Erstellt am: 22. 11. 2013 - 10:27 Uhr

JFK's assassination, an eye-witness account

Julian Read was in the White House motorcade as President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas. He was also one of the first to address the world's media about the unfolding drama. He spoke with Reality Check's Steve Crilley.

Julian Read, you were the Texas Governor’s Media Representative. On that day, you were on the White House's press bus, just a few vehicles behind the President’s limousine in the motorcade. You heard the shots, can you tell me what you remember of those moments?

The first thing was total shock. We didn’t know what had happened. This is before the days of social media and cellphones, so we didn’t have any idea what had happened. I heard the shots but I also happened to have a direct view from my seat on the bus. I could see the limousine stop for a moment and then lurch away. It disappeared under the underpass. And I saw mothers and fathers throwing their children to the ground, covering them up, I saw motorcylces scurrying up the grassy knoll by the street. All of that happened in an instant. I had no idea what had happened, but I knew something terrible had happened.

You were briefing the world’s journalists. Did you at the time think that it was all over. Or did you wonder, if anything more was about to happen?

At that moment, we didn’t know. We had no idea if this was part of a bigger plot. President Johnson wanted to get away from the hospital. He wasn’t sure what else was going to happen. None of us did. We didn’t know if there was some bigger force at work here. All we could do is go on automatic pilot. I took the bus on to (what was supposed to be) the planned luncheon. I’ll never forget the scene of running into the hall and all of these thousands of people with happy chatter going on, murmurs expecting the president to walk in at any moment and they had no clue what had happened. It was a scene I will never forget.

It must have been a surreal moment and they say grown men were seen crying in the streets.

It’s very difficult for people to understand it even today, and even back then. Housewives pulled their shades down for fears for their children. We didn’t know what was happening. Pure strangers on the streets would embrace and sob together. It was surreal throughout that day and evening. That night in Austin Texas where the trip was to be completed, a huge fundraiser was planned and thousands of people had travelled to Austin. All these people were in the state capital and we scheduled a prayer vigil where we had thousands of people inside that chamber. That was the way the trip ended that evening.

For those who were not born or who didn’t grown up during those times, but we’ve all seen the grainy images of the assassination, is there a message that we all need to know about JFK?

I will be (on Friday) where I was 50 years ago. It will be a day of sort of, you could call it bitter sweet. We will remember the tragedy once again. You can’t escape it ever, it never goes away. But the very tasteful ceremonies that have been planned in Dallas will I think help Dallas and the world. And although I believe you can never really erase the total pain, what is being planned on Friday will help all of us finally come to peace with the greatest tragedy of our time. And I hope that, as far as Kennedy’s legacy is concerned, I hope that everyone will remember finally the hope and inspiration that he brought because that hope and inspiration did do many great things for this country; the programmes and ideals. He brought idealism to our country. There is no question that that is one of the greatest marks that he left on our nation and the world.

Julian Read is author of JFK's Final Hours in Texas, an Eyewitness Remembers the Tragedy and Its Aftermath.