Memory of JFK remains intense
I was just over 18 years old when I listened to president John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address on Jan. 21, 1961. How could a speech that lasted less than 17 minutes be so powerful that it changed lives, galvanized nations and gave hope and faith to the oppressed was beyond imagination, and was a miracle.
That was testimony to the power of words, of poetry, of romanticism, of idealism.
A student in Belgium at the time, I was asked by Father Dominique Pire, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, to talk about Vietnam at a public gathering. I remember vividly how enthusiastic and idealistic I was when I quoted one of the most electrifying inaugural passages of the new president of the United States: “… we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty … ”
These were the assurances given by America, our friends and allies in the Vietnam War against the spread of communism. A new wind of confidence, joy and hope blew over South Vietnam in 1961.
Fifty years after his assassination, the memory of president Kennedy remains always intense. He was the inspiration of the youth of his times and only with the power of words, he won their hearts and souls and sent them into battle against poverty, disease, discrimination and unjust wars.
The lingering eternal question has always been: “What if he was not assassinated?”
Maybe we would have lived in a different world.