My cellphone started beeping today at 1:30 PM. I was at the Androcles Society, Lorraine Conklins wildlife rescue compound. I had taken an injured screech owl there that needed treatment and I also had two little box turtles that just needed to be released into a safe protected environment. I usually would have sent these animals by a volunteer, but it provided an opportunity to give the Hamiltons, friends from Tennessee, a brief little nature break after they had a brutal week of traveling. When I first heard the beeps I didnt realize what it was. It wasnt an incoming call or my normal indicator for a text or message and it was only after I looked at the screen that I saw that it was the alarm clock. I was puzzled. Why would my alarm go off in the middle of the day? But then I remembered. It was an alarm clock setting that I had entered a couple of months ago. At that time of the entry I had expected that I would actually be anticipating it today, but I wasnt. I had forgotten and it caught me completely by surprise... just as it had for millions of Americans... 51 years earlier. 51 years ago at that very moment on November 22, 1963, every radio and TV station in America was announcing that President John F. Kennedy had just been shot. Now, here I was today, walking with new friends, in one of the most peaceful places that I know of, in the middle of 2,000 acres, when I was caught completely off guard, and reminded of one violent act that forever changed history. When I realized the significance of that exact moment I actually teared up and had to walk away from the group momentarily to recompose myself. I was afraid that I would ruin everyones day by telling them, Hey guess what? 51 years ago right now... Kennedys just been shot. So, I just kept talking about the animals. After all, this was supposed to be a continuation of something I started earlier this week, offering little educational tidbits for Emis homeschool field trip. So I didnt mention the anniversary at all, but it started me thinking about it. One violent act against ONE man changed the history of the ENTIRE WORLD. Whether you like Kennedy and his policies or not, its almost certain that he would have been elected to a second term. Think about it. What would have changed? Well lets start with the Vietnam War. One month earlier, in October of 1963, a Top Secret National Security Action Memorandum (#263) was issued that stated that President Kennedy would begin pulling troops from Vietnam by the end of that same month and that all 17,000 troops would be out of Vietnam by the end of 1965. The most deaths and worst casualties of that terrible war came AFTER 1965. The TET Offensive never would have happened. The war protest across America, including that violent one during the 68 Democratic Convention in Chicago, never would have happened. The shootings at Kent State... never would have happened. What about our whole historical relationship with Russia and the Cold War in general? Despite what many Americans think, after getting off to a terrible start with the Bay of Pigs and their first summit meeting, Kennedy and Khrushchev were finally developing a private relationship based on mutual respect, and some well-founded fear of mutual destruction. Had that relationship continued through Kennedys second term we might have established a more cordial relationship with Russia even though we had different forms of government and opposing ideologies. And what about Cuba? One of the most ironic facts that I ever learned about the Kennedy assassination was that Fidel Castro learned about it while he was actually in a meeting with Jean Daniel, a French journalist, who had a secret message. Kennedy heard that Daniel was going to be meeting with Castro and asked him to deliver a message in an attempt to improve the tense situation between the two counties. They were talking about it and things were actually going well when their meeting was interrupted to announce the assassination. And what about the Civil Rights Movement? Based on his earlier actions, its likely that Kennedy would have continued to use federal authority responsibly when it was needed. So that also would have meant that the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and subsequent riots that followed... never would have happened. And finally, what about JFKs brother, Bobby? It never would have happened. Think about it. Look how the death of ONE man changed the world. You know that song, Abraham, Martin and John? I love it, but I could Imagine a different world.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 04:16:21 +0000
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