AS the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy approaches, a film show and talk will be presented in Letterkenny tonight.
The talk and film will outline his visit to Ireland in 1963 and his laying to rest at Arlington Cemetery later that year.
The idea for the local event stemmed from a conversation between Niall O’Donnell and the two organisers of the monthly Letterkenny Memories night, Johnny Joe McCollum and Paddy Delap.
“The Memories is a night of music and story telling and I mentioned to them that I knew a man who had a very interesting story to tell,” says Niall.
That story related to the visit of U.S. President, John F. Kennedy, to Ireland in June 1963 and his assassination and funeral only six months later.
During his Irish visit, President Kennedy laid a wreath at the graves of the 1916 leaders at Arbour Hill.
Recalls Letterkenny based, Col. Brian O’Reilly (retd.), who will deliver the presentation: “This was one of the major events and the Honour Guard was provided by the 36th Cadet Class at The Curragh, my senior class, who spent weeks getting ready for this and did a fabulous job.”
So impressed was the President with the salute to the dead – “that’s the finest Honour Guard I ever saw in my life”, Kennedy was reputed to have said – that he requested a film record be forwarded. But while the visit had been filmed – R.T.E. television was just two years into existence at the time– the segment involving the Guard of Honour by the Cadets had unfortunately not been recorded.
Consequently it was decided to perform a re-enactment of the salute but with the senior class of cadets having been commissioned, in the meantime, and posted to various corners of the country, the next option was to involve the 37th Cadet Class.
Enter then Army Cadet, Brian O’Reilly, and his classmates. “We spent about six weeks training, early in the morning, late at night. Then we went to Arbour Hill and they filmed us performing the funeral drill. It was then sent to the United States where President Kennedy was delighted to see it.”
But that was far from the end of the story as Col. O’Reilly will relate at next Wednesday night’s (22nd) presentation.
The talk and film showing will take place in the Station House Hotel (7.30pm) tonight.
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