SeilerBird
Well-known member
I was 13 years old in 1961 when JFK was sworn into office. He was my hero, I loved the man. I wrote to the White House and asked him for a photo. I received a beautiful 8 x 10 b&w portrait of him that was autographed with an autopen. I was so thrilled I sent a similar request to Jackie and got a beautiful 8 x 10 of her. Then in 1963 JFK was scheduled to make an appearance at Point Mugu. Mugu is a very important air force base located 50 miles north of LA. NIxon, Reagan and Kennedy all flew in and out of there many times. My mother was a secretary at Mugu and took me to work with her that day so I could see the speech. I searched for video of the event many times and was finally successful. Here he is 6/7/63:
The visit was so he could change from a helicopter to Air Force One jet back to Washington. There were thousands of people there and I figured there was no chance of finding me in the crowd. But to my shock and surprise finished his short speech and jumped into the crowd to shake hands. He came right over to where I was standing and I got to shake his hand. I offered him a scrap of paper and asked for an autograph and he complied. I had my Brownie and took one photo. I was in heaven but never expected to see what I found on the video. At 6:12 In the video I can clearly see me standing next to JFK while he signs my autograph. You can see him signing in this shot.
Naturally I am in complete shock to have found such a treasure. The sad thing is that I took the photo and autograph to school to show them off and they were stolen from me. I was devastated when he was shot a few months later. Then in 1968 I got to shake hands with RFK and Ethyl at the Oxnard Airport three days before he was murdered in LA. I made a vow to never shake Teddy's hand.
Fast forward twenty some years and I am a member of the Ventura County Sheriff's Underwater Search and Rescue Team on a mission to practice jumping in and out of a helicopter at Point Mugu. We put on our gear and board a helicopter for a trip to Anacapa Island. While standing on the runway waiting for my turn when I noticed a small star embedded into the runway. It marked the spot that JFK gave his speech on 6/7/63. Real outer limits stuff there.
The visit was so he could change from a helicopter to Air Force One jet back to Washington. There were thousands of people there and I figured there was no chance of finding me in the crowd. But to my shock and surprise finished his short speech and jumped into the crowd to shake hands. He came right over to where I was standing and I got to shake his hand. I offered him a scrap of paper and asked for an autograph and he complied. I had my Brownie and took one photo. I was in heaven but never expected to see what I found on the video. At 6:12 In the video I can clearly see me standing next to JFK while he signs my autograph. You can see him signing in this shot.
Naturally I am in complete shock to have found such a treasure. The sad thing is that I took the photo and autograph to school to show them off and they were stolen from me. I was devastated when he was shot a few months later. Then in 1968 I got to shake hands with RFK and Ethyl at the Oxnard Airport three days before he was murdered in LA. I made a vow to never shake Teddy's hand.
Fast forward twenty some years and I am a member of the Ventura County Sheriff's Underwater Search and Rescue Team on a mission to practice jumping in and out of a helicopter at Point Mugu. We put on our gear and board a helicopter for a trip to Anacapa Island. While standing on the runway waiting for my turn when I noticed a small star embedded into the runway. It marked the spot that JFK gave his speech on 6/7/63. Real outer limits stuff there.
