TEARS OF A THOUSAND YEARS

^{Tears of a Thousand Years}

^{On the night John F. Kennedy Jr. died, the weather system, which was the
probable cause of Kennedy's fatal piloting error, developed into a severe storm
over Boston.
Bostonians who had been awaken by the awful thunder and lighting came to work
the next day full of talk tinged with respect and fear of the power of the
deluge. No one dared remark, while hope for Kennedy's rescue remained; the
storm seemed supernatural in origin, a dark and ancient portent. Now with the
grim knowledge we now have, it was as if the heavens themselves had wailed with
pain and let loose with uncontrolled sobbing. Boston and the nation were to know such pain
over the coming days as we came to realize we had to bury yet another Kennedy.
Tears enough for a thousand years were shed in the space of a few hours over Boston that night, but
for many Bostonians it seems the tears will never end, not even in a thousand
years.}

^{Others ask why. Permit me to explain.}

^{It has been reported the name John-John was disdained by John F. Kennedy
Jr. but we, the faceless public, all loved to call him that. Only his sister
and mother could have probably have used the nickname without suffering a look
of disapproval. This is quite understandable for a man intent on establishing
himself outside the realm of cute.}

^{It is just as understandable why the rest of us continued to use it. It
seemed so easy going and full of fun. A fitting name for someone who was the
closest thing to "Prince" the United States has ever had. We
couldn't have really accepted this status without the cute. And wasn't he
wicked cute. Any woman would agree readily today, but this is not the sort of
cute men thought of. They would think of a man always identified by toddler
photos. It was like someone having their baby pictures permanently hung around
their neck as some cruel and bizarre penitence. These images made us smile at him
with a friendliness we afford the disarmed, and in return, we were comforted by
evidence that life was unfair even to the high and mighty. We may have secretly
delighted in his discomfort but we would, in a required act of fairness, open
ourselves to his charm, a dangerous thing to do with a Kennedy. Even after
death Jack seemed to be disarming our bitterness and calling us to greatness
through his son, who comforted us more than we knew.}

^{For those of us who have known John-John since his birth, he seemed the
very embodiment of the Kennedy administration. The Kennedy Presidency seemed to
be born and grow with him from infancy to toddler. We watched with something
approaching wonder as new life seemed to barge in and takeover the public arena
pushing itself, in sometimes unwelcome ways, into our own lives. Most people
today do not know how different the world of 1960 was.}

^{As the youngest President ever elected he represented a new generation
coming to power. A heroic generation baptized in war and affirmed by victory.
Not only a new generation came to power, the force of Kennedy political skills
had forged a new and significant political coalition. It was an exciting time
when all was fresh and new. John-John became the unofficial symbol of this new
vigor because he was born in that special time every new President has between
election and inauguration when all things seem possible. As he grew so grew the
President into his office, fitfully and with difficulty, because growth is
never easy, but grow he did until he burst the bounds of history into a truly
New Frontier.}

^{He felt first the sting of defeat in Cuba and then sat on the lonely
edge of eternity was forced to look full face at the stark reality of modern Nuclear
War. All Presidents and historians since then have looked for guidance in the
tea leaves of the Cuban Missile crisis so we might more reasonably understand
what he had to face. We have come to realize as he did, nuclear weapons are
unusable as a weapon of war for the United States. The United States
has too much to lose from pursuing a war of mass destruction. He came to know
that the shear destructive force of the technology itself would almost
certainly, destroy us as well as our enemies. But our enemies were made to
realize this also and we came to understand and accept the balance of terror
these weapons represent. It was demonstrated conclusively the need to survive
could overcome human aggression. This gave an edge to reason. That the power of
these weapons has changed history in some fundamental way has been left for
future generations to contemplate, but at least Kennedy knew he had given them
the chance to do so.}

^{JFK was brought to the realization, by his brother, that Civil Rights
were a just cause. This was a watershed moment in American history and perhaps
world history as well. It was the death knell of Jim Crow South and led to
liberation not only blacks but also the spirit of the South itself. He sought
to wash the stain of racism from the American flag. The forces of change were
inspired by his willingness to risk all for the nobility of this cause. That he
had to pay the price for his courage surprised very few, but the ambitions he
had empowered could not be stopped. If the stain of racism still exists it has
faded considerably from those days of open hatred and fear when bigotry was
codified in law as well practice. One reason Kennedy is revered today is
because of his pivotal role in draining a swamp of bile from the Nation's
heartland and letting loose the talents of the oppressed. It was love in him we
saw when he was with John-John, and it was this evident love that consoled our
doubts about his leadership.}

