November 22, 1963
Friday had finally arrived.
As an eighth grader at J.L. Long Middle School, I was looking forward to a jam packed weekend.
The day promised a couple of classes, a field trip to Downtown Dallas, a sleepover at my friend Chuck Webb’s house, and a fishing trip to Lake Tawakoni the following morning with my Dad and Chuck’s dad, Leonard.
On Sunday we would head to church and later that day to our youth group and then end the day with Sunday evening services.
The weather was a welcome change from the previous day’s clouds and rain. As I arrived at school, the sun was shining, and I hoped it would stay that way for our fishing trip. I met up with my best friend Ronnie, and we spent a few minutes hanging out on the school yard with some friends before the bell rang. I told Ronnie I’d meet him after second period at the east side of the building where Mrs. Shugart promised to pick us up for the field trip.
It was less than two weeks away from my 14th birthday that I would share with Thanksgiving the following week.
The morning flew by, and when the ball rang , Ronnie and I quickly made our way to Mrs. Shugart’s station wagon that was parked right where she said it would be, and we joined our classmates Elwin, Jeff, and a few others as we loaded up and headed downtown.
We were excited about the field trip and we were now on our way. All these guys skipping school(with approval) headed to downtown Dallas with Mrs. Shugart . Little did we know what the day had in store for us; a day that would change our lives and the lives of most American’s forever.
You see, it was Friday, November 22, 1963, at 10:40 am and we were headed to see the President of the United States of America as he and the first lady Jacquelyn Kennedy , Governor John Connelly and his wife prepared for what would be President Kennedy’s last day and would begin a history of controversy that continues to this day. When we left school, the President was in Air Force One on a short flight from Ft. Worth to Dallas Love Field where he would forgo the protective bubble on his limo because it was such a nice November day in Big D.
As we headed to downtown, we didn’t talk much about the events of the day; we just talked about stuff that 13- and 14-year-old boys talk about. I was not a person who cared much for politics. However, I do remember wearing a pin for the Nixon/Lodge campaign in elementary school. I’m not sure why, it was just the cool thing to do.
When Mr. Kennedy was running for President a few years earlier I do remember my Papaw McKinney (Melvin) make a statement about that “damn Catholic” who is running for President. I was about 10, so I wasn’t sure what to think but if my Papaw didn’t like him then I probably shouldn’t either. But, after he won the Presidency, I did like what he said about going to the moon and was as inspired as much as a kid could be with the “ask not” speech. I remember being a little scared at the Bay of Pigs incident. I wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but I did know that the “commie bastard Russians” were headed down the coast of California and that the frequency of our tuck and cover drills under our desks had increased. I clearly remember taking home a form that my parents had to fill out as to what I was supposed to do in case of a “disaster”. The choices were to send us home(walk), wait for them to pick us up (not going to happen), or stay at school (until),,,,?
Another thing I remember was that the prior President was named Ike and his old, old wife was named Mammie. What kind of name was that anyway. I’m sure they were nice, and I am sure he was a great U.S. General, but they were old. Really old. Unlike Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy who were young, with children and Mrs. Kennedy was pretty. It was a nice change and it was really neat to have a “young family” represent our country.
As we drove down Ross Avenue to Downtown I didn’t even think about where we were or where our vantage point for the parade would be. The parade route started at Love Field, headed down Mockingbird to Harry Hines and into downtown Dallas on Harwood. I am such a planner now, but that day was left up to Mrs. Shugart’s planning as to where we would watch the parade. Looking back, I am quite certain that she and Horace (Mr. Shugart) had talked about it the night before and had a plan of getting into downtown, where to park, and what they felt would be a good vantage point for their son and his friends to see the parade.
Mrs. Shugart turned off Ross Avenue onto Harwood and headed south into Downtown. This area of Dallas was our old stomping grounds where Ronnie and I spent many days riding our bikes.
Mrs. Shugart turned into a parking garage which was on the Northwest corner of Harwood and Main. Interestingly enough, it was cat cornered from the Dallas Court House/Police station where Lee Harvey Oswald would be taken in just a few hours for the President’s murder and eventually killed by Jack Ruby a week and two days later while I sat in church.
We got out of the station wagon and headed down to street level. The sun was shining, and I don’t even remember wearing a jacket because it was such a beautiful fall day in Downtown Dallas. We remained on the Northwest corner of Harwood and Main, where we stood at the curb on Harwood , facing East. We were approximately 15 to 20 feet from Main Street which would have been to our right. The parade would be coming from our left; from the North. It was approximately 11:15.
We stood and we stood not actually knowing what time the President would come by. It was 11:30, 11:40, 11:50 and now it was noon. The crowds were building and a lot of people that worked in downtown must have been on their lunch hour. The crowds were about 4 to 5 people deep on the sidewalks, but we kept our spot at the curb, sometimes hoping down onto the street.
It was about 12:10 and the crowds just kept growing. While standing there waiting, I saw a young guy on a bicycle coming down Harwood in what would have been the direction of the following motorcade. I tried to restrain myself, but I couldn’t resist. Maybe it was my pap paw that came out in me for a second or maybe a guy just trying to be funny in front of his friends. Whatever it was I pointed at the approaching man on the bicycle and shouted, “here comes President Kennedy.”
The crowd laughed, my friends laughed and in fact I think the guy on the bike laughed as well.
It was now about 12:20 and we were getting hungry and tired of waiting but still holding on to our places at the curb as the crowd continued to ge bigger. About 5 more minutes passed and we could finally hear what sounded like the roar of bus engines in the distance to our left and then we saw a group of Dallas motorcycle cops leading the parade.
