All of these arrangements were in the service of burying Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of assassinating John F. Kennedy on November 22, , who was himself murdered on November 24, and would be laid to rest on November It would be a most unusual send-off. Perched at the window of the Texas School Book Depository, alleged communist Oswald reportedly took aim at a motorcade traveling through Dallas, fired three shots, and pierced the skull of Kennedy.
He was captured, jailed, then shot by nightclub owner Jack Ruby while in transit to another facility. At Parkland Memorial Hospital—the same site where Kennedy was rushed in an attempt to save his life—Oswald was pronounced dead minutes after being shot.
Never had a dead body been such a source of consternation and concern among the Secret Service, the FBI, and local officials.
Oswald had obviously been a target while he was still breathing; dead, the authorities were concerned that he might attract people looking to desecrate his corpse. Quietly, law enforcement phoned Groody, who operated a funeral home in Fort Worth. But there were some problems. Problem one was the issue of finding someone to lead the service. No one, not even clergy members, could seem to put aside their anger long enough to say even a few parting words about a man who sent the country into mourning.
Two Lutheran ministers agreed, then backed out when Groody told them the service would be held outdoors. Both feared sniper fire would disrupt the proceedings. Aside from law enforcement, no one other than Oswald's widow and mother had showed up for the funeral—there were no friends and no other family members to serve as pallbearers.
So Groody turned to the one thing he did have in plentiful supply: members of the press. Groody approached Preston McGraw, a local reporter with whom he had some previous dealings. McGraw agreed to help carry the casket. Eventually, at least seven reporters labored to move him.
Most simply came for a quick, strong dose of history. The pair had planned the trip for more than a year. Dallas officials on Friday will memorialize the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination with bagpipes and drums, speeches, hymns, prayers and a moment of silence at p.
Police later arrested Oswald, accusing him of firing the fatal shot from a sixth-story window of the nearby Texas School Book Depository. Two days later, Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald as police transferred him to another jail.
On Nov. No other mourners showed up. News reporters at the scene filled in as pallbearers. Friday's ceremony in Dallas is invitation-only, though hundreds are expected to line the nearby streets for the event at Dealey Plaza. Twenty-five miles west, the cemetery holding Oswald has been steadily drawing its own curious onlookers for the past several months. At the head of the marker, someone laid a wreath of plastic white-and-pink dendrobium orchids and bluebonnet flowers. Next to that: a single fresh red rose.
Most of those who showed up said they believed Oswald had shot Kennedy and didn't sympathize with him. Joe Hunt, 55, visiting from Virginia, said he was there to witness a slice of history.
Ward Dossche, 63, traveled from Mortsel, Belgium, with his daughter, Nele, 22, to see the grave. He said he remembered hearing about the assassination as a year-old boy while at home at night, how traffic stopped on the street outside and school was canceled the following Monday in observance of Kennedy's funeral.
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