JFK Videos

[David Von Pein]

[John Corbett]

I was four days short of my 12th birthday was Oswald was shot. I was out playing touch football in our neighbor's yard when my younger sister came running out of their house and over to our house yelling, "Mom, somebody shot Oswald.". A man followed her out and we asked him if it was true. He said, "Yeah, somebody just walked up and BOOM". The football game ended abruptly, and I went back home and saw the replay. I've always regretted I didn't get to see it happen live. I think it was about an hour and a half later, NBC's Frank McGee came on the air and announced Oswald had died. I remember being happy to hear that and I've never felt any different for one second since. I'm glad that little bastard never got to enjoy his newfound notoriety. I think he was looking forward to that, even knowing he would probably get the death penalty. It's unlikely the sentence would have been carried out. An 86-year-old Oswald might still be thumbing his nose at us from his jail cell. Jack Ruby handed down a death sentence Oswald couldn't appeal. Nice shot, Jack. I hope Oswald suffered greatly before he died.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

I was four days short of my 12th birthday was Oswald was shot. I was out playing touch football in our neighbor's yard when my younger sister came running out of their house and over to our house yelling, "Mom, somebody shot Oswald.". A man followed her out and we asked him if it was true. He said, "Yeah, somebody just walked up and BOOM". The football game ended abruptly, and I went back home and saw the replay. I've always regretted I didn't get to see it happen live. I think it was about an hour and a half later, NBC's Frank McGee came on the air and announced Oswald had died. I remember being happy to hear that and I've never felt any different for one second since. I'm glad that little bastard never got to enjoy his newfound notoriety. I think he was looking forward to that, even knowing he would probably get the death penalty. It's unlikely the sentence would have been carried out. An 86-year-old Oswald might still be thumbing his nose at us from his jail cell. Jack Ruby handed down a death sentence Oswald couldn't appeal. Nice shot, Jack. I hope Oswald suffered greatly before he died.

Vigilantism can never be defended or supported John. Who gets to decide when the act can be done? The vigilante? How many Leo Franks do we need to have? Isn't one enough?

If Ruby hadn't shot Oswald none of us would be here. Oswald's lies would have been exposed, his acts revealed. He couldn't explain where he was, why he left work, why he was in that movie theater, how the BYPs were made, and on and on. His alibis would have fallen apart.

More important, if Ruby's act is defensible then does that mean the conspiracy crowd could be justified in shooting Ruth Paine when she lived? Some of them are certain she was one of the murderers; in fact they believe there's more evidence of her culpability than Oswald. So one of them could have shot her like Ruby shot Oswald? How about Michael Paine? Earl Warren? Hugh Aynesworth? Hoover? LBJ? Marina? There's a long list of people the conspiracy crowd is convinced murdered JFK. Would shooting them be justified? Like Ruby's act? Vigilantism for me but not for thee? How could you argue their acts, shooting Ruth Paine, was wrong?

No, Ruby's act is indefensible on many levels.

For those not familiar, here is the story of Leo Frank: https://www.history.com/articles/leo-frank-lynching

[John Corbett]

Vigilantism can never be defended or supported John. Who gets to decide when the act can be done? The vigilante? How many Leo Franks do we need to have? Isn't one enough?

I don't defend or support vigilantism. That doesn't mean I can't be happy about it when it happens to someone like Oswald.

If Ruby hadn't shot Oswald none of us would be here. Oswald's lies would have been exposed, his acts revealed. He couldn't explain where he was, why he left work, why he was in that movie theater, how the BYPs were made, and on and on. His alibis would have fallen apart.

You underestimate the CT mindset. James Earl Ray confessed and was convicted and that hasn't stopped people from theorizing he was part of a conspiracy. Sirhan Sirhan gunned RFK down in a crowded room and still there are people who don't even think he was a lone gunman or even that he fired the shots. His conviction didn't stop the wild speculation. Neither would Oswald's. There are people who would claim he had been railroaded.

More important, if Ruby's act is defensible then does that mean the conspiracy crowd could be justified in shooting Ruth Paine when she lived? Some of them are certain she was one of the murderers; in fact they believe there's more evidence of her culpability than Oswald. So one of them could have shot her like Ruby shot Oswald? How about Michael Paine? Earl Warren? Hugh Aynesworth? Hoover? LBJ? Marina? There's a long list of people the conspiracy crowd is convinced murdered JFK. Would shooting them be justified? Like Ruby's act? Vigilantism for me but not for thee? How could you argue their acts, shooting Ruth Paine, was wrong?

