REFLECTIONS
Wow! It is like being connected to the presidency of John F. Kennedy.
I have been an active member of the Kennedy Political Items (KPIC) group since 1978. KPIC was first organized in 1975.
As a member, I get a Hyannisporter newsletter every quarter. It once was sent out monthly but later changed to every three months. My newsletter is received digitally.
With a war raging in the Ukraine, it is very interesting to compare some of the foreign relations activities, mainly surrounding the Soviet Union and Cuba.
It's because of KPIC that I have made two trips to the JFK Library in Boston. I visited the library in 1987 and in 1991. My son Troy and I also attended a KPIC convention in Chicago in 1976.
2 trips to JFK Library
The two trips to the library allowed me to visit JFK's birthplace and to meet one of President Kennedy's top aids, David Powers, who was then curator for the JFK Library.
Each newsletter is chock full of information on the three Kennedys: John, Robert and Edward.
Three days ago, I received the April 2022 newsletter. The lead story took us back in history to April 17, 1961 when the United States, under President Kennedy's order, led an ill-fated invasion of Cuba, called the Bay of Pigs.
Bay of Pigs
We read from Editor Harvey Goldberg's history lesson on the Bay of Pigs.
We read: "It started on April 17, 1961 when a small group of old N-26bombers flown by ex-Cuban airmen made a number of ineffective attacks along the coast of Cuba.
"It was the beginning of an uprising to overthrow the Fidel Castro and his pro-Communist regime. The entire operation was a miserable failure.
"Briefings he received as a candidate were nowhere as revealing as those John Kennedy received from the CIA as President-elect. There were problems all around the globe and the Russians were probably involved in or behind many of them.
"The worst of all occurred in the Zapara Swamp as the Cuban Bay of Pigs. A landing force of some 1400 anti-Castro Cuban exiles, organized, trained, armed, transported,
and directed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was completely crushed by Castro's troops.
"In less than half a week of the operation, America's strong military was useless, but America's involvement could not be denied. President Kennedy both publicly and privately claimed sole responsibility."
More Kennedy stuff
Other features in the April, 2022 issue included stories headlined "EMK in at the very start; White House Schedule 1962 and The Kennedy Compound.
In the early days of KPIC, auctions were held every issue. Our KPIC editor Harvey Goldberg ran the auctions almost single handedly.
I picked up some very nice JFK items and also used the KPIC newsletter as a vehicle to sell some of my items.
Our KPIC is an international organization. I have been able to read about how other nations perceived President Kennedy.
I also shared my story about knowing James R. Leavelle, the Dallas police detective manacled to JFK's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald when he was shot my Jack Ruby.
KPIC, which was started by Chris Hearn, Harvey Goldberg, Bonnie Garner and John Hennigan, is still my link to the history of an American president I admired.
Thanks KPIC for allowing me to come a few steps closer to President Kennedy's legacy.
