美國紀念肯尼迪遇刺50週年 奧巴馬贊其影響深遠

Five decades after it served as the backdrop for a nation's grief and disbelief, Dallas' Dealey Plaza took center stage once again Friday as Americans commemorated the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination.

"A new era dawned and another waned a half century ago when hope and hatred collided right here in Dallas," Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said in his remarks commemorating Kennedy's death.

Rawlings then read the final words of the speech Kennedy was to deliver that day. That was followed by a moment of silence at 12:30 p.m., the time Kennedy was shot a few feet from where Rawlings spoke.

Bells tolled, and after a brief pause, cadets from the Naval Academy sang "America the Beautiful." Historian David McCullough read excerpts from famous Kennedy speeches.

Some 5,000 invited guests were expected to attend the commemorative events, which was bookended by bagpipers -- a JFK favorite -- playing under a spitting gray sky.

The tightly choreographed and secured event was the culmination of a series of commemorations Friday, including wreath-laying events in Kennedy's home town of Boston and at his Arlington National Cemetery gravesite.

In Washington, where flags flew at half-staff over the Capitol and White House, Kennedy's last living sibling,Jean Kennedy Smith, participated in the Arlington wreath-laying. Earlier, Attorney General Eric Holder visited the gravesite.

And in the House of Representatives, where Kennedy served from 1947 to 1953, the Rev. John Robert Skeldon of Fort Worth, Texas, reminded lawmakers in his opening prayers that "in commemorating such a one whose life and presidency were cut short, we do so not to sow in tears, as the psalmist says, but rather to reap with shouts of joy."

"Help us, Lord God, to make the late President's inaugural vision our own so that together as fellow Americans we may 'ask not what our country can do for us, but rather what we can do for our country,'" Skeldon prayed, invoking Kennedy's famous words.

The Dallas event was designed to be a delicate balancing act of honoring Kennedy's memory without sensationalizing his murder, and to help the city throw off its reputation as "the city that killed Kennedy."

It opened with a video from an organizer speaking of that goal, and continued in Rawlings remarks, which keyed off Kennedy's call for the United States to embrace and conquer a "New Frontier" of challenges

The mayor spoke of a Dallas that took up the mantle of Kennedy's challenge of American betterment and transformed itself with a "sense of industry born of tragedy" into a city that he hopes would make the president proud.

"He and our city will forever be linked, in tragedy, yes," Rawlings said. "But out of that tragedy, an opportunity was granted to us: the chance to learn how to face the future when it's the darkest and most uncertain, how to hold high the torch even when the flame flickers and threatens to go out."

A new JFK monument also was unveiled, in the infamous section of land known as the "grassy knoll." The inscription on the monument is the final paragraph of the speech JFK intended to deliver at the Dallas Trade Mart on November 22, 1963:

"We in this country, in this generation, are --- by destiny rather than choice --- the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of "peace on earth, good will toward men." That must always be our goal, and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago, "except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

Other Dallas events

Conspiracy theorists, who have typically gathered on the plaza on each anniversary of Kennedy's assassination, were barred from the plaza.

Instead, The Dallas Morning News reported, the group planned to hold an event at the nearby JFK memorial, and then move to Dealey Plaza after the main event was over. Demonstrators gathered at Dealey Plaza on Thursday, and many chanted: "No more lies. No more lies."

The remarkable Sixth Floor Museum, which chronicles the Kennedy assassination, was set to open from 3 to 8 p.m. CT. Parkland Hospital, where Kennedy died, planned a brief morning ceremony, where the flag will be lowered to half-staff.

Also in Dallas on Friday, a candlelight vigil for J.D. Tippit was set for 6 p.m. at the site where the 39-year-old Dallas police officer was shot.

"I think the remembrance of him calls attention to all of the officers killed in the line of duty. We should remember those who have given their lives for our city," Marie Tippit, who had been married to the officer for 17 years, told the Los Angeles Times this week. She told the paper she will also attend the ceremony at Dealey Plaza.

Finally, the Texas Theatre, where Lee Harvey Oswald was apprehended by police, was to screen part of the movie "War Is Hell," the film that was showing when Oswald slipped into the audience without paying.

Commemorations elsewhere

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston asked visitors to gather to watch a video musical tribute to the President that includes James Taylor. A moment of silence was held at 2 p.m. ET, the time when a doctor approximated Kennedy died.

