American University Speech (6/10/63)

[Dawn Meredith]

Today is JFK's birthday- what better way to acknowledge this date than by a (re) reading of this wonderful speech. (Try to imagine W giving this address) (Not in our lifetime!)

Dawn

It is with great pride that I participate in this ceremony of the American University, sponsored by the Methodist Church, founded by Bishop John Fletcher Hurst, and first opened by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914. This is a young and growing university, but it has already fulfilled Bishop Hurst's enlightened hope for the study of history and public affairs in a city devoted to the making of history and to the conduct of the public's business. By sponsoring this institution of higher learning for all who wish to learn, whatever their color or their creed, the Methodists of this area and the nation deserve the nation's thanks, and I commend all those who are today graduating.

Professor Woodrow Wilson once said that every man sent out from a university should be a man of his nation as well as a man of his time, and I am confident that the men and women who carry the honor of graduating from this institution will continue to give from their lives, from their talents, a high measure of public service and public support.

"There are few earthly things more beautiful than a university," wrote John Masefield, in his tribute to English universities -- and his words are equally true today. He did not refer to spires and towers, to campus greens and ivied walls. He admired the splendid beauty of the university, he said, because it was "a place where those who hate ignorance may strive to know, where those who perceive truth may strive to make others see."

I have, therefore, chosen this time and this place to discuss a topic on which ignorance too often abounds and the truth is too rarely perceived -- yet it is the most important topic on earth: world peace.

What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children -- not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women -- not merely peace in our time but peace for all time. I speak of peace because of the new face of war. Total war makes no sense in an age when great powers can maintain large and relatively invulnerable nuclear forces and refuse to surrender without resort to those forces. It makes no sense in an age when a single nuclear weapon contains almost ten times the explosive force delivered by 11 of the Allied air forces in the Second World War. It makes no sense in an age when the deadly poisons produced by a nuclear exchange would be carried by wind and water and soil and seed to the far corners of the globe and to generations yet unborn.

Today the expenditure of billions of dollars every year on weapons acquired for the purpose of making sure we never need to use the is essential to keeping the peace. But surely the acquisition of such idle stockpiles -- which can only destroy and never create -- is not the only, much less the most efficient, means of assuring peace.

I speak of peace, therefore, as the necessary rational end of rational men. I realize that the pursuit of peace is not as dramatic as the pursuit of war -- and frequently the words of the pursuer fall on deaf ears. But we have no more urgent task.

Some say that it is useless to speak of world peace or world law or world disarmament -- and that it will be useless until the leaders of the Soviet Union adopt a more enlightened attitude. I hope they do. I believe we can help them do it. But I also believe that we must reexamine our own attitude -- as individuals and as a nation -- for our attitude is as essential as theirs. And every graduate of this school, every thoughtful citizen who despairs of war and wishes to bring peace, should begin by looking inward -- by examining his own attitude toward the possibilities of peace, toward the Soviet Union, toward the course of the cold war and toward freedom and peace here at home.

First: Let us examine our attitude toward peace itself. Too many of us think it is impossible. Too many think it unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable -- that mankind is doomed -- that we are gripped by forces we cannot control.

We need not accept that view. Our problems are manmade -- therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man's reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable -- and we believe they can do it again.

I am not referring to the absolute, infinite concept of universal peace and good will of which some fantasies and fanatics dream. I do not deny the value of hopes and dreams, but we merely invite discouragement and incredulity by making that our only and immediate goal.

Let us focus instead on a more practical, more attainable peace -- based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions -- on a series of concrete actions and effective agreements which are in the interest of all concerned. There is no single, simple key to this peace -- no grand or magic formula to be adopted by one or two powers. Genuine peace must be the product of many nations, the sum of many acts. It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation. For peace is a process -- a way of solving problems.

With such a peace, there will still be quarrels and conflicting interests, as there are within families and nations. World peace, like community peace, does not require that each man love his neighbor -- it requires only that they live together in mutual tolerance, submitting their disputes to a just and peaceful settlement. And history teaches us that enmities between nations, as between individuals, do not last forever. However fixed our likes and dislikes may seem, the tide of time and events will often bring surprising changes in the relations between nations and neighbors.

