Why does it matter?
On this exact spot, in this time and this
place a great light was extinguished. It was as many have said for one
brief and shining moment in the steady march of history a brilliant star
that shone forth as a beacon of hope for all of mankind. But just as a
star whose life burned out millennia ago the light from this heavenly
raiment continues to illuminate the best of human ambitions, desires, and
dreams. For those of you who are younger and were not fortunate enough to
have been alive while President Kennedy inspired this nation and the
world, one need only view the photographs and watch the films to see how
much the people loved this man.
However, it was not just the charm and
charisma of John F. Kennedy that drew people to him, but it was the
strength of his words which lit the fires of hope in the hearts of men and
women around the world. Indeed those words have survived beyond his mortal
being and continue to draw us to his immortal soul. President John
Fitzgerald Kennedy is now a legend for the ages and just as his life
provided us with comfort against the apocalyptic darkness, so too will the
resolution of the mystery surrounding his death serve to protect us from
the long shadows of crises and conflict. For a moment let us listen to
some of President Kennedy's words so that on the Fortieth anniversary of
his death we may use them both as a shield to give us hope for humanity on
the one hand and as a sword to give us the courage to smite the bodyguard
of lies surrounding his death on the other hand.
What kind of peace?
What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax
Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace
of the grave of the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine
peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind
that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better
life for their children, not merely peace for Americans but peace for all
men and women, not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.
So, let us not be blind to our differences,
but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means
by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our
differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For,
in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit
this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our
children's future. And we are all mortal.
The United States, as the world knows, will
never start a war. We do not want a war. We do not now expect a war. This
generation of Americans has already had enough, more than enough, of war
and hate and oppression. We shall be prepared if others wish it. We shall be alert to try to
stop it. But we shall also do our part to build a world of peace where the
weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before that
task or hopeless of its success. Confident and unafraid, we labor on, not
toward a strategy of annihilation but toward a strategy of peace.
American University Washington, D.C.
June 10, 1963
...a peaceful world
It is not a mission of self, defense alone,
for that is a means, not an end. It is not a mission of arbitrary power,
for we reject the idea of one nation dominating another. The mission is to
create a new social order, founded on liberty and justice, in which men
are the masters of their fate, in which states are the servants of their
citizens, and in which all men and women can share a better life for
themselves and their children. That is the object of our common policy.
To realize this vision, we must seek a world
of peace, a world in which peoples dwell together in mutual respect and
work together in mutual regard, a world where peace is not a mere
interlude between wars, but an incentive to the creative energies of
humanity. We will not find such a peace today, or even tomorrow. The
obstacles to hope are large and menacing. Yet the goal of a peaceful
world, today and tomorrow, must shape our decisions and inspire our
purposes.
Paul Skirche Assembly Hall Frankfurt,
Federal Republic of Germany
June 25, 1963
We in this country, in this generation, are,
by destiny rather than choice, the watchmen on the walls of world freedom.
We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility,
that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we
may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of "peace on
earth, goodwill toward men." That must always be our goal, and the
righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was
written long ago, "except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but
in vain."
Remarks prepared for delivery at Dallas
Trade Mart Luncheon (undelivered)
November 22 1963
Is there an honest man
Is there an honest man or woman among us that
can deny that these selected passages from President Kennedy's
aforementioned speeches stand in sharp contrast to events in the world
today? To further dramatize the power of President Kennedy's words, slight
modifications can sometimes serve as a weapon to defend historical truth.
Here is such an example using President Kennedy's Berlin Wall speech.
Let them come
There are many people in the world who really
don't understand or say they don't, what is the great issue between the
Warren Commission apologists and the Assassination Research community LET
them come to THE GRASSY KNOLL. There are some who say that lies are the
wave of the future, LET them come to THE GRASSY KNOLL. And there are even
a few who say that it is true lies are evil, but it permits us to protect
our national security. LET them come to THE GRASSY KNOLL!
Luck is not chance
In conclusion, I would like to end with "Luck
is not chance", a poem by Emily Dickinson. President Kennedy loved poetry
and so it is fitting that this memorial speech to his life and to the
baffle for truth behind his death should end this way.
Luck is not chance,
It's Toil, Fortune's expensive smile.
Is earned,
I took one Draught of Life, I'll tell you
what I paid, Precisely an existence,
The market price, they said.
They weighed me, Dust by Dust, They balanced
Film with Film,
Then handed me my Being's worth, A single
Dream of Heaven!
That such have died enable us
The tranquiller to die;
That such have lived, certificate
For immortality.
Emily Dickinson
This speech was given by Mark Taylor, a teacher from
Olathe South High, Olathe, Kansas,
at the Grassy Knoll in Dealey Plaza on
November 22, 2003.
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