- Title: USA: On 50th anniversary of JFK death, Dallas holds first memorial
- Date: 22nd November 2013
- Summary: DALLAS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 22, 2013) (REUTERS) WIDE OF DEALEY PLAZA TICKET HOLDERS LINING UP VARIOUS OF TICKET HOLDERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MIKE VANARSDEO, ATTENDEE, SAYING: "This is a great event. I was nine years old at the time this happened and 50 years later I am able to be here and reminisce the whole thing all over again. I am really excited about it, been looking forward to it for quite some time, ever since it's been announced." (SOUNDBITE) (English) KATHY DUMBRAVO, ATTENDEE, SAYING: "Because of John F. Kennedy, he's one of the reasons I wanted to be a science teacher and studied so much on space and everything, because of growing up with him saying we were going to the moon and all of the examples we had. It was great." (SOUNDBITE) (English) VICKIE ARMSTRONG, ATTENDEE, SAYING: "I want to relive that day and have memories and I want to, kind of, have closure to it, you know, because I was so young and I want to just relive it, remember it and have some reverence for today." (SOUNDBITE) (English) DOUGLAS DUCHARME, ATTENDEE, SAYING: "I was a nine-year old boy at the time going to a Catholic school. They announced it at 3.30. You know, we lived in Toronto, we had our prime minister, but he was the first Catholic president of the United States. He was also Canada's president. We are the best neighbors in the world. As a nine-year old we saw our parents were shattered. I mean, this was a huge event." CROWDS GATHERING AT DEALEY PLAZA (SOUNDBITE) (English) DETRA JONES, ATTENDEE, SAYING: "Well, JFK was such a mover in our civil rights. I think that might have moved a little faster than it did, but - it's a shame he didn't get to live his full life." (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL ST. JONES, ATTENDEE, SAYING: "It happened here, it could have happened anywhere, but can't sweep it under the rug, you want to be able to acknowledge it in a special way and I think this is the special way to acknowledge it." (SOUNDBITE) (English) DOUGLAS DUCHARME, ATTENDEE, SAYING: "If that hadn't happened, history might have changed somewhat. He was a different kind of president than I have ever seen before and I honestly believe that there was a possibility - the fact that if his life wasn't cut short, he would have done two terms, but he may have led a different way of being a leader. He was loved by people. You see right now governments, no matter where you are, they are split. He was loved." (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARK HAMMER, ATTENDEE, SAYING: "Because it was such a turning point in my life and I remember like it was yesterday. I was in seventh grade and just a vivid memory and my parents loved JFK and I just - he was one of our great presidents and I just wanted to honor the memory, that's it." CROWDS IN DEALEY PLAZA
- Embargoed: 7th December 2013 12:00
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- Country: USA
- Topics: Crime,History,Politics
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- Story Text: Ticket-holders brave the cold to wait in line to enter Dealey Plaza where Dallas will hold its first ever memorial commemorating the day U.S. President John F. Kennedy was slain by an assassin's bullet barely an hour after landing in the city.
Dallas will observe the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination with its first official memorial on Friday (November 22), as the rest of the nation pauses to remember the event that changed history.
The service will be a departure for Dallas, which has generally shunned publicity of one of the darkest events in its history.
The ceremony starts at 11:30 a.m. (1730 GMT), to coincide with the time that Kennedy's motorcade had passed through packed downtown streets, 50 years ago. Only 5,000 people will be able to view ceremonies in Dealey Plaza but video screens will be set up throughout downtown.
Ticket holders braved the cold and the rain to stand in line to enter Dealey Plaza, the site of the assassination, and pay their respects.
"This is a great event. I was nine years old at the time this happened and 50 years later I am able to be here and reminisce the whole thing all over again. I am really excited about it, been looking forward to it for quite some time, ever since it's been announced," said Mike Vanarsdeo, an attendee from Dallas.
Some said Kennedy inspired them.
"Because of John F. Kennedy, he's one of the reasons I wanted to be a science teacher and studied so much on space and everything, because of growing up with him saying we were going to the moon and all of the examples we had. It was great," said attendee Kathy Dumbravo.
Toronto resident Douglas Ducharme traveled from Canada to attend the event.
"I was a nine-year old boy at the time going to a Catholic school. They announced it at 3.30. You know, we lived in Toronto, we had our prime minister, but he was the first Catholic president of the United States. He was also Canada's president. We are the best neighbors in the world. As a nine-year old we saw our parents were shattered. I mean, this was a huge event," said Ducharme.
Attendees wondered whether America would have been different if Kennedy's life had not been cut short by the bullet of an assassin.
"Well, JFK was such a mover in our civil rights. I think that might have moved a little faster than it did, but - it's a shame he didn't get to live his full life," said attendee Detra Jones.
"If that hadn't happened, history might have changed somewhat. He was a different kind of president than I have ever seen before and I honestly believe that there was a possibility - the fact that if his life wasn't cut short, he would have done two terms, but he may have led a different way of being a leader. He was loved by people. You see right now governments, no matter where you are, they are split. He was loved," said Ducharme.
Kennedy will be remembered with prayers, a speech by Mayor Mike Rawlings and military jets flying over Dealey Plaza, where Kennedy was shot.
Dallas' image was tarnished for years after the November 22, 1963, assassination, and avoided any commemoration. That stigma started to fade decades ago, and now, The Sixth Floor Museum in the former Texas School Book Depository is one of the city's largest tourists attractions.
"It happened here, it could have happened anywhere, but can't sweep it under the rug, you want to be able to acknowledge it in a special way and I think this is the special way to acknowledge it," said attendee Michael St. John.
In recent days, the city removed a large "X" embedded into the pavement by an unknown person or people that marked the spot on Elm Street where Kennedy was shot in the head.
The "X" had been seen as tasteless by many while the official observance - a small plaque on the plaza's noted "grassy knoll" - had been criticized as inadequate.
Thousands of books, news articles, TV shows, movies and documentaries have been produced about that fateful day in Dallas, and surveys show a majority of Americans still believe in the conspiracy theories, distrusting evidence pointing to Oswald as the sole killer. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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