The Assassination
November 22nd, 1963 ~ Dallas, Texas
The JFK Assassination - Min by Min
12:30 am - The wife of Lee Harvey Oswald, Maria, notices that he is still awake. 6:30 am- Lee Harvey Oswald leaves his residence, leaving behind his wedding ring and $170 cash. Oswald catches a ride to work and appears to be carrying something long, to which he asserts are curtain rods. 7:00 am - President John F Kennedy is at the Hotel Texas getting ready for his day.He gives a speech to the chamber of commerce inside and intends to leave Fort Worth for Dallas, Texas. Kennedy picks up the Dallas Morning News. He sees a “black border” accusation of treason. He sees a prediction from Nixon that Kennedy will drop Johnson from the upcoming ballot. 10:00 am - The weather begins to clear up, and subsequently, advance secret service agent Win Lawson decides to take the bubble top off the presidential limo. “Kennedy has made it clear that he wants to be accessible to the people. He wants the bubble top off as much as possible and does not want secret service agents on the back on his limo.” 10:30 am- JFK remarks to his wife, Jackie "you know, last night would have been a hell of a night to assassinate a president" in reference to their late night motorcade through Fort Worth. 11:50 am -Co-workers witness Oswald on the first floor of the book depository, eating lunch. Simultaneously, the presidential motorcade leaves to begin the motorcade through Dallas. 12:05 pm - Kennedy makes his first of many stops to shake hands with groups of people waiting to meet him, delaying the motorcade by 5mins. 12:29 pm - The president’s limo turns on to Elm Street. The first shot is fired, missing the president. A fragment from the bullet or debris from the street hit James Tauge, who is watching the motorcade in Dealey Plaza. A man is standing near the Stemmons Freeway sign with an opened umbrella, giving rise to the "umbrella man" conspiracy theory. 12:30 pm - The second shot is fired, causing Kennedy to be stuck. He assumes Thornburn’s position, which is a reflex position assumed by the elbows immediately after injury to the spinal cord in the lower cervical region. The third shot is fired, hitting the president on the back his head, causing a portion of his head behind his right ear to blow out. Sheriff Bill Decker orders Dallas police officers to the railroad tracks behind the fence on the Grassy Knoll. Oswald gets a Cola from the soda machine in the book depository and starts walking out of the buildings after being stopped briefly by Dallas police officer Marrion Baker. 12:35 pm - The presidential limo arrives at Parkland Memorial Hospital The president is admitted as "24740, white male", and is suffering from a gunshot wound. He is brought into trauma room 1. Dr. Charles Crenshaw enters and notes there is a large wound on the back of the president's head as well as a small hole in his throat. They use this hole to perform a tracheotomy in order to open up Kennedy's airway. 12:57 pm - After being read his last rights, the president is pronounced dead. 2:07 pm - Oswald is found and arrested. 6:00pm - Robert Kennedy rushed onto the plane carrying the body of JFK to find Jackie. He puts his arm around her and quietly says "Hi, Jackie. I'm here." When they get into the ambulance with the casket, Jackie recounts the motorcade, the shooting, and aftermath in detail to RFK. Lyndon Johnson makes his first statement on TV as president. Background on Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was born October 18, 1939 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was shot and killed in Dallas County Jail on November 24, 1963 after being accused of assassinating JFK. Oswald’s father died before he was even born. His mother remarried for three years and his family spent a lot of time moving. In October of 1956, Oswald dropped out of high school and joined the U.S. Marines. He was said to be skilled shooter, however an average marine. He began expressing pro-Soviet and politically radical views and, on a hardship plea, secured release from the corps on September 11, 1959. Only a few days later, he left for the Soviet Union, where he tried unsuccessfully to become a citizen. He was assigned to work In Minsk, and met and married Marina Nikolayevna Prusakova in 1961. In June 1962, he was able to return to the United States with his wife and three-month-old daughter, June Lee. In January of 1963, Oswald bought a .38 revolver and, in March, a rifle. On April 10 in Dallas, he allegedly shot at, Edwin A. Walker, a former army general. He later left his wife with a friend in Dallas and went to New Orleans, where he established the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. He distributed pro-Castro pamphlets. In September he went to Mexico City, where, according to the Warren Commission, he tried vainly to get a visa for Cuba and to get Soviet permission to return to the U.S.S.R. In October he returned to Dallas and secured a job at the Texas School Book Depository. |