So let us persevere. Peace need not be impracticable, and war need not be inevitable. By defining our goal more clearly, by making it seem more manageable and less remote, we can help all peoples to see it, to draw hope from it and to move irresistibly toward it.

Second: Let us reexamine our attitude toward the Soviet Union. It is discouraging to think that their leaders may actually believe what their propagandists write. It is discouraging to read a recent authoritative Soviet text on Military Strategy and find, on page after page, wholly baseless and incredible claims -- such as the allegation that "American imperialist circles are preparing to unleash different types of wars . . . that there is a very real threat of a preventive war being unleashed by American imperialists against the Soviet Union . . . [and that] the political aims of the American imperialists are to enslave economically and politically the European and other capitalist countries . . . [and] to achieve world domination . . . by means of aggressive wars."

Truly, as it was written long ago: "The wicked flee when no man pursueth." Yet it is sad to read these Soviet statements -- to realize the extent of the gulf between us. But it is also a warning -- a warning to the American people not to fall into the same trap as the Soviets, not to see only a distorted and desperate view of the other side, not to see conflict as inevitable, accommodation as impossible and communication as nothing more than an exchange of threats.

No government or social system is so evil that its people must be considered as lacking in virtue. As Americans, we find communism profoundly repugnant as a negation of personal freedom and dignity. But we can still hail the Russian people for their many achievements -- in science and space, in economic and industrial growth, in culture and in acts of courage.

Among the many traits the peoples of our two countries have in common, none is stronger than our mutual abhorrence of war. Almost unique, among the major world powers, we have never been at war with each other. And no nation in the history of battle ever suffered more than the Soviet Union suffered in the course of the Second World War. At least twenty million lost their lives. Countless millions of homes and farms were burned or sacked. A third of the nation's territory, including nearly two-thirds of its industrial base, was turned into a wasteland -- a loss equivalent to the devastation of this country east of Chicago.

Today, should total war ever break out again -- no matter how -- our two countries would become the primary targets. It is an ironic but accurate fact that the two strongest powers are the two in the most danger of devastation. All we have built, all we have worked for, would be destroyed in the first twenty-four hours. And even in the cold war, which brings burdens and dangers to so many countries, including this nation's closest allies -- our two countries bear the heaviest burdens. For we are both devoting to weapons massive sums of money that could be better devoted to combating ignorance, poverty and disease. We are both caught up in a vicious and dangerous cycle in which suspicion on one side breeds suspicion on the other, and new weapons beget counterweapons.

In short, both the United States and its allies, and the Soviet Union and its allies, have a mutually deep interest in a just and genuine peace and in halting the arms race. Agreements to this end are in the interests of the Soviet Union as well as ours -- and even the most hostile nations can be relied upon to accept and keep those treaty obligations, and only those treaty obligations, which are in their own interest.

So, let us not be blind to our differences -- but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.

Third: Let us reexamine our attitude toward the cold war, remembering that we are not engaged in a debate, seeking to pile up debating points. We are not here distributing blame or pointing the finger of judgment. We must deal with the world as it is, and not as it might have been had the history of the last eighteen years been different.

We must, therefore, persevere in the search for peace in the hope that constructive changes within the Communist bloc might bring within reach solutions which now seem beyond us. We must conduct our affairs in such a way that it becomes in the Communists' interest to agree on a genuine peace. Above all, while defending our own vital interests, nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war. To adopt that kind of course in the nuclear age would be evidence only of the bankruptcy of our policy -- or of a collective death-wish for the world.

To secure these ends, America's weapons are nonprovocative, carefully controlled, designed to deter and capable of selective use. Our military forces are committed to peace and disciplined in self-restraint. Our diplomats are instructed to avoid unnecessary irritants and purely rhetorical hostility.

For we can seek a relaxation of tensions without relaxing our guard. And, for our part, we do not need to use threats to prove that we are resolute. We do not need to jam foreign broadcasts out of fear our faith will be eroded. We are unwilling to impose our system on any unwilling people -- but we are willing and able to engage in peaceful competition with any people on earth.

Meanwhile, we seek to strengthen the United Nations, to help solve its financial problems, to make it a more effective instrument for peace, to develop it into a genuine world security system -- a system capable of resolving disputes on the basis of law, of insuring the security of the large and the small and of creating conditions under which arms can finally be abolished.

