Interview Jane Freeman gave to the Strib on the 50th anniversary of JFK's death

[dflprincess]

For those not familiar with her, her husband was Orville Freeman who was the Secretary of Agriculture during the Kennedy administration. All the members of Kennedy's cabinet are dead and Ethel Kennedy is now the only surviving spouse.

(And, while Orville did serve 3 terms as governor at the time, the term was only 2 years. )


http://www.startribune.com/2013-minnesota-s-freeman-family-watched-historic-tragedy-unfold/232604241/

On Nov. 22, 1963, more than half of John F. Kennedy’s Cabinet was on board a Boeing 707 over the Pacific Ocean when a news bulletin reported that three shots had been fired at the president’s motorcade in Dallas. Among those on the plane, headed to Japan on a goodwill trip, was U.S. Agriculture Secretary Orville Freeman, who had served three terms as Minnesota governor, and his wife, Jane.

On board the Cabinet plane, the news, at first, was incomplete. When word came that Kennedy had been shot in the head, Jane said the group tried to stay optimistic. After all, Orville, who fought as a Marine in World War II, had recovered from a head wound. “My reaction was, ‘Oh, dear Lord,’ and the same as Orv’s was, really,” she said. “Orv had been shot in the head, and he is still here and alive. There’s hope, but it’s going to be terrible.”

After learning that JFK had died, the secretary of state made the decision to turn the plane around and head for Dallas. It landed in Honolulu for refueling, where Orville Freeman wrote in his diary: “Dead silence — tears — mostly stunned. Gloom … deep affection I hold — tragedy. As Jane said the sense of firm progress and direction of last 3 years mean so much … what a crime … My thought: What a diff. place the W.H. will be … What an incredible unbelievable tragedy.”

Lots more at the link

[NBachers]

1. Turned the plane around- what a metaphor for the direction the USA took.

*sigh* It seems like there's always an influence that stops us from fulfilling our nation's potential.