John Kennedy Jr.

[Sannum]

It is so hard to believe that he has been gone for almost 6 years. For all of that time, the media has tried to degrade his name by rumors about him, his marriage and his personal life. I can't help but think that the people doing this have some sort of agenda. No matter the truth about these matters, he was able to live his life in privacy and dignity. Anything else is between he and Carolyn and they are no longer able to speak for or defend themselves. With the lives of himself, his wife Carolyn and sister in law Lauren, the Democratic party lost a true future superstar. The Kennedy family lost yet another son. It is so difficult to believe that it has been six years. Six years ago we woke up to terrible news, and somehow just hoped for a miracle because the truth was too much to bear.

[wisteria]

1. Very good post. n/t

[Gloria]

2. And, I posted a couple of days ago, that Jackie died May 19, 1994...

So long ago already!!!

That got me into a little searching and I came up with a JFK site and I learned a few things I didn't know, even though I remember the assassination like it was yesteray.
How the casket he was in on the plane was dropped into the sea , things like that...plus a lot on the autopsy and some god awful pictures I hadn't seen.......

Every once in awhile I mourn over JFK and JFK, Jr. and this realization about how long it had been since Jackie died triggered this round....



Here's the story I posted...entitled "CAMELOT"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3761160

Found this old article while poking around...

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/jackie.txt


CAMELOT REVISITED

Copyright 1995 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.@bThe information
contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise
distributed without the prior written authority of the Associated Press.

By GLEN JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer
BOSTON (AP) -- Even in her grief, Jacqueline Kennedy had the
strength to recount her husband's assassination in vivid detail and
the presence of mind to convey her hopes for his memorials.
"His last expression was so neat," Mrs. Kennedy told
journalist Theodore H. White in comments released for the first
time Friday. "He had his hand out, I could see a piece of his
skull coming off ... and I can see this perfectly clean piece
detaching itself from his head.
"Then he slumped in my lap," she said. "His blood and brains
were in my lap.
"I kept saying: `Jack, Jack, Jack' and someone was yelling:
`He's dead, he's dead.' All the ride to the hospital I kept bending
over him saying: `Jack, Jack, can you hear me, I love you Jack.' I
kept holding the top of his head down, trying to keep the brains
in," she said on Nov. 29, 1963, a week after the president's
assassination.
Excerpts from the interview have appeared in Life magazine and
White's 1978 memoir, "In Search of History," and the sight of the
dazed widow in her bloodstained pink suit has become a 20th century
icon. Now, the John F. Kennedy Library has released the full record
of that interview, 34 pages that include White's handwritten notes
and revisions in Mrs. Kennedy's handwriting.
White donated the papers to the library in 1969, saying they
could not be released until one year after the former first lady's
death. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis died of cancer May 19, 1994, at
age 64. White died in 1986.
The transcript shows her hopes after the assassination included
privacy for herself and memorials for her husband.
"I wanted that flame and I wanted Cape Kennedy. ... All I
wanted was his name on just that one booster, the one that would
put us ahead of the Russians," she said, apparently referring to
the rocket to the moon.
The eternal flame still burns at Kennedy's grave at Arlington
National Cemetery. And while Cape Canaveral was renamed for Kennedy
on the day of White's interview, the rocket that went to the moon
was not.
Cape Kennedy went back to being called Cape Canaveral in 1973,
although the NASA base there continues to be called the Kennedy
Space Center.
"I'm not going to be the Widow Kennedy," Mrs. Kennedy told
White. "When this is over, I'm going to crawl into the deepest
retirement there is."
Though she personified celebrity for more than 30 years, she
remained largely a stranger to the public that adored her. Even
after she married Aristotle Onassis, a Greek shipping tycoon 30
years her senior, she couldn't change her image as First Widow.
Speaking of her 3-year-old son, Mrs. Kennedy said: "I want
John-John to be a fine young man. He's so interested in planes;
maybe he'll be an astronaut or just plain John Kennedy fixing
planes on the ground."
She recalled that her daughter, Caroline, "held my hand like a
soldier. She's my helper; she's mine now."
John F. Kennedy Jr. is a lawyer and publisher. Caroline also is
a lawyer and co-author of a book on the Bill of Rights; she's
married and has three children.
White became close to the Kennedys when he chronicled the
presidential campaign in his best seller "The Making of the
President, 1960."
The interview marked the first time "Camelot" was linked to
the Kennedy administration in print. In an excerpt published
decades ago, Mrs. Kennedy recalled that her husband loved the
recording of the musical "Camelot."
"The lines he loved to hear were: `Don't let it be forgot, that
once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known
as Camelot,'" she said.

[FreedomAngel82]

5. Kennedy junior

died July 16, 1999.

[Ilsa]

6. I remember being on vacation in Colorado when I heard this news.

We live in Texas, and we had just returned from backpacking in the Rockies. Such a sad time. I really liked and admired this lady.

I was pregnant and due in six weeks when JFK, Jr. was killed. Again, what a sad time.

Thank you for the lovely photographs.

