Rocklin Brothers Recall Meeting JFK At Whiskeytown Dam Dedication Ceremony
ROCKLIN (CBS13) — Two brothers recalled meeting President John F. Kennedy just week's before he was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963.
John Carr of Rocklin and his brother Brian remember it like it was yesterday.
It was Sept. 28, 1963 and 6-year-old John and 7-year-old Brian were in Redding when the late president dedicated the Whiskeytown Dam.
The weather was gorgeous, and the crowd was huge.
"I don't remember being bored at all that day," John said. "It was impressive."
But the most impressive part of the experience was what John and Brian's father Laurence did—he was the master of ceremonies for the dedication.
What made it really cool for the brothers was the president saying their dad's name.
"And being a 6-year-old and having a short attention span, you go, "Wow, there's the president and you're sitting right next to my father," John said.
Carr's father was an attorney and was given the MC honor because he was active in the Democratic party, Catholic and Irish, just like JFK.
"A picture of Kennedy putting an arm on my father was kind of special," Brian said. "He made you feel special."
Their dad has since passed, but the memories live on, through video and black-and-white photographs.
Star struck, John even shook Kennedy's hand that day.
"It was real quick because he was trying to get to so many people."
Little did John and Brian know, it would be Kennedy's last visit to California.
The brothers hope to pass on that legacy and those memories to the next generation.
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