Moments of silence were also planned at various other locations around the nation.

And online, a handful of Twitter accounts focused on recreating Kennedy's movements that fateful day, culminating in breaking accounts of the aftermath of the shooting.據美國媒體報道，11月22日是美國前總統約翰•肯尼迪遇刺50週年紀念日，當年的案發地得克薩斯州達拉斯的迪利廣場舉辦了隆重的紀念活動。

***達拉斯的希望和怨恨

“半個世紀前，希望和怨恨在達拉斯交織，新時代到來，舊時代消逝。”達拉斯市市長邁克•羅林斯在紀念活動上說。他接着站在離肯尼迪遭槍擊地點幾英尺處宣讀了肯尼迪遇刺當天原定演講中最後的話，隨後，在肯尼迪遇刺時刻中午12:30，達拉斯教堂鐘聲響起，全體默哀。

短暫停留後，美國海軍學院學院合唱了《美麗的阿美利加》，歷史學家戴維•麥卡洛宣讀了肯尼迪演講摘錄。約有5000名賓客通過抽籤出席這場紀念活動。

美國各地22日開展了一系列紀念活動，有人在肯尼迪家鄉波士頓和阿靈頓國家公墓敬獻花圈，精心組織的儀式將紀念活動推向高潮。

在華盛頓，奧巴馬下令國會山和白宮降半旗紀念肯尼迪。聲名顯赫的最後一位在世“肯尼迪九姐妹”瓊•肯尼迪•史密斯在肯尼迪墓前敬獻了花圈。早前，美國總檢察長埃裏克•霍爾德也來到阿靈頓公墓緬懷肯尼迪。

達拉斯紀念活動有意着重致敬肯尼迪，沒有突出他被謀殺一事，希望達拉斯能擺脫“刺殺肯尼迪之城”的惡名。

羅林斯說，達拉斯接過了肯尼迪的衣鉢，“以一種悲劇的形式，他（肯尼迪總統）將永遠和我們的城市連在一起，但是，在悲劇之外，我們也得到了機會來學習在最黑暗和最不確定的情況下如何面對未來，以及哪怕在火焰即將熄滅時我們如何高擎火炬。”

此外，一座新的肯尼迪紀念碑也已揭幕，碑上的銘文是1963年11月22日肯尼迪生前原計劃演講的最後一段。

***多地自發紀念

有陰謀論團體通常每年都會聚集在廣場紀念肯尼迪遇刺，今年被拒之門外。《達拉斯晨報》報道說，該團體打算在肯尼迪紀念碑舉行紀念活動，等主要紀念活動結束後再轉移到迪利廣場。21日，就有示威者聚集在迪利廣場並高呼“別再撒謊”。

記載着肯尼迪遇刺事件的“六樓博物館”將在當地下午3點到8點開放。肯尼迪死前所在的帕克蘭醫院也舉行了簡短的早晨紀念儀式，並降半旗默哀。

當年39歲的達拉斯警察J.D.蒂皮特(J.D. Tippit)在肯尼迪總統遇刺後也被刺客槍殺。22日下午6點，整座城市爲他舉行燭光晚會。他的遺孀瑪麗•蒂皮特說：“我們必須記住那些爲我們的城市安全而犧牲的人。”

***奧巴馬稱讚肯尼迪

美國總統奧巴馬22日表示不會擔憂自己的人身安全。他說：“這不需要我來考慮，主要是因爲我們有特勤局，他們每天都在完成傑出的工作。”

肯尼迪遇刺後，美國特勤局吸取了多方面的教訓，加強了對美國總統的保護。

奧巴馬還談到了肯尼迪三年總統任期對美國產生的深遠影響。“我想，這是難以置信的遺產，他充滿了理想主義，並勇於以此重塑美國，這在美國曆史上空前絕後。我不知道是否還有人像肯尼迪那樣對一代人產生過同樣的影響，鼓舞瞭如此多人。”

奧巴馬說，肯尼迪讓一代人從傷痕累累的二戰中邁進嶄新的未來，這種影響是持久的。“我認爲是他的年輕、魅力、勇氣、二戰經歷、口才以及時代造就了這一切。他的確以某種方式打動了美國人，而且讓今天的人依然有共鳴。”