Commemoration Plans For JFK 50th Underway As 49th Year Marked
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - One of the darkest days in North Texas history happened 49 years ago today.
The motorcade was nearing the end of the of the parade route through downtown when those infamous shots rang out from what was then the Texas School Book Depository.
KRLD's Matt Thomas Reports:
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While the chaotic search for the gunman unfolded, then KRLD reporter Bob Huffaker was at Parkland Hospital as hundreds who had earlier given President Kennedy and Governor John Connally such a warm welcome anxiously awaited any word.
The shock quickly deepened as it was announce that President Kennedy was dead.
In addition to killing President Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald also gunned down Dallas Police officer J.D. Tippit in Oak Cliff.
Officer Tippit was remembered with a Texas Historical Marker at the site where he was gunned down just this week. Tippit is credited with setting in motion the chain of events that led to Oswald's arrest at the Texas Theater that was soon followed by Jack Ruby shooting and killing Oswald in the basement of the old Dallas police headquarters.
The Sixth Floor museum has archived hours and hours of interviews, because as we approach the 50th anniversary, fewer and fewer people who witnessed and were a part of that tragic day are around to tell their stories.
The city of Dallas plans a special commemoration a year from today for the 50th anniversary. The process of sprucing up Dealy Plaza in downtown Dallas is already underway.
