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Old 11-28-2013, 01:42 PM
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Roger Bleile Roger Bleile is offline
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Location: Kentucky
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Default Re: 50 years ago today , President John F. Kennedy

At the time I had been in USAF basic training, in Texas, for less than two weeks. We were in an auditorium to watch a training film when one of the staff came in and told us "the president has been shot." We all looked at each other thinking "what are we supposed to do?" Most of us thought it was some kind of test and that we were supposed to know how to take some kind of action if the president was shot. A short time later the same staff Sgt. and another came back into the auditorium and said "the president is dead." I suppose, by the looks on our faces, the staff realized that we were confused. One of them said "we're not kidding, this is not a drill, the president has been assassinated." After that they showed the film (that I don't remember at all) and we went on with our training.

A few days later all training stopped and we had the day off for the funeral. Everything on Lackland AFB was closed so we just walked about or hung out in the barracks. We had no access to a television. Most people remember all of the TV coverage of the assassination and funeral but we saw none of it. The first time I saw any of the TV coverage was years later on the anniversary of the incident.

In case you haven't seen it here is the JFK funeral on YouTube in three parts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuJjaOKITn4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14Dl4ytKpq0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMdlzOqtNC4
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C. Roger Bleile
Author of: American Engravers series of books. FEGA Historian and Founding Charter Member
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