WEBVTT - Remembering JFK on the 60th anniversary of his assassination

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<v Speaker 1>November twenty second, twenty twenty three. Today marks a terrible

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<v Speaker 1>anniversary in the United States that deserves commemoration and remembrance.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the day, sixty years ago that John Fitzgerald

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<v Speaker 1>Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. He was the youngest

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<v Speaker 1>man ever elected to the office of President of the

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<v Speaker 1>United States, a hero of the Second World War, a congressman,

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<v Speaker 1>a United States Senator, a keen observer of the world.

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<v Speaker 1>The first volume of a two volume biography of the

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<v Speaker 1>life of President Kennedy was recently published by the historian

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<v Speaker 1>Frederick Logoval. The opening of the book is dramatic and remarkable.

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<v Speaker 1>It has a young John Kennedy, a keen observer of

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<v Speaker 1>whatever was happening around him, looking out on the streets

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<v Speaker 1>from above Berlin, from the Hotel Adlon near the Brandenburg Gate.

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<v Speaker 1>He sees the Nazi swastikas, he sees the jack booted SS,

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<v Speaker 1>the uniforms, the menace. Yet he sits there wondering will

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<v Speaker 1>there be war? Certainly Europe was teetering on the edge,

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<v Speaker 1>but it seemed improbable, unbelievable, that the world could soon

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<v Speaker 1>be in flames, that war would forever change John Kennedy's life.

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<v Speaker 1>He was a lieutenant junior grade in the United States

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<v Speaker 1>Navy in the Pacific, commanding PT. One nine. When it

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<v Speaker 1>was sliced in half at night on a moonless, dark

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<v Speaker 1>Pacific night by a Japanese destroyer. John Kennedy swam with

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<v Speaker 1>an injured crewman, towing him for miles in open water

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<v Speaker 1>shark infested sees until they made landfall. He was a

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<v Speaker 1>bonafide hero, as was his brother Joseph. His older brother

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<v Speaker 1>killed on what could happily be described as a suicide

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<v Speaker 1>mission over the skies of Europe early in the war.

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<v Speaker 1>The death of his older brother changed the destiny of

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<v Speaker 1>John Kennedy. He was elected to Congress in nineteen forty

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<v Speaker 1>six and then the United States Senate in nineteen fifty two.

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen sixty, he was, at forty three years old,

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<v Speaker 1>the youngest man ever elected to the office of President

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<v Speaker 1>of the United States. He demonstrated a judiciousness, a wisdom,

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<v Speaker 1>and the most important quality of the early nuclear age, restraint.

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<v Speaker 1>When the world teter on the edge of nuclear war,

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<v Speaker 1>it was John Kennedy's wisdom that saved humanity. There's almost

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<v Speaker 1>certain that American ground forces would never have been deployed

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<v Speaker 1>to Vietnam had John Kennedy lived. Assassination is a brutal

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<v Speaker 1>crime because it is not just the murder of an individual.

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<v Speaker 1>It is the murder of the aspirations of a people.

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<v Speaker 1>It is the extinguishment of the vision of a leader,

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<v Speaker 1>and an altering of history. For all time, the United

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<v Speaker 1>States has been plagued by assassination. It has taken from

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<v Speaker 1>us some of our greatest leaders and our most noble.

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<v Speaker 1>It took from the nation. Abraham Lincoln, a man of

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<v Speaker 1>wisdom and deep morality, at the end of a war

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<v Speaker 1>that killed over a million people, said these words, with

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<v Speaker 1>malice towards none and charity towards all. Let us seek

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<v Speaker 1>to bind up the wounds of the nation, to care

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<v Speaker 1>for the widow and the orphan. It took from us

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<v Speaker 1>another combat veteran of the Union Army, James Garfield, in

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen eighty. Assassination stole America's promise. In the latter half

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<v Speaker 1>of the twentieth century, Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King,

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<v Speaker 1>the assassin's bullet changed the arc of history. It bended

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<v Speaker 1>it away from justice. It took away the people's voice,

