Kennedy Assassination - Personal Recollections - Conspiracy?

"Where were you the day President Kennedy was assassinated?"

There was a time when this was a nearly ubiquitous question. Like "where were you on December 7, 1941?"

Such questions place your personal history in a national context.

Too often as I grow older, I hear the answer "I wasn't born yet."

I was disappointed last month that the president delayed release of documents about the assassination. The longer the delay, the more persistent and inventive are the rumors of conspiracy and cover up.

Even so, I recently recalled some memories that need to be put in the mix.

On Friday, November 22, 1963, I was a twenty-six year old navy lieutenant attending a six-month course in Newport, Rhode Island training to be a department head of a US Navy destroyer. That Friday marked the completion of the first period of our training. We were to be examined the following week.

Vice Admiral W.R. Smedberg III, Chief of Naval Personnel spoke that morning to the graduating class of the US Naval Officer Candidate School.

Admiral Smedberg ordered that all officer students at the several schools on the Newport Naval Station gather at the main auditorium at 1:30 to hear a speech by the Admiral.

Over the lunch hour, students at the Destroyer School heard the news that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. We wondered if the Admiral would deliver the speech.

When we entered the auditorium, Admiral Smedberg approached the podium and began speaking as if nothing had happened. Worse than that, the speech turned out to be an attack on the defense policies of the Kennedy administration.

After about 20 minutes, the admiral's aide walked out and handed Admiral Smedberg a note. The admiral read the note and put it in his jacket pocket.  Then he looked up from his notes and announced that President Kennedy had died. He then continued his speech.

We were stunned. After the admiral left, we student officers had to return to our classes to hear the lectures scheduled for that afternoon.

It was a bad weekend for study and preparation for exams.

None of us suspected Admiral Smedberg of involvement in a conspiracy ala Seven Days in May. That movie didn't come out until the following year.