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Conspiracy theories are a cottage industry in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Plain and simple, he had most of his head blown off. Anyone who sees the two fairly grainy films shows that the right side of his head was blown to bits. For anyone to have survived that would have been a miracle. Though I am not a conspiracy theorist, there is/was much more to the assassination the even the Warren Commission could not find. But and this is a BIG but: It has been nearly 45 years since the assassination, his wife and one son have died, one brother was assassinated a little less than five years later, his surviving brother, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, has been diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. I say let the man rest in Arlington National Cemetery, with the eternal flame.

I've seen the shows, read the news accounts, read at least the reviews and some of the books, and while there is considerable evidence to suggest that there was a conspiracy, what good does it do at this juncture. Many, many of the principals are long dead and gone. JFK himself would be 91 later this week. Oswald would be well into his 80's had he lived all this time. He would have become he most hated man in America.

Lee Harvey Oswald was probably at least one of the shooters. He was not smart enough to pull this off without some kind of help, or so we think. Oswald did learn the Russian language, which is very tough, even for those with aptitudes towards the languages. Though, it is not enough to claim conspiracy just because he was living in Russia, had mastered the language, and brought home a Russian wife.

Many claim to have seen dark, shadowy figures running from behind the fence at the top of the knoll near Dealy Plaza. Many claim to have seen smoke, the kind that would come from a rifle at nearly the same location. Neither of the sightings have ever been corroborated.

The major piece of evidence pointing to a conspiracy was the 'magic bullet,' that entered JFK's throat and somehow made a turn ending up in the wrist of Texas Governor John Connally, who was riding in the front seat of the car with Kennedy. Also in the car were JFK's wife Jacqueline and Connally's wife, Nel.

Having just turned 10 and in the 4th grade in a small town in Northern California, the principal rushed in and told the teacher to turn on the TV, the President had just been shot. It was nearing lunch time and we were allowed to stay in and eat lunch if we wished. In the week before Thanksgiving, it was beginning to get a little chilly outside, despite a sunny day. I distinctly recall a classmate and I turning to each other and pointing to our heads, using our fingers in a gun-like gesture. When it was announced around noon that JFK had indeed died, we were dismissed early and sent home. We lived at scant 3/10ths of a mile, so my brother and I took our normal walking route home. It was 'all JFK, all the time' on the three network affiliated stations, with the National Education Television-NET, which gave way to PBS in the coming years and the area's independent station giving updates, as needed. For four days that was TV. The local movie house did brisk business after a couple of days.

Somewhere I own all of the newspapers about the incident. Wish I could find them. They would probably not be in very good shape, as newspapers of the day were not printed on very good paper

Incidentally, Oswald was in the Marines.

Learn more about this author, Tom Ontis.
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