The motorcade followed its designated route, first passing through a residential area of Dallas, and then making its way through the middle of the downtown area. The parade traveled west on Main Street and then made a right on Houston. The motorcade went one block and then made a left-turn on Elm. On the corner of Elm and Houston was the large, ominous Texas School Book Depository, where the fatal shots were later accused of being fired from. When the President’s car turned west on Elm and crossed the Depository, three shots were fired at the motorcade. The President was struck by a bullet that entered at the base of his neck, just right of his spine and exited under the lower left portion of the knot in the President’s tie. A second bullet struck Kennedy in the rear base of his head, causing the fatal wound. Texas Governor Connally, riding two cars behind the President, was also hit. The bullet hit the Governor on the extreme right side of his back, just below the armpit. The bullet exited below his left nipple and hit him again on the left wrist. Secret Service Agent Roy Kellerman saw that the President had been hit and instructed the driver to get the President to a hospital immediately. Parlkand Memorial Hospital was the closest hospital, just 4 miles away.
Awaiting Doctors met the presidential car and immediately began an attempt to resuscitate the dying President. At 1:00PM, just 30 minutes after the President had been shot, Kennedy’s heart had stopped and was pronounced dead. Vice-president Johnson left Parkland Hospital after being notified of the President’s death and traveled back to the Presidential Plane at Love Field under close guard. Mrs. Kennedy and the President’s body followed and boarded the plane shortly after Johnson. At 2:38PM, with the plane on it’s way back to Washington, DC, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States.
On November 29, 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson created an investigation commission to “evaluate all the facts and circumstances surrounding the assassination and the subsequent killing of the alleged assassin and to report its findings to him,” (Warren Commission Foreword). Chief Justice Earl Warren headed the commission that consisted of six other members including two senators and two representatives, one of which was future President Gerald Ford. After 299 days of investigation that included a recreation of the event in Dallas, interviews with witnesses from the parade, gathering of rooms full of evidence, the commission was ready to present their report to the President. The 880-page report was submitted to President Johnson on September 24, 1964. The commission concluded that the three shots that killed President Kennedy and wounded Governor Connally were fired from the Texas School Board Depository. It also concluded that the bullet that pierced the throat of the President hit and wounded the Governor, as well. The report implies that Lee Harvey Oswald was the assassin based on the fact that he was seen carrying the rifle into the Texas School Book Depository and the rifle used to kill Kennedy was owned by Oswald. Also, the shots were fired from a window where Oswald had been seen standing in at the time of the murder.
Two months before the birth of Lee Harvey Oswald, his father, a collector of insurance premiums, died, leaving a heavy financial burden on the rest of the family. His mother, Marguerite, was forced to enter the work force. She came to the conclusion to put Lee Harvey, his brother Robert and their half brother, John Pic in orphanage homes. Marguerite later removed Lee Harvey from the home and the two relocated to Dallas when he was around 4 years old. She also withdrew Robert and John in anticipation of her upcoming marriage to Edwin Ekdahl, which took place in May 1945. Lee Harvey became very attached to his stepfather but, in the summer of 1948, her mother divorced Ekdahl, causing great grief for Lee Harvey.
When Lee Harvey Oswald was 13, he and his mother moved to New York City to live with John Pic, who was stationed there with the Coast Guard. Although he had no prior history of truancy or bad behavior, Lee Harvey became a very threatening problem for the ad hoc family. It had been reported that he had struck his mother on at least one occasion and had threatened John Pic’s wife with a knife. Lee Harvey spent time in Youth House, a home for young men where he went through psychiatric observation, (Case Closed, pg. 11). Three years after leaving New York and one year after a failed attempt to join, Lee Harvey was enlisted in the Marines at age 17. He spent time in Japan before leaving the Marines in 1959. He had shown a great interest in Russia and in particular, Marxism. He immediately defected to Russia after leaving the Marines. His high hopes and great interest for and in Russia were extinguished approximately three years after arriving there. He returned to Texas where he lived until his death at the hands of Jack Ruby in 1963.
It didn’t take two days for conspiracy theorists to start rearing their ugly heads after the death of President Kennedy. Once the public heard of Oswald, the only man accused in the case, was in possession of Communistic propaganda, it immediately assumed that the Soviet Union was responsible the assassination, (Conspiracy pg. 141). Fingers were pointed at Cuba, the American Government, and a great deal many other political entities in an attempt to find the truly guilty. They couldn’t believe that Oswald was alone in his attempts. There had to be another person, another group who hired Oswald to assassinate the beloved figure. But, no one could come to a conclusion without reasonable doubt as to who it was. To this day, some people believe there was a conspiracy surrounding the murder. The trajectories of the bullets were also called into question. But, no one ever came to a consistent conclusion as it pertained to a conspiracy. It is in my opinion that the assassination was what it was. Sometimes, an assassination is just an assassination, in my opinion.
For many countries around the world, November 22, 1963 is just another date on the calendar. It has little meaning and it passes by with little thought of the past. But for America, it represents one of the darkest days in the history of this still very young nation. It represented the end of America’s innocence. No longer were we the children of naiveté. It forced the country to wake up, rub its virgin eyes and experience the world for what it really is: a cold, harsh reality that we were not ready to deal with. America only had a few years to spend with President Kennedy while he was in the spotlight. There was a love-hate relationship between the American people and President Kennedy. We loved to see him and hated to see him go.