[driver8]

32. My wife and I were ordering our wedding invitations when we

heard the news. We were at the printers' and heard the news on their radio.

Hard to believe that it has been six years.

[yodermon]

33. She said:

"He had his hand out, I could see a piece of his skull coming off ... and I can see this perfectly clean piece detaching itself from his head. "Then he slumped in my lap," she said. "His blood and brains
were in my lap."

I'm assuming the piece of skull came off from the front of his head, right? It must have.

[FreedomAngel82]

3. Great pictures

The second and next to last photo's are the best. I think there was something going on too. If you figure out who killed Kennedy you can figure out who killed them all.

[sce56]

12. Figured out already

It was the Bush Crime syndicate that killed them in other words the CIA that Jack Kennedy found out was not folowing orders and damm near caused WWIII. He was hit after Firing CIA Director Dulles guess who was asked to be a major player in the Warren Commision? Dulles!

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3767767

For a compilatrion of the evidence it is there we just can't find any uncompromised Politicians anymore to bring the Murders to justice! All of the wars Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Iraq1 & 2 were just to line the pockets of the Military Industrial complex get JFKII the Movie and see the compelling indictment of Georg Herbert Walker (Poppy) Bush for that hit.

http://www.jfkii.com/

You can bet RFK was also taken out by the CIA along with MLK & peacnik John Lennon!

[elshiva]

4. I love those photographs! SIGH! Tis true!

Guess it sums up the whole Kennedy dilemma/charm, adultery, but great leaders and too many of them cheated or shot. :cry:

[thecai]

7. Beautiful Post and Pictures!

I can hardly believe it was that long ago!

[njdemocrat106]

8. I never saw that second to last photo before

The two JFKs. I do believe that Jack, Jack, and Jackie are together again.

:-(

[FreedomAngel82]

11. I think so too

I hope their spirits are in peace as well.

[jwirr]

9. The Camelot quote was in

an memorial magazine put out shortly after JFK's death. I think that may be why I can see the destruction of this administration. Because once I lived in Camelot. How I miss him.

[lonestarnot]

10. Our spots in time are very short.

[rudeboy666]

13. sorry, but he is/was mainly image

I see no real substance.

No doubt that he was a superstar.

But ultimately he was just a child of privilege.

[tritsofme]

14. He may have been a child a of privilege

but lets not forget that he was a war hero.

[Raksha]

18. Once upon a time, being a child of privilege...

...meant you felt a responsibility to give something back. But that was then, this is now. <sigh>

[theboss]

36. JFK Jr was not a war hero

His father was...but unless you consider the Upper East Side a war zone, JFK Jr was not.

[tritsofme]

47. Ah, I didn't see the Jr.

I thought he was talking about the father.

[alcibiades_mystery]

15. Sorry to tell you, but John John was a dope

Not the sharpest tool in the shed by any stretch. Future superstar? Ay yay yay...

[elehhhhna]

28. How would you rank his intellect against, say, GW?

[alcibiades_mystery]

30. At about the same level

Dumb.

[elehhhhna]

31. JJ gets props for the ability to speak English properly, no?

[Horse with no Name]

16. I always wondered what could have been with John John

I wonder if he would have entered politics?
He would have been the charismatic candidate that our party needed to energize itself. Much too young to die.

[FreedomAngel82]

17. I really don't know

Wasn't he working on his father's assisination and wrote a magazine called "George"? I remember reading not long before he died Bush junior "disappeared" from his campaigning and then came back when junior died. :shrug:

[Horse with no Name]

19. He was the editor of the magazine

He also created it.
JFK Jr--regardless of the fact that it took him several attempts to pass the NY bar--at least he passed it,lol.
That in contrast with our resident who couldn't pass standardized testing if his life depended on it.
I believe--not sure--his plane crash was pilot error.
Not sure about the other.

[FreedomAngel82]

20. Ah

I knew he worked for the magazine but not that he created it. Interesting. And yeah, at least he didn't give up but kept trying until he passed .;) What's the NY bar??

[Horse with no Name]

21. Sorry

The New York Bar Association exam.

[earth mom]

22. The day John Jr. died...

I felt like a bright light and some of the hope for the future of this country died along with him...it's difficult to put into words but to me the Kennedys were unique and special and represented the good, the best of America. They were not perfect, but certainly NOT corrupt. I believe they truly cared about the people of this country and their welfare.

And when I think of what the past 4 + years have wrought...how very dark and hopeless it is in this country these days...I feel stunned...how in the world did it happen?!!!! My Gawd! Why and how has the BFEE manipulated and been responsible for so much evil and gotten away with it?!

It is simply unbelievable! :grr:

[lostnfound]

26. At least RFK Jr is still out there fighting for the cause

Counting our blessings.

[NJCher]

23. I was just driving past the airport where he took off

on that last, fatal trip. I had a friend who worked there airport and who knew him.

These pictures make me want to cry. What losses we have sustained. JFK, RFK, MLK, Jackie and JFK Jr.

And oh yes, he was exceptional. Charisma, looks, charm, intelligence, wit and VISION. A combination like that comes around about once every 100 years.