At the same time, we seek to keep peace inside the non-Communist world, where many nations, all of them our friends, are divided over issues which weaken Western unity, which invite Communist intervention or which threaten to erupt into war. Our efforts in West New Guinea, in the Congo, in the Middle East and in the Indian subcontinent, have been persistent and patient despite criticism from both sides. We have also tried to set an example for others -- by seeking to adjust small but significant differences with our own closest neighbors in Mexico and in Canada.

Speaking of other nations, I wish to make one point clear. We are bound to many nations by alliances. Those alliances exist because our concern and theirs substantially overlap. Our commitment to defend Western Europe and West Berlin, for example, stands undiminished because of the identity of our vital interests. The United States will make no deal with the Soviet Union at the expense of other nations and other peoples, not merely because they are our partners, but also because their interests and ours converge.

Our interests converge, however, not only in defending the frontiers of freedom, but in pursuing the paths of peace. It is our hope -- and the purpose of allied policies -- to convince the Soviet Union that she, too, should let each nation choose its own future, so long as that choice does not interfere with the choices of others. The Communist drive to impose their political and economic system on others is the primary cause of world tension today. For there can be no doubt that, if all nations could refrain from interfering in the self-determination of others, the peace would be much more assured.

This will require a new effort to achieve world law -- a new context for world discussions. It will require increased understanding between the Soviets and ourselves. And increased understanding will require increased contact and communication. One step in this direction is the proposed arrangement for a direct line between Moscow and Washington, to avoid on each side the dangerous delays, misunderstandings and misreadings of the other's actions which might occur at a time of crisis.

We have also been talking in Geneva about other first-step measures of arms control, designed to limit the intensity of the arms race and to reduce the risks of accidental war. Our primary long-range interest in Geneva, however, is general and complete disarmament -- designed to take place by stages, permitting parallel political developments to build the new institutions of peace which would take the place of arms. The pursuit of disarmament has been an effort of this government since the 1920's. It has been urgently sought by the past three Administrations. And however dim the prospects may be today, we intend to continue this effort -- to continue it in order that all countries, including our own, can better grasp what the problems and possibilities of disarmament are.

The one major area of these negotiations where the end is in sight, yet where a fresh start is badly needed, is in a treaty to outlaw nuclear tests. The conclusion of such a treaty, so near and yet so far, would check the spiraling arms race in one of its most dangerous areas. It would place the nuclear powers in a position to deal more effectively with one of the greatest hazards which man faces in 1963, the further spread of nuclear arms. It would increase our security -- it would decrease the prospects of war. Surely this goal is sufficiently important to require our steady pursuit, yielding neither to the temptation to give up the whole effort nor the temptation to give up our insistence on vital and responsible safeguards.

I am taking this opportunity, therefore, to announce two important decisions in this regard.

First: Chairman Khrushchev, Prime Minister Macmillan and I have agreed that high-level discussions will shortly begin in Moscow, looking toward early agreement on a comprehensive test ban treaty. Our hopes must be tempered with the caution of history -- but with our hopes go the hopes of all mankind.

Second: To make clear our good faith and solemn convictions on the matter, I now declare that the United States does not propose to conduct nuclear tests in the atmosphere so long as other states do not do so. We will not be the first to resume. Such a declaration is no substitute for a formal binding treaty, but I hope it will help us achieve one. Nor would such a treaty be a substitute for disarmament, but I hope it will help us achieve it.

Finally, my fellow Americans, let us examine our attitude toward peace and freedom here at home. The quality and spirit of our own society must justify and support our efforts abroad. We must show it in the dedication of our own lives -- as many of you who are graduating today will have a unique opportunity to do, by serving without pay in the Peace Corps abroad or in the proposed National Service Corps here at home.

But wherever we are, we must all, in our daily lives, live up to the age-old faith that peace and freedom walk together. In too many of our cities today, the peace is not secure because freedom is incomplete.

It is the responsibility of the executive branch at all levels of government -- local, state and national -- to provide and protect that freedom for all of our citizens by all means within their authority. It is the responsibility of the legislative branch at all levels, wherever that authority is not now adequate, to make it adequate. And it is the responsibility of all citizens in all sections of this country to respect the rights of all others and to respect the law of the land.

