Three Shots Fired

This Day in History: November 22, 1963



 "The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it.
And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender,
or submission." ~John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)
35th President of the United States
en.wikipedia.org

Embrace the Past. . .

November 22, 2013 encompasses a day filled with its share of sadness for America. As we embrace the past, one of the most shocking events in our nation's history occurred on his day in 1963.

Even though cooler temperatures had been predicted, clear skies and a warm sunny day engulfed Dallas, TX on that memorable day. President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy exhibited their usual charm in preparation for the President to speak at a luncheon with civic and business leaders at the Trade Mart. 

But, that speech was never to be given. . .

"His assassination on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, sent shockwaves around the world and turned the all-too-human Kennedy into a larger-than-life heroic figure. To this day, historians continue to rank him among the best-loved presidents in American history." [Source: http://www.history.com/topics/john-f-kennedy]

Three Shots Fired

Assassination was not new to America
but definitely unforeseen and astonishing.

What was intended to be a push for reelection
ended in a cataclysm that led the American nation
in a totally new direction.

 

A mass of zealous people

Overran the streets, standing blade to blade

Waiting for even a glimpse

Of the thirty-fifth President’s motorcade

 

Then, shots rang out in Dealey Plaza!

From whence did they come?

The Texas Book Depository?

“Grassy knoll” said some

  

This tragic event of ’63

Took the life of a young president

Leaving an undying memory

An iconic figure unduly spent

 

Was it a conspiracy

Or the lone gunman accused?

What major discrepancies

Left people beguiled? bemused?

 

Those of us who lived that era

Still remember the dire words that aired

From CBS News’ Walter Cronkite

“In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired…

  

Engulfed in numbing disbelief

Eyes filled with tears, limbs became numb

A nation’s people cried in shock

“What has been done? What has been done?”

 

What happened next became history

John F. Kennedy was dead

Now it’s been fifty years

With much truth still left unsaid 

“Change is the law of life.

And those who look only to the past or the present

are certain to miss the future.”

—John F. Kennedy



©2012 Awakenings
Sharla Lee Shults

Remember the words of President John F. Kennedy:



 Empower the Present. . .

“My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
―John F. Kennedy

Enrich the Future. . .

"Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future."
 ―John F. Kennedy