November 22, 1963 is usually a date that people remember where they were. John F. Kennedy 35th. President of the United States of America was murdered in Dallas, TX some 50 years ago today.
NAUTICAL LOG remembers being on passage from the Panama Canal to Australia as 2nd. Officer in the MV Pinebank of Andrew Weir's Bankline, Glasgow, Scotland. One of our Deck Apprentices was listening to the radio and picked up the news from an American station in Hawaii and immediately called me.
Quite frankly it was confusing and hard to understand what had happened though one had overheard a very vicious conversation against him in the Agents car in New Orleans, LA which made it rather clear that many in the "South" disliked him. Political opinion is always strong and outspoken in the States so it was not entirely a surprise but his being murdered was taking it to a different level.
At the time we were all quite shocked on board and even though we were a British ship it was rather quiet for a couple of days as we picked up more news.
NAUTICAL LOG did not for a moment think at that time just a few years later he would settle in America get married, become a citizen, raise children who would give us grandchildren, retire from seafaring, grow old and live in South Florida an area of our country that "Jack" knew well.
Good Watch.
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