All this is not unrelated to world peace. "When a man's ways please the Lord," the Scriptures tell us, "he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." And is not peace, in the last analysis, basically a matter of human rights -- the right to live out our lives without fear of devastation -- the right to breathe air as nature provided it -- the right of future generations to a healthy existence?

While we proceed to safeguard our national interests, let us also safeguard human interests. And the elimination of war and arms is clearly in the interest of both. No treaty, however much it may be to the advantage of all, however tightly it may be worded, can provide absolute security against the risks of deception and evasion. But it can -- if it is sufficiently effective in its enforcement and if it is sufficiently in the interests of its signers -- offer far more security and far fewer risks than an unabated, uncontrolled, unpredictable arms race.

The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war. We do not want a war. We do not now expect a war. This generation of Americans has already had enough -- more than enough -- of war and hate and oppression. We shall be prepared if others wish it. We shall be alert to try to stop it. But we shall also do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before that task or hopeless of its success. Confident and unafraid, we labor on -- not toward a strategy of annihilation but toward a strategy of peace.

NOTE: The President spoke at the John M. Reeves Athletic Field on the campus of American University after being awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Law. In his opening words he referred to Hurst R. Anderson, president of the university and Robert C. Byrd, U.S. Senator from West Virginia.

[Myra Bronstein]

"Man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man's reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable -- and we believe they can do it again."

[John Dolva]

"Finally, my fellow Americans,... wherever we are, we must all, in our daily lives, live up to the age-old faith that peace and freedom walk together.

In too many of our cities today, the peace is not secure because freedom is incomplete.

It is the responsibility of the executive branch at all levels of government -- local, state and national -- to provide and protect that freedom for all of our citizens by all means within their authority. It is the responsibility of the legislative branch at all levels, wherever that authority is not now adequate, to make it adequate. And it is the responsibility of all citizens in all sections of this country to respect the rights of all others and to respect the law of the land.

All this is not unrelated to world peace. "When a man's ways please the Lord," the Scriptures tell us, "he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him."

And is not peace, in the last analysis, basically a matter of human rights -- the right to live out our lives without fear of devastation -- the right to breathe air as nature provided it -- the right of future generations to a healthy existence?

While we proceed to safeguard our national interests, let us also safeguard human interests. And the elimination of war and arms is clearly in the interest of both. No treaty, however much it may be to the advantage of all, however tightly it may be worded, can provide absolute security against the risks of deception and evasion.

But it can -- if it is sufficiently effective in its enforcement and if it is sufficiently in the interests of its signers -- offer far more security and far fewer risks than an unabated, uncontrolled, unpredictable arms race.

The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war..."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"It is the responsibility of the executive branch at all levels of government -- local, state and national -- to provide and protect that freedom for all of our citizens by all means within their authority. It is the responsibility of the legislative branch at all levels, wherever that authority is not now adequate, to make it adequate. And it is the responsibility of all citizens in all sections of this country to respect the rights of all others and to respect the law of the land."

All this is related to world peace. A good summary of the intent of the speech. This is the man that some choose to override the law of the land and the voice of the electorate by killing him. The contrast is stunning.

"...it can -- if it is sufficiently effective in its enforcement and if it is sufficiently in the interests of its signers..." Kennedy dead meant the end of the enforcement and the interest.

Respect and responsibility of the authorities for individual Civil Rights and the enforcement of it as law and the respect of that law for and by all is inextricably tied to World peace.

_________________________________

(image)

washington post '63 + best wishes

Edited May 29, 2007 by John Dolva

[William Kelly]

Thanks for starting this thread Dawn,

JFK would be 90 years old today, the same age as my mother, born in 1917.

Because November 22nd is noted for JFK's murder, seven or eight years ago COPA members began a tradition of meeting at the JFK Monument at American University at 12 noon on June 10th, holding a memorial service to commemorate President Kennedy's policies and achievements.

Sometimes there are a few dozen people, sometimes just a few, but we always take turns talking about JFK's presidency and why it is still significant today and read excerpts from his speeches, particularly the one read there. One Londoner flys in from England every year for the event, but most of those who participate live in the area or make it a day trip.

When Gorbachev visited Dealey Plaza he stoped at the TSBD museum and signed the guest register with a note that called attention to the June 10th speech and how significant it was received in the Soviet Union and how it may have led to his death.

Here's John Judge's recent letter to COPA members.