He would have been a formidible political opponent.


Cher

[sellitman]

25. Both Kennedy & Wellstone would have given the Repukes fits.

Both killed in a plane crash.

Hmmmmm....

:shrug:

[slaveplanet]

34. not only the pukes

there were forces on the left, that also had good reason to fear.

[sellitman]

44. Huh?

Splain pleeez?

:shrug:

[slaveplanet]

48. Private reports have said ...

John John was not a happy camper when Hillary threw her hat into the New York senate ring...a spot, I believe, he would have easily won.


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/18/48hours/main607227.shtml

Bessette became a political problem. Leamer says that at the end of his life, John Jr. was seriously considering going into politics. He was interested in running for the New York Senate seat, the office once held by his uncle, Bobby Kennedy.

But JFK's only son would be entering politics for the first time against a formidable opponent: former first lady Hillary Clinton.

"He had two problems," says Leamer. "Whether Hillary was going to go, and secondly, his wife, whether Carolyn would be able to take it."

John was afraid Carolyn was too fragile, so he decided not to enter the race. "Everybody looked at him as the repository of his father and his family's greatness," says Amanpour.

[sellitman]

50. Ok but....

Since when was Hillary concidered "on the left"?

Not in my book at least. I concider her and her husband VERY centrist.

[slaveplanet]

51. correction noted-

center and moving right every day

[DemonFighterLives]

27. Formidible is right!

In Skolnick's Report is a theory that points to W or Hillary needing to get John John out of the way. He said he was considering a run.
Can't have that!

Great pictures in this thread. Another national treasure lost.
:grouphug:

[donheld]

24. Only the Good Die Young?

:shrug::cry:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

29. they had good reason to fear his potential

[theboss]

35. It's sad...but it's not like we lost, well, his father

JFK was a nice, charming, insanely attractive, rich man. And he lived his life as a nice, charming, insanely attractive, rich man. His legacy is Darryl Hannah, roller-blading shirtless, a mildly entertaining magazine that no one remembers, one well-received speech, and the air "potential" that I don't believe was ever going to be truly realized.

I suppose it's important for nations to have symbols. But it's still not clear to me exactly what we lost with JFK Jr.

[Catherine Vincent]

37. What we lost was a future presidential candidate.

And the republicans knew that.

[in_cog_ni_to]

39. They sure did.

:(

[theboss]

40. I don't believe that for a second

JFK, Jr was too busy roller-blading and marrying blondes to ever run a serious political campaign.

I also think his mother implanted a chip in his brain to keep him as far away from Irish politicians as possible.

The thing about JFK, Jr - to me - is that he was not a Kennedy. He was a Bouvier. His interests were art and fashion and culture and beauty and leggy blondes (okay, so he had some Kennedy in him). I think he would have lost his mind on the campaign trail.

[sellitman]

45. So what's wrong with leggy blondes?

I'm an equal opportunity voyeur.

;)

[in_cog_ni_to]

38. What a handsome young man he was!

Those pictures are just beautiful. Thanks for posting them.

He could have been our prez. :(

[theboss]

41. What did he stand for?

I'm sorry; I liked JFK Jr as a person.

But he was 40 and never really even had a job. He made a few very bland, very basic political statements in his life and that was it.

But I don't think he had any interest in the school board, let alone higher office.

I know....W was a fuck-up at 40 too. But he ran for Congress in the 70s, which shows at least a middling interest in elective office. And he was raised by his father.

As I said above, JFK Jr was not really a Kennedy; he was much more like his mother who would have freaked had he shown an interest in electoral politics.

[wicket]

42. Bless him

O8)

[MsUSA]

43. Awesome pictures. Thanks for posting. eom

[DeepModem Mom]

46. Thanks for this.

[RBHam]

49. The BFEE couldn't have staged 9-11 with him alive,

He was never one of them - and he was too smart and too connected to have be fooled by the BFEE's version of the Reichstag Fire.

If anybody thinks his death was accidental I have a faith based Missile Plan to sell them.

[CTyankee]

52. I was in Martha's Vineyard the weekend he died

flying his plane there. I remember seeing the Coast Guard helicopter flying over our condo on South Beach and taking my little granddaughter out on the deck to see it.

We found out the next day that his wife's bag and that of her sister had washed up on the beach at Gay Head on the other side of the island. South Beach was solemn. People were just dazed.

It was my first trip to the Vineyard and I had been so excited to go. I love MV; it is beautiful, no wonder the Kennedy's loved it so much. But the shock was just enormous.

It was strange watching the coverage on TV and seeing it live on the Vineyard. I thought to myself, "It seems that all of my life I have been watching Kennedy's die."

[sellitman]

53. I had that same feeling too.

For what strange reason have the Kennedy's been so blessed and so cursed at the same time. I always felt for poor Rose Kennedy. Imagine her grief throughout her family's ordeals.



*spelling do-over.

[BrklynLiberal]

54. Very sad loss. Unfulfilled potential. We will never know what he might

have achieved..what greatness may have been inside of him.