In fond memory of my favorite President on this .... the fiftieth anniversary of his tragic murder. Its ripple-effect has touched many people in ways they might not even realize today. For example, my father served as part of the security detail in Houston the evening before at a political fundraiser banquet honoring Albert Thomas. Whenever DPS troopers are called upon to serve in this capacity .... they do so without question ..... and with little or no compensation. They work tirelessly for several hours .... and if food was served at the event, they were never allowed even so much as a brief break to eat there. Such was the case for the DPS troopers working the security detail around the inside perimeter of the Sam Houston Coliseum on the evening of November 21, 1963. When everyone inside was seated and being served their meal .... my dad took the liberty of organizing the other troopers stationed there to leave the building together to go down the street to have a quick bite to eat at a nearby café before returning to the arena and to their assigned security posts. As it happened .... they were never even missed. The following day when the news broke that JFK had just been shot and killed in Dallas .... my father, upon hearing the news, immediately broke out in a cold sweat. But even though the tragedy of the assassination did not happen on HIS watch ..... he DID eventually pay the consequences for his actions of the evening before .... as someone amongst that group of troopers ratted on him soon thereafter ..... and he was black-balled from ever being able to get a promotion in his job after that. Even taking the required written test in Austin the following year .... and scoring SECOND FROM THE TOP did him absolutely no good in his effort to be promoted to Sergeant .... as he was thereafter repeatedly bypassed for that promotion whenever an opening came up. As a result .... my familys living situation became stagnated ..... not the least of which was, ofcourse, our income. As journalist Robert ONeill has recently recalled of that time in 1963 ..... it was [quote] inconceivable that anyone would ever take a shot at the President. And so it was also inconceivable to my father in 1963 when he made the mistake of temporarily leaving his post to grab a bite to eat ..... on what WAS normally his regular day off. So even though JFKs death was a huge tragedy for all of us ..... There were many individuals, in ways big and small, who personally paid a price for it in their own way, too. And that is how OUR FAMILY was affected as a result ..... exactly fifty years ago today.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 01:28:17 +0000
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