Again, I don't justify Ruby's killing of Oswald, but I'm still glad he did it.

No, Ruby's act is indefensible on many levels.

For those not familiar, here is the story of Leo Frank: https://www.history.com/articles/leo-frank-lynching

I can applaud Ruby's act without defending it. Oswald's murder was a terrible thing but if it was going to happen to somebody, Oswald was a damn good choice.

[David Von Pein]

[Lance Payette]

I was four days short of my 12th birthday was Oswald was shot. I was out playing touch football in our neighbor's yard when my younger sister came running out of their house and over to our house yelling, "Mom, somebody shot Oswald.". A man followed her out and we asked him if it was true. He said, "Yeah, somebody just walked up and BOOM". The football game ended abruptly, and I went back home and saw the replay. I've always regretted I didn't get to see it happen live. I think it was about an hour and a half later, NBC's Frank McGee came on the air and announced Oswald had died. I remember being happy to hear that and I've never felt any different for one second since. I'm glad that little bastard never got to enjoy his newfound notoriety. I think he was looking forward to that, even knowing he would probably get the death penalty. It's unlikely the sentence would have been carried out. An 86-year-old Oswald might still be thumbing his nose at us from his jail cell. Jack Ruby handed down a death sentence Oswald couldn't appeal. Nice shot, Jack. I hope Oswald suffered greatly before he died.

Interesting. Be sure to weigh in on the thread I just started about why anyone cares about the JFKA. I was 13 years and 8 months. Neither JFK nor the JFKA meant squat to me - or, as far as I could tell, to my parents who seemed to have no political leanings at all. The JFKA was just a few days off from school. I don't remember giving a thought to the murder of Oswald at the time. I actually felt much sadder when LBJ died, and my older sister said the same thing.

When I got back into the JFKA 15 or so years ago, I read almost everything Walt Brown had written (yes, including his million-word Chronology). He was 15 at the time. I was astonished at the level of his grief as a 15-year-old, which he stiull seemed to be carrying decades later.

[John Corbett]

Interesting. Be sure to weigh in on the thread I just started about why anyone cares about the JFKA. I was 13 years and 8 months. Neither JFK nor the JFKA meant squat to me - or, as far as I could tell, to my parents who seemed to have no political leanings at all. The JFKA was just a few days off from school. I don't remember giving a thought to the murder of Oswald at the time. I actually felt much sadder when LBJ died, and my older sister said the same thing.

When I got back into the JFKA 15 or so years ago, I read almost everything Walt Brown had written (yes, including his million-word Chronology). He was 15 at the time. I was astonished at the level of his grief as a 15-year-old, which he stiull seemed to be carrying decades later.

It was very much different for me because of my circumstances. For one, JFK was the first president I felt a connection to. I was 8 years old when I first saw him on TV. That was the spring of 1960 and they were referring to him as the candidate. I was a bit confused because I couldn't figure out why a guy from Canada was running for President of the United States. I quickly got up to speed on the system and when I started fourth grade the following fall, everyone in my class seemed to have an interest, probably because I attended a Catholic school and all but two of my classmates were for JFK. We traded the little campaign buttons like trading cards. I followed JFK's presidency closely. I was in sixth grade during the Cuban Missile Crisis and that literally could have hit home. I lived in Omaha which was about 10 miles north of Offutt Airforce Base which was and is the Strategic Air Command worldwide headquarters. If the missiles started flying, we knew we were the center of the Soviet bullseye. We didn't even bother with duck and cover drills because those in charge knew we'd get hit with the biggest warhead(s) the Soviets could throw at us. JFK guided us through that crisis.

By the fall of 1963, there was a sense of bliss as far as national affairs were, at least to a 7th grader. The civil rights movement was not yet in full swing and we were just starting to hear about a little country in Asia called Vietnam. Then came the shocking announcement over our school loudspeaker. I can almost remember what our principle said, word for word. Math class was my first period after lunch and our teacher immediately turned on the radio she had in her room. It seemed like it was just minutes later that the radio announced JFK had died. It all seemed surreal. Everything that had seemed so right now felt so wrong. It was just a prelude for what was to come in the remainder of the decade. Civil unrest over the civil rights movement and Vietnam. Two more assassinations. I guess we'll never know how all of this would have played out if not for the actions of one very evil little man.