JFK Anniversary

Lately I have been fascinated with reading up on and learning details about JFK's assassination. This coming Friday marks the 50th anniversary of the horrible event, and many television networks have been showing specials throughout the past several days. I am beyond intrigued. I really, really want to solve the mystery.  I even found myself going through the details I had learned while running my 5K on the treadmill yesterday!

Clearly, I will never solve this mystery. No one will. I don't believe at all that the government and the CIA all got together and planned his assassination. The government can't even launch a health care website correctly. I highly doubt they could pull off a cover up that big. And let's face it. Someone would've talked. Someone always does for enough money. No, the government absolutely had nothing to do with it. Plus, Kennedy was already going down a path to self demise. Sure, we talk about how amazing and wonderful he was. But let'ts not forget about the Bay of Pigs (epic failure) and the Cuban Missal Crisis (coming just minutes from the brink of nuclear war does not make one a hero). Oh and then there were all of his mistresses. That speaks well for the young president. (not.) Plus he had even wanted to put the Civil Rights Bill (that he had campaigned on) on the back burner for a while until the governor of Alabama forced him to start fighting for such legislation earlier. His first few years in office were not as dreamy as everyone seems to believe. If the government wanted to get rid of him they didn't have to kill him. They could have just let him self destruct and get him out when the time for reelection came. Pulling off his assassination would be too hard.

But I don't think Oswald fired the fatal shot either. I do believe Oswald hit JFK in the back of neck and the bullet traveled through his throat, but I don't think he fired the shot that killed him. The shot that killed Kennedy exploded when it made contact with his head. The first bullet did not explode. Oswald had one weapon, a mail order rifle. So clearly his weapon was not capable of shooing exploding bullets. That meant the bullet had to come from somewhere else.

I watched several interviews over the weekend with ex FBI agents, and one theory made a ton of sense. There was a young, new agent working for Kennedy at the time of the assassination. Some may have even called him inexperienced. His name was George Hickey. Hickey was riding directly behind JFK's limo in the front of a car. Once the president was shot the first time and slumped toward Jackie, eyewitnesses have said they saw Hickey jump off the car that he was riding on and stumble as he was pulling his high powered weapon into his hands. Some have said that during this stumble, they witnessed the gun go off, and this is the bullet that fatally struck JFK in the head. The weapons used by the FBI at the time included a new type of assault weapon that shot out bullets that exploded once they hit the target. This explosion was meant to be fatal. Thus, when Hickey accidentally discharged his gun, the bullet struck JFK in the head and caused the massive explosion.

So I guess if I truly believe that Hickey fired the fatal shot, then I do believe in some sort of government cover up. But I guess it was more of an FBI cover up than an intentional plot to kill the president.

I guess we will never really know what went on that day. (I have a feeling Jackie saw a lot more from her position in the limo than what she ever talked about. But I'm also sure she was in shock the entire time and apparently was pretty obsessed with gathering JFK's head pieces in order to "put him back together.") It was a tragic day in our country for sure. As the anniversary approaches, I will continue to watch all the specials and interviews and piece together the puzzle for myself. At the end of the day, however, I just pray that such a dreadful attack never happens again in our country.

God bless America!