The death of JFK
Five Americans were appointed to the Assassination Records Review Board in 1992 to review documents related to the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. One of those five is very close to Utah State University.
USU President Kermit L. Hall, who served as a member of the review board from 1994 to 1998, spoke to students, faculty and others Thursday as part of a week-long series of events on the 40th anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination.
Hall used the speech to share some of the documents that had been opened to the public as a result of the review board and to remember the legacy of Kennedy and how it affects the world today.
“John F. Kennedy was really quite a remarkable figure,” Hall said.
Hall spent much of his speech recapping the events of Kennedy’s presidency, including the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination itself and the events that transpired after the assassination, like the Warren Commission.
“The Warren Commission was put together by President Lyndon B. Johnson shortly after the assassination,” Hall said. “Much of the conflict of the assassination is driven after this report.”
Hall said the commission came up with the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald was the perpetrator of the assassination.
“Lee Harvey Oswald was not the boy next door,” Hall said. “He went to live in Minsk and was given a job at the Horizon Radio Factory in Minsk, he was given an apartment, throughout his entire time there he was under constant surveillance by the KGB.”
Hall asked the crowd to raise their hands if they thought Oswald was the one who killed Kennedy – a small portion of the crowd raised their hands. He then asked those who thought the assassination was part of a conspiracy, and more members of the crowd raised their hands.
“That vote pretty much represents where the American public is as a result of the Kennedy assassination,” Hall said. “About 70 percent of Americans believe that something else happened beyond Lee Harvey Oswald committing that murder.”
After the Warren Commission, Hall said, there were a number of reasons that caused many to lose confidence in the commission’s findings.
The progress of forensic science over the years, Johnson seeking to check rumors to prevent World War II and the amount of highly classified information that could not be disclosed during the Cold War were three of the reasons Hall said people lost confidence in the Warren Commission.
The commission came under additional scrutiny after author Mark Lane published his book, “Rush to Judgment,” criticizing the findings of the commission.
“I can’t stress to you enough how tumultuous the period following the murder of President Kennedy was,” Hall said.
The murders of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Robert Kennedy and the attempted assassination of George Wallace came in the few years after the JFK assassination.
Hall tied the events following the Kennedy assassination in with the recent events surrounding Sept. 11, 2001, in the United States. He noted the conspiracy theories that have popped up about Sept. 11, including what he said was one of the most interesting: The Pentagon and World Trade Center were never hit.
Hall said the government formed the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.
“This group of people are being put in the same position that we were, let us see the documentary evidence so that we can make sense of a great American tragedy,” Hall said. “There is a balance to be struck between what you know and what you need to know and what the government by itself must know.”
Hall closed by encouraging all in attendance to mourn the death of Kennedy on this 40th anniversary.
The Public Affairs Board, College Democrats and Pi Sigma Alpha jointly sponsored Hall’s speech. The three organizations are also co-sponsoring a showing of the movie “JFK,” Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Taggart Student Center Ballroom. There will also be a panel discussing the legacy of JFK next Thursday in the TSC Auditorium at noon.
-str@cc.usu.edu