^{Kennedy challenged our nation with his ambition and we rose splendidly to
meet his challenges. When he announced a plan to go to the moon we smiled with
cynicism but we did it. Don't we look back in nostalgia at a time when our
leaders had enough confidence in us to ask the impossible, instead of being
asked only to indulge the over indulged. The world knew we had greatness in us
because of our excited and fruitful responses to his challenges. He instilled
his ambition in our national consciousness and we gained confidence and
strength as result. If that strength was squandered in Vietnam, it was
not he who actually let it happen. Even if his rhetoric was used to support it,
a generation believes if he had lived, there would have been no Vietnam and all
the sorrows and miseries inflicted by that war would have been avoided.}

^{Then there was the assassination itself. Few historical events are more
widely known by the general public. Even today's youth have been saturated with
the dark waters of speculation, which continue to swirl around this event. For
those who are old enough to remember, no one can forget. Almost nothing moved
on the roads for the three days it took to bury the President. During those
cold November days it was if the oxygen had been sucked out of the nation's
air. The three great political assassinations of the sixties began in those
high contrast, black and white images. As a boy who had just turned fourteen 10
days before I watched in real time, as Jack Ruby fired shots into Oswald. Many
of my generation felt at that moment we were being denied the truth. The truth
was killed on live TV, before our young eyes. Who can deny it? This was our
rite of passage into the political system. It only became worse. For many of my
generation this was the beginning of a culture of distrust, bitterness, and
alienation that still affects us today. The three great political
assassinations of the sixties took away the leadership of a generation and led
to the schism in American society, which exists in the present day as a youth
culture. This culture can trace its beginnings to this black hole of history.
It is a brave but formless rebellion woven into the fabric of our culture.
Trust, a component of happiness, the product of truth, was shattered. When
John-John stepped forward to salute his father's casket, we all knew in dark
recesses of our souls, he was a symbol of innocence forever lost.}

^{The tragic death of John Jr., his lovely wife and her sister, reminded us
of shock his father's death had produced some thirty-six years before. In a
country which is always looking forward, this incident bracketed thirty-six
years of the past. This included our own individual past as well as the history
of the nation. For those of us who have followed the Kennedy banner it could
only make us feel that life would have been better if not for the assassination.
We were once again shocked and saddened so much light could be put out so
quickly. It is obvious the country really hasn't buried the New Frontier or the
spirit John Jr. and all the Kennedy's seem to symbolize. We are sorry about
John-John but we weep for something deeper, a spirit John-John seemed to carry
in his very being given to him personally for safe keeping by an adoring
father.}

^{For a nation, which has seemed to become saturated with cynicism, from
Jerry Springer to Monica Lewinsky, the sentimentalism expressed is surprising,
fundamental, and hopeful. It seems as if we held a widow's watch lo these many
years unbeknownst to ourselves. John JR's death connects us to a time in
history when we were called upon to become worthy of being a great nation. We
have become that great nation yet we now face the millennium with feelings of
uncertainty about our destiny in it. We suddenly find ourselves lost and
grief-stricken in an awful national flash back, stretching over thirty-six
years of this nation's history. On the verge of the millennium perhaps it is
well we are reminded we should grieve. But grieve not only for our loss of
today, but also for all the dead of this great and terrible century and
millennium. There have been injustices and murder most terrible these last
thousand years. Whether or not this will continue or diminish in the next
thousand years is a responsibility we must continue to try and face.}

^{We should mourn the loss of innocence John Jr. symbolized. It is mourning
worthy the son of a great chieftain. That he could prosper and thrive with his
burdens, gave us all confidence in our ultimate ability to carry our own
burdens. As difficult and unfair as his fate may have been, he carried on as
gracefully as any prince we ever knew. Isn't this the ultimate duty of
aristocracy, to soldier on and return grace from the grace bestowed on them by
the people themselves, a reservoir of civility for use in times of social
crisis? To appreciate and return the strength of each other is to survive as a
civil society. This symbol of national strength was torn from our consciousness
and we feel the loss.}

^{In honor of the depth of feeling this dark event has produced, let us put
aside the meanness, forgo our petty hatreds, and kneel with humility before all
that has gone before. Let us cover our faces and cry out against injustice.
Weep and mourn until we can bear it no longer. Then cry again. Cleanse our
souls with sorrow and purge our hearts with the tears of a thousand years. Then
maybe we can hope the coming millennium will not hold so many tears as the
last. Let us feel the pain of Abraham that we might understand the mercy of God
and appreciate the great gifts he has given us as a nation. It will gain us
favor if we discover the transcendence of this tragedy. The Kennedy's will be
honored by what the deaths of their sons have provoked. They never sought
veneration but we should venerate the feelings of connection we have with them.}

^{As the last hope of Camelot fades from memory let us remember the legend
of Camelot endured over a thousand years before it was resurrected by Jackie.
It will endure another thousand years because as the death of John reminded us,
there is no assassin who can ever kill, dreams of justice held deeply within
the human heart.}

TED GROSECLOSE

^{August
21, 1999}

tedg@thecia.net

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