This year we will be having a luncheon afterwards to discuss the latest developments in the assassination, review idea for instigating Congressional Oversight Hearings on the JFK Act, update the JFK Grand Jury propsals and make plans for the Dallas COPA conference in November.

I hope some of you will join us.

Bill Kelly

bkjfk3@yahoo.com

Friends,

On June 10, 1963, just a few months before his assassination in Dallas,

President John F. Kennedy gave what his aide Arthur Schleisinger, Jr.

called the most important speech of his term in office. He addressed

the Cold War, the nuclear arms race and the chance for world peace through

detente and disarmament and a ban on testing nuclear weapons. The text

is attached with commentary. This was consistent with his decision in

April, 1963 to withdraw all US troops from Vietnam and his decision to

explore normalizing relations with Cuba following the Cuban Missile

Crisis that brought the world so close to nuclear war. All of these

were reasons, in my view, for the assassination and coup d`etat that

followed on November 22, and reversed those plans completely.

The Coalition on Political Assassinations (COPA) holds an annual commemorative event at the plaque that marks the location of the speech, and you are welcome

to attend. We will gather for a meal and discussion of our November

regional meeting afterwards. Please respond if you are planning to come

- John Judge

"And We Are All Mortal..."

Commemoration to JFK's Call for World Peace

Sunday, June 10, 12:00 - 1:00 pm

Commemorative Plaque

Reeves Athletic Field (west end) (entrance off New Mexico from Nebraska)

American University

4200 Nebraska Ave, NW (at Massachusetts Ave.-Ward Circle)

Washington, DC

Here are general directions to the campus:

http://www.american.edu/maps/

Here is a map of the campus:

http://www.american.edu/maps/maincampus.html

Note the athletic field at the top left. The plaque sits at the west or

left end of the field, beyond the Broadcast Center and Beeghley Hall on

the access road.

For Ted Sorenson's speech at AU in 2003 commemorating the event, see:

http://www.american.edu/media/speeches/Sorensen.htm

Our annual regional conference in Dallas is scheduled from November

22-25th at the Hotel Lawrence. More details will follow. I am

negotiating with a number of authors and scientists who have made new

contributions to the research.

--

John Judge

Coalition on Political Assassinations (COPA)

PO Box 772

Washington, DC 20044

Annual conferences in Dallas on Nov 22 weekends

Speakers, films, books, resources, email for details

2008 - Memphis, LA and Dallas conferences

National organization of medical and ballistic experts, academics and

authors, researchers and interested individuals investigating major

political assassinations in America and abroad.

We are not allergic to donations, donations NOT tax deductible

Edited May 29, 2007 by William Kelly

[Peter McGuire]

Thanks for starting this thread Dawn,

JFK would be 90 years old today, the same age as my mother, born in 1917.

Because November 22nd is noted for JFK's murder, seven or eight years ago COPA members began a tradition of meeting at the JFK Monument at American University at 12 noon on June 10th, holding a memorial service to commemorate President Kennedy's policies and achievements.

Sometimes there are a few dozen people, sometimes just a few, but we always take turns talking about JFK's presidency and why it is still significant today and read excerpts from his speeches, particularly the one read there. One Londoner flys in from England every year for the event, but most of those who participate live in the area or make it a day trip.

When Gorbachev visited Dealey Plaza he stoped at the TSBD museum and signed the guest register with a note that called attention to the June 10th speech and how significant it was received in the Soviet Union and how it may have led to his death.

Here's John Judge's recent letter to COPA members.

This year we will be having a luncheon afterwards to discuss the latest developments in the assassination, review idea for instigating Congressional Oversight Hearings on the JFK Act, update the JFK Grand Jury propsals and make plans for the Dallas COPA conference in November.

I hope some of you will join us.

Bill Kelly

bkjfk3@yahoo.com

Friends,

On June 10, 1963, just a few months before his assassination in Dallas,

President John F. Kennedy gave what his aide Arthur Schleisinger, Jr.

called the most important speech of his term in office. He addressed

the Cold War, the nuclear arms race and the chance for world peace through

detente and disarmament and a ban on testing nuclear weapons. The text

is attached with commentary. This was consistent with his decision in

April, 1963 to withdraw all US troops from Vietnam and his decision to

explore normalizing relations with Cuba following the Cuban Missile

Crisis that brought the world so close to nuclear war. All of these

were reasons, in my view, for the assassination and coup d`etat that

followed on November 22, and reversed those plans completely.