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<v Speaker 1>and we are lesser for it. One of the tragedies

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<v Speaker 1>of recent history is the tabloidization of John Kennedy's life,

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<v Speaker 1>the serialization of it. It's been turned into an episode

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<v Speaker 1>of the Crown. Literally a thousand docuseriies and tawdry tabloid

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<v Speaker 1>television specials have obscured the dignity, the elegance, the wisdom,

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<v Speaker 1>the humanitarianism of the man who, like all people, was

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<v Speaker 1>flawed and a sinner. But that doesn't matter, because when

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<v Speaker 1>John Kennedy raised his hand and he swore the thirty

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<v Speaker 1>five word oath that George Washington took, he never betrayed it.

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<v Speaker 1>He saved the American nation at a time of profound danger,

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<v Speaker 1>and he inspired young people a generation towards public service.

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<v Speaker 1>I was born just outside of the shadow of his assassination.

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<v Speaker 1>It was the defining event for the baby boomer generation.

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<v Speaker 1>Every person in that generation remembers exactly where they were

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<v Speaker 1>at the moment they learned that President Kennedy had been killed.

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<v Speaker 1>But we should not remember President Kennedy through the prism

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<v Speaker 1>of his assassination and death, but rather through his life

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<v Speaker 1>of service. There are some speeches that every American should

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<v Speaker 1>see and watch and absorb and listen to to refresh

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<v Speaker 1>their commitment to American civics and our American civilization. Here

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<v Speaker 1>are some of them. John Kennedy's inaugural address, the greatest

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<v Speaker 1>in American history. There is John Kennedy's last speech at

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<v Speaker 1>Amherst College when he celebrates the role of art in

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<v Speaker 1>American life and the importance of the artist in a democracy.

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<v Speaker 1>There is the speech that he delivers shortly before becoming president,

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<v Speaker 1>when he is President elect to the massage its legislature,

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<v Speaker 1>and he talks about the shining city on a Hill

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<v Speaker 1>that was referenced first by John Winthrop in describing the

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<v Speaker 1>burdens and challenges of the Massachusetts Bay Colony at the

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<v Speaker 1>beginning of a rupture in history, the beginning of a

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<v Speaker 1>new epoch. These speeches tell us something, show us something,

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<v Speaker 1>demonstrate something about the vigorousness of the American spirit, its character,

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<v Speaker 1>its youthfulness. And lastly, there is this speech, the speech

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<v Speaker 1>that explained to the American people why we must explore,

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<v Speaker 1>why we are called to exploration. When we think about

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<v Speaker 1>this in the age of artificial intelligence, in the age

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<v Speaker 1>of profound disruption and change, it is this speech that

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<v Speaker 1>should be our north star our polaris. Think about the

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<v Speaker 1>excitement of discovery, think about the journey ahead. When you

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<v Speaker 1>listen to these words, that some the magnificence of this

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<v Speaker 1>moment and the luckiness we all share to be alive

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<v Speaker 1>in it. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was a remarkable man from

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<v Speaker 1>a remarkable American family. If you visit his gravesite in

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<v Speaker 1>Arlington National Cemetery, you will see there, of course his wife, Jacqueline,

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<v Speaker 1>and his infant child, but also his brothers, Senator Edward

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<v Speaker 1>Kennedy the youngest, Robert Kennedy, who ran his campaign, served

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<v Speaker 1>as Attorney General and then a United States Senator, who

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<v Speaker 1>himself was assassinated in nineteen six, and his brother Joseph,

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<v Speaker 1>a hero of the Second World War in the Army

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<v Speaker 1>Air Corps who died fighting fascism Nazism in disguise of Europe.

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<v Speaker 1>This was a family like any brothers. That's not uncommon.

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<v Speaker 1>What's uncommon is the devotion to service in the nation,

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<v Speaker 1>and it should be remembered today, and it should be

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<v Speaker 1>celebrated today, and it should be honored today. One of

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<v Speaker 1>the darkest in American history