Follow U.S. immigration and living in the United States: This week, the United States marks the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination. As the anniversary date on the 22nd approaches, there is a growing wave of commemorations across the nation. The numerous mysteries from half a century ago remain to be unraveled.
On November 22, 1963, then-President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot in the bustling area of Dallas, Texas, at the age of just 46, shocking the world. U.S. authorities identified Lee Harvey Oswald as the sole assassin; however, Oswald himself was shot on the 24th, causing national outrage. Due to a halt in investigative leads, the case of Kennedy's assassination became a historical mystery.
Major book publishers across the nation are releasing numerous titles regarding Kennedy and the assassination, while mainstream television networks are broadcasting Kennedy's life and various recollections or analyses of the assassination during prime time.
Documentary and film distributors in the United States are also seizing the momentum surrounding the anniversary, with dozens of related documentaries released this year. Hollywood has launched a film entitled "Parkland," depicting the scenes of Kennedy's last moments in the hospital. An acclaimed film from 1991, "JFK," has been reissued in a commemorative edition.
Many eyewitnesses from the time are now advanced in age, and several have expressed in interviews that Kennedy's assassination "feels like it happened yesterday," and that "everything remains so vivid."\p>
Dallas is preparing to hold its first formal large-scale commemoration of Kennedy's assassination, with approximately 5,000 attendees selected by lottery to participate in the live event on the 22nd, all tickets having sold out early last month.
According to official arrangements, at 12:30 PM on the 22nd, the exact time of Kennedy's shooting, there will be a moment of silence at the original assassination site in Dallas, with church bells ringing. In the capital, Washington D.C., President Obama and former President Clinton will together pay tribute to Kennedy's tomb that day.
The Kennedy family has faced many tragedies; Kennedy's brother Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. died in a plane crash during an Air Force mission in 1944 at the age of 29; his brother Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968 at age 42; and Kennedy's only son also perished in a plane crash in 1999 at the age of 38.
The only surviving child of Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, was recently appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, serving as a fragile keeper of the Kennedy family's increasingly faded legacy.
Due to the myriad historical truths behind the assassination that remain unrevealed, the American public continues to engage in various theories surrounding the case. According to recent surveys conducted by major polling organizations this month, a majority of Americans still believe that Oswald was not the only killer; various conspiracy theories suggesting other masterminds have emerged.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry recently expressed in an interview that he holds "serious doubts" about Oswald acting alone, thus becoming the most senior current U.S. official to publicly question the official investigation into Kennedy's assassination.
According to a Gallup poll conducted on the 15th, respondents identified possible masterminds behind the assassination as the Mafia (13%), U.S. government agencies (13%), and the CIA (7%).
The Gallup poll also indicates that a majority of Americans view Kennedy as the greatest U.S. president of the past half-century, while opinions on Obama are rather mediocre. Kennedy's average approval rating during his presidency was 70%, surpassing all of his successors.
It is widely believed that had Kennedy survived and continued to lead the U.S., the course of the Cold War and American history would have been fundamentally altered. Alas, the uncertainties of life mean that Kennedy's existence is forever fixed in that moment half a century ago, leaving future generations with endless speculation and reflection.