Every generation seems to have that one defining event that changed how we saw ourselves. For the World War II generation, it was the bombing of Pearl Harbor and for the younger generation, it was 9/11. For Baby Boomers, it was the JFK assassination in Dallas 60 years ago today. We can remember small details of our life that day. I can remember what I had for breakfast that day (cream of wheat) and every detail like the test that was canceled and the missed dental appointment.
Ten days ago I was in Dallas and took a tour of the School Book Depository from where Oswald shot Kennedy. The two top floors of the Depository are now a museum. Below is the corner window from which Oswald shot.
They have tried to recreate what the space looked like that day behind a glass wall. You can't get a
look at Oswald's view from that window but you can get a similar view from the window next to it. The car on the road in the picture is going over the X on the road where the fatal shot hit Kennedy. The trees in the picture are taller than they were in 1963 so Oswald's view wasn't blocked as much as it would have been today.
After shooting President Kennedy, Oswald went back to his room at the boarding house where he rented this tiny room. The room was kept just as it was the day he left.
From that day in Dallas in 1963, we knew that we could never have the same level of intimacy with a President that we had in Dallas that day. Pictures like the one below with the crowds right up next to the open car would never happen again.
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