WAYBACK MACHINE

 

VOLUME 4

 

 

 

 

In November 1963, I attended Lee Harvey Oswald's funeral .

 

I did.

I grew up and went to school in Fort Worth until 1963 when my family moved to Lake Highlands.  My first year at LHHS began in September 1963.

Seventeen is a difficult age under the best of circumstances.  Like most, I was racked with self-doubt and insecurity which was compounded by enrolling in a new high school.  For the first few months of our Junior year I struggled to adapt to the extremely "clickish" environment of Lake Highlands.  By the end of my first day, first week, first month at Lake Highlands I was certain that I'd never be accepted so I began returning to my safe haven in Fort Worth every weekend to visit lifelong friends.

I'm sure that you all have your own unique memories of November 22, 1963.  I was at lunch when the news of President Kennedy's assassination was first learned.  My next class was English and we even started a scheduled test before Mr. Anderson's announcement that school was dismissed for what turned out to be 3-4 days while the assassination news and presidential funeral unfolded.  I remember that the hours following that announcement to be the most surreal of my life.

Before the nation could digest the events of November 22nd, Jack Ruby shot and killed alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald on network TV on November 24th, and the whole maelstrom began anew.  After an autopsy Oswald's body was returned to his family for burial.

During this tumultuous time with school closed for days, I did what I always did at this unsettled time of my life - I returned to Fort Worth to stay with old friends.  Fort Worth schools were also closed and most businesses were shut down for indeterminate periods.  So my friends and I resorted to what we always did when nothing better presented itself - we went "riding around". 

 As you can probably remember, "riding around" was an accepted and universally practiced teenaged phenomena of the time.  With gasoline costing about a quarter-a-gallon a quick pass of the hat would provide enough fuel for hours of spontaneous and totally unchaperoned entertainment. 

The early afternoon of November 25th found us (in my friend's Corvair) riding down Sandy Lane in far east Fort Worth.  As we approached East Lancaster Avenue, the Pike Drive-In Theatre was on our left and Rose HIll Cemetary was on our right.  The east entrance to Rose Hill was blocked with what seemed like the entire Fort Worth Police Department.  Curious, we stopped and asked one bored officer, "What's gong on?"  He replied, "A funeral."  We had all seen and attended many funerals at Rose Hill over our lifetimes so we knew that this was no ordinary funeral.  After further pressing the cop for information, he relied, "Lee Harvey Oswald, now you kids get outta here".

We did.  We went right around the cemetery to the unfenced west side.  Through a border of tall pine trees we could see a small group of men gathered at an open grave about fifty yards from our position.  As we stood there, two men wearing dark suits approached us, flashed an FBI badge and asked what we were doing.  We replied, "Nothing.  Just watching."  To our surprise one of the men said, "Fine.  You can sit on these granite benches.  But come no closer and don't make any noise."

About that time, a black hearse and limo followed by several police cars began the short drive from the hilltop Rose HIll chapel to the gravesite.  As the back door of the hearse was opened, Marina Oswald, Lee Harvey's mother and brother exited the limo and stood by the open door.  Apparently they had to wait for volunteers to be pallbearers and the media people had not yet arrived from the chapel.

 

West Entrance to Rose Hill Cemetery from East Lancaster Avenue

           

  Rose Hill staff moving the burial vault.                                                        Oswald's present day marker.  Original one was stolen.

 

His funeral took place on the same day as John F. Kennedy and slain Dallas Officer J.D. Tippit.

Oswald's funeral time, date and location were kept a closely guarded secret during its preparations in order to keep crashers away. To further insure that it would not be disturbed, Oswald's funeral was held at the same time as JFK's because the family and those at the funeral parlor knew that at that time everyone would be attending the president's funeral.

It was our dumb luck to have been part of history.  Over the past 44 years, I have told this story many times.  Some listeners didn't believe me.  Some even accused me of being an Oswald sympathizer.  People are so stupid.

I was again living in Fort Worth in 1981 when Oswald's body was exhumed for examination.  I didn't know about the exhumation until after the fact.  Too bad too.  I could have been the only person to see Oswald buried twice.

 

David

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MEMORIES OF OTHERS

 

After school was dismissed, I went directly home to find my mother in tears because of what had just happened. Our TV was on and she and I watched everything until she left to pick up my younger brother and sister at Wallace Elementary. I stayed with my youngest brother. When they returned, we continued to watch TV.

My father who worked in downtown Dallas for Mobil Finishes Co. in the Magnolia Bldg., bolted thru the door at about 4:00 p.m.. This is a man who NEVER was home before 5:30-6:00 p.m. from his office. I knew then things were really bad. Everyone then sat and continued to watch everything available about this tragedy. Being 17 at the time, I really had not even begun thinking of politics, political parties or any such thing. But I thought who in the hell would want to kill the President.

And if they wanted to WHY?

Following that - the Wildcat football team was to play in it's first ever playoff game on Friday 11-23 against Rockwall. A team we had beaten earlier in the year. My grandparents drove in from Sweetwater to attend the game. The stadium was hushed like a prayer service. No bands marched, no drill teams performed, nothing. I suppose we were completely unprepared for that game as we were beaten 40-0. Rockwall went on to win the state championship after that. My grandparents were disappointed that we lost, but drove back to Sweetwater after the game.

These were people who were already in their 60's, but chose to be alone and watch the national events at home.

The events that occurred after that were unimaginable to me. Ruby killing Oswald on live TV. Whew what an event to have witnessed. I will never forget it. The funeral of JFK, little John Jr. with his salute to his dad. To much to quickly.

Dallas remained a virtual ghost town for the next 6 days. Kinda like when you get out in your car early on Christmas Day. Eerie quiet and stillness.

I for one have already turned sixty and part of my memory ain't what it once was. But my recollection of 11-22-63 is pretty vivid.

Jim Reynolds