My Father absolutely loved JFK. Although it was a school night, he took me with him down to the Texas Hotel to see JFK arrive that Thursday night, Nov. 21st, 1963. As I remember, the crowd was massive. It’s a good thing we arrived early because it allowed us to be near the front of the crowd for better viewing of his arrival. In fact, we were able to wait in the lobby of the Hotel. It seemed as if we waited forever, but finally his motorcade arrived.
JFK and Jackie entered the main entrance of the Hotel and turned right (toward us) to get to the elevators. His path brought him right past us … so close I could have reached out and touched him. I was impressed by his stately, professional demeanor and the elegance of Jackie (although the Secret Service agents were obviously trying to hurry them along). I was, naturally, impressed by the whole experience and I could tell my Father, a U.S. Postal worker, was overjoyed with the opportunity to see JFK in person. You can imagine the shock I felt when at about 1:00 PM the next day, at McLean Junior High, our teacher walked in and gave us the news of his assassination.
Although I certainly understood the significance of what had occurred, it was several years before I could fully digest the fact that my Father had the presence of mind to take me to see him arrive in Fort Worth that night, not knowing the destiny that would befall JFK and the United States the next day.
Danny Dean Cole, D.V.M.
