This past week I traveled to Dallas, Texas on business. I had never previously been to Dallas and really didn't know what to expect. Before leaving, I had searched various web sites looking for something interesting to do that would fit into my schedule. We (myself and six other colleagues) really only had a few hours in the afternoon of our last day in the city so our choices were somewhat limited.
Anyway, we all decided to check out Dealey Plaza. For those of you not familiar with Dallas, that is the area where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I found the whole experience to be much different than what I expected. Let me just quickly state that this horrible event in history happened a few years before I was born and therefore I really have no emotional attachments to the man or his family. That being said, it was a life-changing experience.
I am somewhat of a History Channel junkie and I love watching most of the programs that air on that channel. I have seen many different television programs detailing the events of the assassination with much interest. Like most of you, I remember discussing this event in every American History class I have ever taken. I can instantly recall all of the images and video ever shown relating to the incident. However, as you personally walk around the block and see the book depository and the grassy knoll, history seems to come alive. There is such a contrast between feeling reverence for what happened at that location and dodging the traffic that seems oblivious to the history that occurred there.
The structures that were on the grassy knoll when Kennedy was shot are still there and look exactly like the news films that documented the event. While I'm not sure, I would swear that some of the more mature trees are from that time period as well. The concrete roadways that go over the road where Kennedy died look like they did back then as well. If you visit the museum on the 6th floor of the book depository building, the corner window where Oswald shot from is framed off from the public with glass walls. They have re-created the area to look exactly as it did on that fateful day. You can look out adjacent windows and see the same view the assassin did. Very sobering.
Of all that I saw in Dallas that day the most thought provoking was the two large X's painted on the roadway in front of the book depository. The first "X" marked the spot where the first bullet hit the President in the back and the second "X" where he was hit in the head. Many of the people on that plaza that day were younger than me and yet all of them (including myself) went out in the street to touch that second "X" where history was made in some feeble attempt to be connected to the events of that day. I literally felt the chill of an assassination run through me.
Now I have read many things about JFK, the man. Most of it is not flattering nor socially acceptable...especially when in the context of describing the President of our country. However, after experiencing a personal look onto the stage where this man died, I gained a profound sense of appreciation for the man and really felt sorry for his wife and children. It really made me want to go home and hug my family. This being an election year, I find myself ever grateful for the freedom to choose our leaders. Regardless of your political affiliation, please vote. When you are done, go home and tell your family you love them.
Anyway, we all decided to check out Dealey Plaza. For those of you not familiar with Dallas, that is the area where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I found the whole experience to be much different than what I expected. Let me just quickly state that this horrible event in history happened a few years before I was born and therefore I really have no emotional attachments to the man or his family. That being said, it was a life-changing experience.
I am somewhat of a History Channel junkie and I love watching most of the programs that air on that channel. I have seen many different television programs detailing the events of the assassination with much interest. Like most of you, I remember discussing this event in every American History class I have ever taken. I can instantly recall all of the images and video ever shown relating to the incident. However, as you personally walk around the block and see the book depository and the grassy knoll, history seems to come alive. There is such a contrast between feeling reverence for what happened at that location and dodging the traffic that seems oblivious to the history that occurred there.
The structures that were on the grassy knoll when Kennedy was shot are still there and look exactly like the news films that documented the event. While I'm not sure, I would swear that some of the more mature trees are from that time period as well. The concrete roadways that go over the road where Kennedy died look like they did back then as well. If you visit the museum on the 6th floor of the book depository building, the corner window where Oswald shot from is framed off from the public with glass walls. They have re-created the area to look exactly as it did on that fateful day. You can look out adjacent windows and see the same view the assassin did. Very sobering.
Of all that I saw in Dallas that day the most thought provoking was the two large X's painted on the roadway in front of the book depository. The first "X" marked the spot where the first bullet hit the President in the back and the second "X" where he was hit in the head. Many of the people on that plaza that day were younger than me and yet all of them (including myself) went out in the street to touch that second "X" where history was made in some feeble attempt to be connected to the events of that day. I literally felt the chill of an assassination run through me.
Now I have read many things about JFK, the man. Most of it is not flattering nor socially acceptable...especially when in the context of describing the President of our country. However, after experiencing a personal look onto the stage where this man died, I gained a profound sense of appreciation for the man and really felt sorry for his wife and children. It really made me want to go home and hug my family. This being an election year, I find myself ever grateful for the freedom to choose our leaders. Regardless of your political affiliation, please vote. When you are done, go home and tell your family you love them.
