close friend of the family who had witnessed and blessed the marriage of Senator Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953.^[120] He had also baptized two of their children, given the invocation at President Kennedy's inauguration, and officiated at the recent funeral of their infant son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy.^[120]

At the request of the First Lady, the Requiem Mass was a Low Mass^[121] -- that is, a simplified version of the Mass, with the Mass recited or spoken and not sung.^[121] Two months later, Cardinal Cushing offered a pontifical Solemn High Requiem Mass at Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston, with the city's orchestra and choir singing Mozart's Requiem setting.^[122]

There was no formal eulogy at the Low Requiem Mass. (The first presidential funeral to feature a formal eulogy was that of L.B.J. in 1973.)^[123][124] However, the Roman CatholicAuxiliary Bishop of Washington, the Most Reverend Philip M. Hannan, decided to read selections from Kennedy's writings and speeches.^[123] The readings included a passage from the third chapter of Ecclesiastes: "There is an appointed time for everything...a time to be born and a time to die...a time to love and a time to hate...a time of war and a time of peace."^[120] He then concluded his remarks by reading Kennedy's entire Inaugural Address.^[125]

Jacqueline Kennedy requested that Luigi Vena sing Georges Bizet's "Agnus Dei", as he had at her wedding to John F. Kennedy ten years prior. Instead, he was told to sing Pie Jesu and Franz Schubert's Ave Maria after the offertory.^[126] For a few moments, she lost her composure and sobbed as this music filled the cathedral.^[6]

The John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

The John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame is a presidential memorial at the gravesite of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, in Arlington National Cemetery. The permanent site replaced a temporary grave and eternal flame used during President Kennedy's funeral on November 25, 1963. The site was designed by architect John Carl Warnecke, a long-time friend of President Kennedy's.^[1][2] The permanent John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame grave site was consecrated and opened to the public on March 15, 1967.^[3]

Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_Eternal_Flame

Burial

The casket was borne again by caisson on the final leg to Arlington National Cemetery for burial.^[127] Moments after the casket was carried down the front steps of the cathedral, Jacqueline Kennedy whispered to her son, after which he saluted his father's coffin;^[128] the image, taken by photographer Stan Stearns,^[129] became an iconic representation of the 1960s. The children were deemed to be too young to attend the final burial service, so this was the point where the children said goodbye to their father.^[130] (Incorrect: The video of the service at the grave shows Caroline Kennedy, at least, at her mother's side.)

Virtually everyone else followed the caisson in a long line of black limousines passing by the Lincoln Memorial and crossing the Potomac River. Many of the military units did not participate in the burial service and left just after crossing the Potomac.^[131] Because the line of cars taking the foreign dignitaries was long, the last cars carrying the dignitaries left St. Matthew's as the procession entered the cemetery.^[127][132] The burial services had already begun when the last car arrived.^[118] Security guards walked beside the cars carrying the dignitaries, with the one carrying the French president having the most—10.^[87][113]

At the end of the burial services, the widow lit an eternal flame to burn continuously over his grave.^[118] At 3:34 p.m. EST, the casket containing his remains was lowered into the earth as "Kennedy slipped out of mortal sight—out of sight but not out of heart and mind."^[127] Kennedy thus became only the second president to be buried at Arlington, after William Howard Taft, which meant that, at that time, the two most recent presidents to lie in state in the Capitol rotunda were buried at Arlington.^[56][133] Kennedy was buried at Arlington exactly two weeks to the day he last visited there, when he came for Veterans Day observances.^[133][134]

[Strider]

The end of the National Day of Mourning of Monday, November 25, 1963.

This is the last bit of footage I could find of CBS' live broadcast of the State Funeral of John F. Kennedy. This covers the time of 4:00pm - 4:31pm EST/ 1pm - 1:31pm PST. Walter Cronkite relates an interesting tidbit about how East Germany was the only Soviet Bloc country not to show the broadcast of JFK's funeral. Hmmmm...maybe East Germany was behind the assassination? Also on this day, the body of Lee Harvey Oswald was buried.

After the funeral service, NBC Radio had this ending commentary by Russ Ward.

[Strider]

Some photographs from the weekend 50 years ago. John Kennedy Jr. saluting his father's casket as it moved pass is burned into the national memory of course.

