28th May 2015
1960s -
Memories
The
Kennedy assassination is still, by far, the blackest moment in America's
recent, if not whole history, outwith the events of the Civil War.
The motives
and mystery underlying Lincoln's death we see clearly, as also that of the two
other Presidents murdered: Garfield and McKinley, not to mention
the twenty or so other attempts to do away with other Leaders of the Nation.
What is so galling, even to an 'alien', is that the Warren Report giving the
official description of the Jack Kennedy shooting, stating that only one gunman
was involved, is so obviously wrong it is below comment.
The Zapruder film,
covering the whole 'Grassy Knoll' incident, clearly shows the bullet striking
the President in the front of his head, making it jerk back, and was never, as
alleged, a reaction to a bullet entering the back of the head.
Here we are, 50
years on, and we can see Jackie Kennedy reaching back over the rear of the car,
in a futile attempt, as her bodyguard confirms, to try and rescue parts of her
husband's hair, skin and scalp that had been blown backwards by the striking
bullet.
It has now been discovered that parts of the President's brain have
mysteriously disappeared from where they were kept!! The alleged conspiracies
are endless; and Lee Oswald, together with his killer, Jack Ruby remain
unresolved puzzles within this ongoing mystery.
These macabre
statistics present 'The American Nightmare' that rides alongside 'The American
Dream'; and the American people are not alone in wondering what was going on at
this terrible time—even more so with the whole stream of dreadful events that
followed.
There was ongoing, incredible anger at the treatment of
blacks (an anger not confined to America): the segregation in buildings, in
buses, in schools, to name only a few of a stream of indignities.
Civil Rights;
the march on Birmingham, Alabama; Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech,
from the steps of the Lincoln memorial; the killing of this man; and the murder
of Robert Kennedy—all in so short a space of time—was stupefying.
Dr
Martin Luther King Junior
"I
have a dream"
What had
happened? The world still does not know; but such has been the impact of a
tidal wave of America's culture, via all means of communication for such a long
time, it has deeply and equally affected all non-Americans.
Such awareness of
America's recent history, from the point of its entry into the 2nd World War,
at least; and the way that it has dwarfed all other nations in just about every
field, means the world wants to know.
The
biggest feature to strike me regarding all this is that beforehand, I had
rejoiced at America's apparent open-ness, something I had found refreshing when
compared to the layer upon layer of British bureaucracy that leaves the
individual with nobody to get a grip of, no one to approach, or speak to
regarding the problem.
The feeling here, with regard to British officialdom,
has always been one of sinking into a swamp, one that slowly encloses
questioner and question until all is lost or forgotten.
Yet, even Oliver Stone
has not been able to get to the root—or at least find the proof—of what was
going on in the US then. Perhaps it is still going on today—many recent films
highlighting semi-secret American agencies appear to suggest as much: The
'Bourne Identity' for instance, appears to touch upon a fear of such
developments—all in the pursuit of defence and patriotism, of course.
Vietnam,
I don't have to remind anyone, was a sickening business. The many civilian
deaths; young men killed, for what?
The horrifying pictures of a man being
assassinated, a bullet in the head, right in front of the camera; of young,
naked children burned beyond hope by napalm.
The authorities back home faced a
nightmare. There was wringing of hands by those who had to face the Communist conundrum in the east; likewise daily confrontation with the violent, but
easily understood opposition on the campuses.
There was naked anguish at having
to deal with those who wanted to avoid the draft; of facing up to the
brutalization and despair of the troops.
What to do, what to do. Presidents and advisers, alike, had no answer. The general American public did not believe in
the 'Domino' theory, that the east would turn red. They wanted the boys
returned home.
To be continued....
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