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Greetings and Salutations to All my Kith and Kin and All the Ships in Outer Space:
As I type this message, it is the wee small hours of Friday 22 November 2013.
Where were you at, and what were you doing fifty (50) years ago on Friday 22 November 1963 when JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY, the thirty-fifth (35) President of the United States of America, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas?
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| JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY Thirty-Fifth President of the United States of America |
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Now, I'll tell you my own PERSONAL story.
Although I had been adopted and raised by a normal, good Christian family, as I grew into my teens, I became ever increasingly wild and ungovernable, repeatedly running away from home, getting into fist fights at school, insulting my teachers, shoplifting, and finally, being kicked out of school.
Daddy was a master sergeant in the United States Army, and when our family was living in military housing at William Beaumont General Hospital in El Paso, Texas, where I was a student at Bassett Junior High School and Stephen F. Austin High School, I remember being in constant fear of being attacked at school, or burglars breaking into our home, or the dreaded Russians attacking us with nuclear weapons.
As a result, the local juvenile court had me committed to the state mental hospital, first at Big Spring, Texas, and later at Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Being a teenage boy, the folks at the hospital (?) didn't know how to control me, so they ultimately confined me in the Lineberger Building, which was for patients deemed incurable, who would never be released, and then in the Spruill Building, which was the maximum security unit for the criminally insane.
If you've seen the Hollywood motion picture productions of "CHATTAHOOCHEE", "SLING BLADE", "ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST", and/or "SHUTTER ISLAND" - - - ,
Well, my own nightmarish ordeal was, by far, MUCH worse!
So, on that historic moment of Friday 22 November 1963, at the age of seventeen (17), I was locked inside the crowded, smoke filled dayroom on the second floor of the Spruill Building at Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina, watching the breaking news reports on the black and white television set.
Until I just now typed this message, I had never revealed this secret to anyone, being too embarrassed and ashamed.
Also, I remember how terrified I was, and what a hopeless feeling I had, in October of 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, for I was locked up in the Lineberger Building at Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina, knowing that if the United States of America were attacked with nuclear weapons, it would be impossible for me to escape from my confinement and seek any sort of shelter.
But, the years have passed, and believe it or not, I eventually was freed and, miraculously, have been able to suppress all of those horrible memories, as I struggled to grow, adapt, learn, and experience a somewhat normal life among normal people in a normal world.
The greatest positive influences in accomplishing this were my conversion to The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints (i.e., the "Mormon" church) and my honorable service in the United States Army.
For the best effect, please be sure to enjoy watching, in "FULL SCREEN" mode, this automated series of my homemade amateur video recordings of ME (!) performing original songs and poetry that I have composed, as I accompany myself by strumming simple chords on my Yamaha G-130A classical guitar.
I don't remember which year it was, but when I was a soldier in the United States Army stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, my wife and I toured the historic exhibits at Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas.
About the only thing I remember of that visit was hearing the music of, "MICHAEL (ROW THE BOAT ASHORE)", being played over the intercom.
I've also visited the Kennedy's graves in Arlington National Cemetery.
Thank you.
John Robert Mallernee
1800 Beach Drive,
Unit 311
Gulfport, Mississippi
39507
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