But the one I find particularly moving and heartbreaking is the top one of Jackie and Caroline kneeling in front of JFK's casket as it lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda. Caroline slips her hand under the flag draping the casket in a seeming effort to get closer to her father. You don't have to be a father to be moved to tears by this photo.

[redrum]

And especially Kirsten Gillibrand, who before becoming a senator had a high NRA rating until she turned her back on them "because she didn't want to alienate a large part of her constituency" (ergo: NYC). I have both her and Schumer as my senators...oh the joy!

Yeah, I used to live in California (Feinstein/Pelosi etc.) and am now in Washington which is still the left coast. Gillibrand sounds like the typical turncoat who should and will (hopefully) get voted out on her ass.

[redrum]

Great historical shots.

[LedZeppfan77]

The eternal flame is one of the greatest tributes to ever be given to a great fallen leader. The Pyramids come to my mind as another. It was very fitting that Jackie was laid to rest at Arlington also. Too many tragedies have happened to this family.

[ebk]

Thank you so much Strider, for all of the work and care you put into sharing all of the video and narrative. It is much appreciated.

[Strider]

Thank you so much Strider, for all of the work and care you put into sharing all of the video and narrative. It is much appreciated.

No problem. I consider it my duty as an American citizen...you'd be surprised how little kids today are taught and know about this sad chapter in our history. I wish it had never happened so I didn't have to post these at all.

[the chase]

http://www.jfk-online.com/jfk100theatre.html

Excellent link Steve.. just thoroughly re-read it - and it makes total sense to me.

No doubt in my mind that Lee Harvey Oswald was hiding in the theater.. right after he killed Officer J.D. Tippit.

He wasn't there just to see the daily double feature an hour after the President was killed.

[LedZeppfan77]

Excellent link Steve.. just thoroughly re-read it - and it makes total sense to me.

No doubt in my mind that Lee Harvey Oswald was hiding in the theater.. right after he killed Officer J.D. Tippit.

He wasn't there just to see the daily double feature an hour after the President was killed.

The shoe store owner had a gut feeling about Oswald and called the police. Of course not knowing the horrible crimes he had just committed. I am surprised he was not shot on the spot as one of their own officers had been shot in cold blood by the bastard. But they had orders I assume, to take him alive for answers. None would ever have come so Ruby did us a favor. One of the saddest days ever. A great man and first lady and this crap had to happen. To me its still news more than history, as I remember the day even though I was young

[Strider]

Excellent link Steve.. just thoroughly re-read it - and it makes total sense to me.

No doubt in my mind that Lee Harvey Oswald was hiding in the theater.. right after he killed Officer J.D. Tippit.

He wasn't there just to see the daily double feature an hour after the President was killed.

Of course LHO was hiding. A theatre is dark and he thought he could slip in unnoticed. The fact that Psychedelic implies that Oswald went there as a paying customer out to enjoy a double feature illustrates the bizarre nature of most Kennedy conspiracists...they show no connection with rational context and behaviour.

[the chase]

Of course LHO was hiding. A theatre is dark and he thought he could slip in unnoticed. The fact that Psychedelic implies that Oswald went there as a paying customer out to enjoy a double feature illustrates the bizarre nature of most Kennedy conspiracists...they show no connection with rational context and behaviour.

yep.. Too bad his big mouth made it so he can't respond..

Oswald acted alone? Probably not.

Oswald was involved? Absolutely!

[Strider]

^^^

You mean Psychedelic got himself banned? If I'd known that I wouldn't have mentioned him...no sense debating someone who cannot respond.

I used to think Oswald was part of a conspiracy...when you're young and you grow up in the shadow of Vietnam, Watergate, and the 60s, believing in conspiracies is almost mandatory. But as more and more time has passed and more information has come to light and you read what kind of guy Oswald was and the different prisms he passed thru, the more I think Oswald was just a lone nut with a huge chip on his shoulder.

I realize that the fact that a crazy guy could take out the most powerful man in the world is unsettling to many people. That is why conspiracies about JFK's assassination have flourished...it almost gives people more comfort if they know JFK was taken out by a vast conspiracy than by a random loner. It makes more sense to their world view that everything is connected and controlled by immeasurable and undetectable powers.

