This will either be quite an event or a nothing-burger. I'm betting on the latter.
In a very interesting week here in the US, I find myself particularly interested in news that the secret files relating to the assassinations of JFK and MLK, Jr. will soon be released.
For the life of me, I can't imagine what might be contained in those files to justify so much secrecy for so many years.
I was 2 years old and we lived in Dallas in 1963, about half a mile from where it all went down.
Despite being too young to remember any of it, or of the following memorial service in Dallas' Dealy Plaza three days later, my parents assured me years later that my mood was appropriately somber.
They, and thousands of others in Dallas, attended the service, 8mm film camera in hand to record the event, with me making a few cameo appearances. Such a drastically different world back then.
And color film in 1963. Dad was always on the cutting edge:
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On a lighter note, I have a book recommendation - the Stephen King novel, 11/22/63.
It's about a man who finds a way to travel in time back to 1958 - five years before the assassination. He arrives in 1958 in Maine and decides to travel to Dallas, get a job and apartment and wait for Lee Harvey Oswald to move to Dallas in 1960, at which point he will kill him before Oswald has a chance to assassinate Kennedy.
Things go wrong, of course, making for an incredibly engaging book.
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Wow, this brought back memories for me - I was in elementary school in a suburb of Dallas then. We also took a family trip downtown to this site and our family 8mm film is almost identical to yours (I just watched it again). For us it was a rainy day, very depressing, and I remember it being so cold. When I re-watched the film, I noticed the Hertz sign on top of the Depository building indicated that it was 50 degrees :). Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteDave, N7WMN
Hi David, I only recently was given all the old film reels by my mother. Cost me $700 to have them converted to digital before they got even more grainy over time. I knew this clip existed but hadn't seen it in decades. That little red-headed boy is gonna show it to his grandkids this weekend.
Delete73,
John
Thanks for this historical video John, you know I like these things. Always very interested in historical events, this one is very personal for you. I recently viewed a lot of video/photo material from my parents who both died as you probably know reading my blog. I found a lot of unknown photos and a few videos. Not as old as this one but it dates back to approx. 1968-1970. And I found some unknown photos from my antennas dating back in the 1980s. 73, Bas PE4BAS
ReplyDeleteHi Bas - I wish I had old photos of my ham shack, etc. I think I have only one and I regret not having more to remember how it looked. Little did I know that I would still be involved in this hobby so many years later!
DeleteYou should post your old photos!
73,
John
Good morning, John thanks for sharing the video. It's nice the technology is there to convert the 8mm. Nice that you can show it to the family and hold onto this memory.
ReplyDelete73,
Mike
VE9KK
Hello Mike - grainy and no sound in those days, but at the time, I'm sure everyone was grateful to have it!
Delete73,
John
Thank you for sharing the video. My year of birth is 1963..In the Dutch new they say secrecy is maintained since they do not want to show the way the secret service acted and the methods they used...73 Ron
ReplyDeleteHi Ron, that is what we are told as well (by most sources). Whatever those methods were, they didn't work. Even the assassin was killed two days later.
Delete73,
John
Hi John, I was 6 years old and in the 1st grade. I remember the principal coming over the intercom to tell us that President Kennedy had been shot. We stood up by our desks and said a prayer (Catholic school) then were released for the day and sent home. That's where I remember finding out that he had died. I remember being glued to Uncle Walter all weekend long. It was a scary time. 73 de Larry W2LJ
ReplyDeleteHi Larry,
DeleteI'm sure that's etched into your memory forever...I'm glad to have been too young to remember. Very sad times.
73,
John