From that vantage point we could see a couple of blocks up Harwood. We could make out motorcycle cops, one or two limousines and a couple of buses behind them with the press corp, staff and somewhere in all of that was Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife Lady Bird. (What kind of name is that anyway) I guess they still needed to have old folks not far from the White house.
Just a minute or so after 12;20 I could see figures in a shiny, black, convertible, limo. In the front passanger seats were Mrs. Connelly and the Governor of Texas, John Connelly. Directly behind Mr. Connelly and on our side of the Street was the President and next to him in a beautiful pink dress was the First Lady, Jacquelyn Kennedy.
I think one reason this spot was chosen for us to stand was that Mr. or Mrs. Shugart realized that the vehicles would have to slow down as they turned from Harwood onto main street. We got to see them for a few seconds more than most people. Not only did they slow down but we saw them as they turned onto main street and proceeded to the west end of Downtown Dallas. When I got home that day, I told my Mother how beautiful Mrs. Kennedy was and how I swear she had looked right at me, I smiled at her, she smiled back at me and we waved at each other. Whether that was fact or wishful thinking it was reality to me that day. It was really a neat feeling at that moment in time to see these two young parents with little kids who were also the President and First Lady of the United States. All perceived politics aside I felt a lot of pride with this man and woman representing our country; us; me.
It was now approximately 12:25 and those beautiful peoples’ lives as well as our own were only a few minutes away from being forever changed.
We applauded, headed for the station wagon, and talked about what we had seen. It was really a great experience. For not having been too excited other than to get out of school for a few hours , it turned out to be a fun and moving event.
As we left the parking garage, we headed back toward school as we turned east on Ross Avenue. As we were going down Ross, there were at least 20 police cars that passed us going the opposite direction with lights on and sirens blaring. One of my buddies said, “I bet someone shot Kennedy” and we all laughed; just being stupid.
As we got closer to school Mrs. Shugart asked if we wanted to stop and get something to drink. Absolutely!! So, she turned off Ross avenue and made her way south on Beacon and stopped at a convenience store on the left just before Eastside. As we entered the store, the man behind the counter could not contain himself……
“They Shot Kennedy!
They’ve killed the President!”
We stood there paralyzed for a second. That couldn’t be. We just saw them. In disbelief we headed to the soft drink refrigerators, got our drinks, piled in the station wagon and headed back to school.
When we got back to school it was really strange. A lot of the students had not attended the parade. People were crying, wandering the halls, sitting on the stairs all in disbelief. I felt a little guilty. I had seen them less than an hour ago, in person, and could not work up one tear.This couldn’t be real. I went to my drafting class, sat at my drafting table, worked on my drawings while the principal made a few remarks over the PA system and then we walked home.
I went to Chuck’s house and spent the night, saw his sister Karen, got up early the next morning and went fishing at Lake Tawakoni with Chuck, Leonard and my Dad.
The following morning, my mother woke me up to go to Sunday School and Church. As I got ready I could hear Mrs Brady, our church organist playing the bells from a mile a way. She was playing , “When they ring those golden bells for you and me. “
At Church, Dr Sparkman prayed for the country and for Mrs Kennedy , President Lyndon Johnson and for the healing of the nation. That evening I went to MYF and had a good time and looked forward to Thanksgiving and my Birthday the next Thursday.
That weekend was marked by much of the 3 tv stations news time focusing on the funeral preparations and proceedings in Washington D.C. Monday marked the most emotional day as the parade marched through Washington D.C with President Kennedy’s casket as the focal point and Mrs Kennedy at the front of the curb watching him pass by. Her very young son, John John, stood at the curb and saluted the casket as it went by. Her beautiful pink dress, her smile, and generous waves of her hand to me and the crowd were gone forever. I was sad.
Thanksgiving and my Birthday were great. It’s like the best birthday dinner ever if you overlook the fact that it was really thanksgiving with a Birthday cake added. But hey, I’ll take it. Fourteen. Life was good.
The following Sunday we went to Sunday school and church. By then we were all experts as to what had happened the prior week. Yep, Olswald was the guy. Some guy with commie ties. He was the one alright. Mystery solved. As we walked out of church I saw Ricky Bentley’s dad’s car. What a car. It was a dodge two tone, two door hard top with the words “official pace car” on the side. How cool was that?, writing on your family car. Just about the time I was getting into our car, someone said they just heard on their car radio that some guy named Jack Ruby had just killed Oslwald. Case solved and justice prevailed. Who is Jack Ruby? LBJ? No way.
Years later after people who knew too much were found dead or had mysterious car crashes; my dad mentioned that he had been summoned to the triple under pass area to have one of his crews remove a piece of the curb. It was later believed by some to have had a bullet in it. In a documentary , “The Men who Killed Kennedy” there is actual footage of one of my dad’s city of Dallas concrete crews removing that piece of curb a few days after the assassination which is now believed to be in the National Achieves in Washington D.C.
It was discovered that a spectator across the street from the grassy knoll was seen with blood on his face. It appeared to be small concrete fragments that flew in the air and hit the man on his cheek. That crazy single bullet.
A couple of years after the assassination I had the privilege as a new Eagle Scout to visit with Governor John Connelly in his office in Austin at what was called “Report to the Governor.” It was an honorary visit for all Texas Scouts that had attained the rank of Eagle Scout that prior year. It was a little weird seeing him there and shaking the man’s hand who was sitting in Front of President Kennedy the day he was assassinated. A man who had been hit with what would later be referred to as the “magic bullet.” It was a real honor and privilege to have my photo taken with him that day.