The chaos of some random nut being able to kill a President is more frightening and threatening to many people's sense of peace and well-being because it allows for the uncertainty of randomness in our daily life. At any moment violence could happen and that unnerves some people.

[pottedplant]

^^^

You mean Psychedelic got himself banned? If I'd known that I wouldn't have mentioned him...no sense debating someone who cannot respond.

I used to think Oswald was part of a conspiracy...when you're young and you grow up in the shadow of Vietnam, Watergate, and the 60s, believing in conspiracies is almost mandatory. But as more and more time has passed and more information has come to light and you read what kind of guy Oswald was and the different prisms he passed thru, the more I think Oswald was just a lone nut with a huge chip on his shoulder.

I realize that the fact that a crazy guy could take out the most powerful man in the world is unsettling to many people. That is why conspiracies about JFK's assassination have flourished...it almost gives people more comfort if they know JFK was taken out by a vast conspiracy than by a random loner. It makes more sense to their world view that everything is connected and controlled by immeasurable and undetectable powers.

The chaos of some random nut being able to kill a President is more frightening and threatening to many people's sense of peace and well-being because it allows for the uncertainty of randomness in our daily life. At any moment violence could happen and that unnerves some people.

ITA, Strider. The evil in one man's heart visited on another man, or thousands of men, does not unnerve me. That action is all too predictable.

[redrum]

Oswald was a commie loser and disgrace to the Marine Corps.

[Stryder1978]

I can't help but wonder if a new autopsy on President Kennedy's body would reveal any definitive evidence to help supress all the conspiracy theories. I know it sounds morbid and sacriligious to some, but they did it to Oswald and that cleared some doubts.

I know it will never happen as the Kennedy family would never give approval, but to have a team of REAL forensic experts - this time - examine the body, might bring closure to the issue.

[Bong-Man]

I thought the "48 Hours of Oswald" was the best show of the week. It really filled in the blanks about Tippett, the shoe store owner, the box-office worker at the show,etc....also Lee's testimony during interrogations with the Dallas Police. Crazy that the detective hand-cuffed to Oswald made the comment, "Well Lee, if someone takes a potshot at you I hope they're as good a shot as you are".

I think one of the most bizarre things about this event is that it was not a Federal crime at the time to shoot the President of the United States. Could you imagine a local police department like Detroit's being responsible for an investigation of this magnitude in this day and age ? A law was immediately passed, but how long would they have waited if Kennedy hadn't been killed ?

My parents took me to Kennedy's grave in the Summer of 1965 when I was 5 years old. It was still temporary, and there was still a constant line waiting to file past.

[LedZeppfan77]

I thought the "48 Hours of Oswald" was the best show of the week. It really filled in the blanks about Tippett, the shoe store owner, the box-office worker at the show,etc....also Lee's testimony during interrogations with the Dallas Police. Crazy that the detective hand-cuffed to Oswald made the comment, "Well Lee, if someone takes a potshot at you I hope they're as good a shot as you are".

I think one of the most bizarre things about this event is that it was not a Federal crime at the time to shoot the President of the United States. Could you imagine a local police department like Detroit's being responsible for an investigation of this magnitude in this day and age ? A law was immediately passed, but how long would they have waited if Kennedy hadn't been killed ?

My parents took me to Kennedy's grave in the Summer of 1965 when I was 5 years old. It was still temporary, and there was still a constant line waiting to file past.

50 questions answered was also a good show. The fact that Oswald shot down officer Tippet showed he did not try very hard to escape. He pretty much had to know they were going to get him. He just wanted to create as much damage as possible. I heard that his gun jammed in the theater or perhaps there would have been more shot by him? I think this was the last time a president and vice president were so close together in public. Johnson being a couple of cars back. Now they cannot fly together and I do not believe be within a certain distance of each other. I must say I am surprised nobody has taken a shot at the sitting president given there are so many against him. The conspiracy theories will not go any where. And even a death bed confession with merit would not end it. There would be more questions raised. When you examine the ballistic evidence alone, it is enough to cause doubt that he acted alone. More books will be written,and this is a story that will never go away