John F Kennedy Inaugural Address

I was forty two years old. I remember the day vividly. The day was November 22nd of 1963 (Goode 5). I had just made my black coffee. I got into my 1961 Ford Falcon and drove to work. It was a particularly congested day on the streets, as some people were already lining up or getting a good parking spot. I didn’t blame them. John F. Kennedy was coming to Dallas. It really was a pretty interesting story of the time. I had actually met John Kennedy before, back in the second World War. We were both stationed on PT-109 (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum). I eventually lost connection with him after the war ended. Then, on January 2, 1960, when he announced that he was running for president I told everyone that I had known the democratic
candidate (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum). In November of 1960, when it was announced that John F. Kennedy had been elected the thirty-fifth president of the United States, all I wanted to do was to see our President (Goode 5). I truly believed with all of my heart that he would be the president to end the Cold War which was occurring at the time (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum). Eventually there was talk about a visit to Texas, my home state. Official plans to travel were not set until June of 1963 (Goode 6). I knew this was so the president could mend ties with the governor and the majority of the people in Texas. It had been said that Dallas was perhaps the most important spot to travel (Goode 7). The president and his wife arrived in Texas on November 21, 1963 (Towner). All of Dallas was buzzing with activity. Parents were telling their children that they would get to see the President of the United States. People were debating on where the best place to stand would be, as the sidewalks were already showing the slightest sign of congestion at 8 o’clock. I pulled into my parking spot and sipped down the last of my coffee. Unlike many people that day, it was just a normal work Friday for me at the Texas School Book Depository. I talked to some of my coworkers before I entered the building. I greeted my supervisor and some more people from different floors that were milling around on the main level. Most everyone was happy to see the President and were glad to see him handling things so well. Being able to handle the Cuban Missile Crisis was a good way to show that John Kennedy was going to be a good president. Some people though still didn’t respect many of his ideas. I was slightly discouraged that I had to work that day, but we would be on our lunch break as the motorcade passed right by the Depository.
The route that was chosen would pass near the work building on its way to Dealey Plaza where John F. Kennedy would give a speech (Towner). Like the people below on the streets, I had planned where to stand to see the president. I was going to stand on the southeast corner of the building on the fifth floor with my friend and coworker Norman Mailer. On the way up the elevator, I spoke with some more people. All of them worked mainly on the sixth floor. Charles Givens said that he was going to eat lunch and watch the president drive by. Bonnie Ray Williams said he didn’t really care about John F. Kennedy too much, especially with the Bay of Pigs incident in 1961 (History). I was going to ask a new employee named Lee Harvey Oswald about his opinion of the president, but the elevator door opened to the fifth floor, so I got out and got to work (ABC News). The whole day was pretty normal. I had a lot of boxes to pack; there had just been a new order of textbooks that needed to be shipped out. I was one of the many loading boxes up and moving them to the side of the floor that housed the rest of the boxes that needed to be delivered. As the day progressed, I slowly grew more and more eager to see
Kennedy.
The crowd outside grew louder as the sun crawled its way up the sky. At 11:52, I finished filling and moving a box and went to my car because our lunch break was about to start. I got back to the fifth floor just as everyone was filling the elevators to leave, and I found Norman. He had spoken with another person who wanted to watch the motorcade pass by with us. We all walked to the corner of the building so we could see the intersection of North Houston and Elm Streets.
At about 12:28, we could see a glimpse of the motorcade coming toward us. The cheering and clapping were almost deafening, even with the window only open a crack. As the president drew near, the cheering got even louder. It was awe-inspiring to see President Kennedy up close, instead of in pictures or videos. I was truly happy to see what I thought to be the best president of our generation.
The time was 12:30.
I finished the sandwich that I had packed and continued talking with Norman about Kennedy. The president’s vehicle was just passing by the building. Just then a shot rang out (Goode 11). I had enough experience to know that the sound came from a rifle, and it was very close. Something was wrong. Someone was trying to assassinate John F. Kennedy.
There was no physical reaction from President Kennedy or Governor Connally, so none of them had been hurt (Swanson 109). It was released in the paper later that the first shot hit a concrete curb (Swanson 107). About three seconds after I heard the first shot, a second shot rang out (Swanson 108). This time, President Kennedy, who was waving to the crowd, froze. Something had happened, because Governor Connally had reacted. It looked like he had been shot.
After the second shot, I heard a small ping on the ceiling above us. It wasn’t in the front of my mind at the time, but it sounded like a shell hitting the floor above (Goode 12). There were screams from the crowd as people were ducked down and some were running away. I heard the governor shout out, “No, no, no! They’re going to kill us all!” as he was writhing in pain (Swanson 110). I looked back to the president and saw his face had registered pain but his hand had still not gone down from the waving position (Goode 11). It was as if it was stuck
there.
I was terrified. The moment of happiness I had died and now turned to panic. The president had been shot, but he was still alive. About five seconds had gone by since the second shot, and a third shot sounded out. I watched, terrified.
The sight before me made my heart sink to my feet. I watched as John F. Kennedy’s head jerked forward in reaction to a shot (Goode 11). I saw a bullet speed through the President’s head (Swanson). I looked down to see my former shipmate’s head explode into fragments of skull, blood, and brains, that flew into the air in a cloud of pink (Swanson 113). My whole world came crashing down in just ten seconds.
President Kennedy was rushed to Parkland Hospital (History). We workers in the Book Depository were kept inside the building; no one could come in or go out. An officer by the name of Baker located our manager and gathered a few of us employees to go through the building to see if we saw anything suspicious (Goode 15). Norman and I went in a pair to search our fifth floor for anything. While we were searching, he told me that he had heard the ping of a shell hit the ceiling. Also, after the boom of the shots, he had seen dust from the sheetrock roof fall onto my shoulders (Goode 12). We were about to go tell our manager this when Officer Baker had found three shell casings on the floor of the sixth floor in the southeast corner, right above where we were standing (Goode 15). I was absolutely shocked that the shooter was right above us the whole time. Not too long after the shell casings were found, a rifle with telescopic sights was found on the opposite side of the same room (Goode 15). All of us employees were told to wait in the main level where we were informed that the President, John F. Kennedy, was pronounced dead at the hospital (History). I was devastated.
An hour and a half later, it was announced that we were free to go. The man named Lee Harvey Oswald had been arrested and charged with the murder of John F. Kennedy (ABC News). I had no idea what to do with this information. I was crushed. The President of the United States had just been killed. He had been assassinated by a worker that I had just seen this morning. I went home and wept at the loss of one of my best war friends.
Later in the week, the newspaper told about the assassination of President Kennedy and revealed that his funeral would be on November 25 (Towner). It was eventually concluded through the Warren Commission that three bullets were fired at the Presidential Limousine from the sixth floor, southeast corner window, of the Texas School Book Depository (A. Warren Commission Findings). The short lived fame of our thirty-fifth President of the United States still lives on in my heart, even as I grow old. The things he could’ve done to change this world would have advanced us to new heights. To this day, I mourn the loss and remember the infamy of November 22, 1963.