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
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
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