The Coalition on Political Assassinations (COPA) holds an annual commemorative event at the plaque that marks the location of the speech, and you are welcome

to attend. We will gather for a meal and discussion of our November

regional meeting afterwards. Please respond if you are planning to come

- John Judge

"And We Are All Mortal..."

Commemoration to JFK's Call for World Peace

Sunday, June 10, 12:00 - 1:00 pm

Commemorative Plaque

Reeves Athletic Field (west end) (entrance off New Mexico from Nebraska)

American University

4200 Nebraska Ave, NW (at Massachusetts Ave.-Ward Circle)

Washington, DC

Here are general directions to the campus:

http://www.american.edu/maps/

Here is a map of the campus:

http://www.american.edu/maps/maincampus.html

Note the athletic field at the top left. The plaque sits at the west or

left end of the field, beyond the Broadcast Center and Beeghley Hall on

the access road.

For Ted Sorenson's speech at AU in 2003 commemorating the event, see:

http://www.american.edu/media/speeches/Sorensen.htm

Our annual regional conference in Dallas is scheduled from November

22-25th at the Hotel Lawrence. More details will follow. I am

negotiating with a number of authors and scientists who have made new

contributions to the research.

--

John Judge

Coalition on Political Assassinations (COPA)

PO Box 772

Washington, DC 20044

Annual conferences in Dallas on Nov 22 weekends

Speakers, films, books, resources, email for details

2008 - Memphis, LA and Dallas conferences

National organization of medical and ballistic experts, academics and

authors, researchers and interested individuals investigating major

political assassinations in America and abroad.

We are not allergic to donations, donations NOT tax deductible

I know the speech so well now, but it has been several months, thanks for the reminder.

Here is an audio link:

http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset+Tree/Asset...&type=Audio

[Myra Bronstein]

http://www.captain-net.com/sequoia-jfkpresents.html

[Charles Drago]

I would be remiss if I did not take advantage of this most important thread to recommend unreservedly George Michael Evica's first book, lovingly titled And We Are All Mortal, pubished by the University of Hartford.

Many of us think of that seminal research volume as a sort of progenitor for subsequent deep political analyses -- including those of the estimable Peter Dale Scott.

(Of course Professor Scott was well on his way toward defining "deep politics" by the time George Michael's work appeared. I mean to suggest that AWAAM was the first such book-length analysis devoted to the Kennedy assassination.)

Charles

[Terry Mauro]

Thanks for starting this thread Dawn,

JFK would be 90 years old today, the same age as my mother, born in 1917.

Because November 22nd is noted for JFK's murder, seven or eight years ago COPA members began a tradition of meeting at the JFK Monument at American University at 12 noon on June 10th, holding a memorial service to commemorate President Kennedy's policies and achievements.

Sometimes there are a few dozen people, sometimes just a few, but we always take turns talking about JFK's presidency and why it is still significant today and read excerpts from his speeches, particularly the one read there. One Londoner flys in from England every year for the event, but most of those who participate live in the area or make it a day trip.

When Gorbachev visited Dealey Plaza he stoped at the TSBD museum and signed the guest register with a note that called attention to the June 10th speech and how significant it was received in the Soviet Union and how it may have led to his death.

Here's John Judge's recent letter to COPA members.

This year we will be having a luncheon afterwards to discuss the latest developments in the assassination, review idea for instigating Congressional Oversight Hearings on the JFK Act, update the JFK Grand Jury propsals and make plans for the Dallas COPA conference in November.

I hope some of you will join us.

Bill Kelly

bkjfk3@yahoo.com

Friends,

On June 10, 1963, just a few months before his assassination in Dallas,

President John F. Kennedy gave what his aide Arthur Schleisinger, Jr.

called the most important speech of his term in office. He addressed

the Cold War, the nuclear arms race and the chance for world peace through

detente and disarmament and a ban on testing nuclear weapons. The text

is attached with commentary. This was consistent with his decision in

April, 1963 to withdraw all US troops from Vietnam and his decision to

explore normalizing relations with Cuba following the Cuban Missile

Crisis that brought the world so close to nuclear war. All of these

were reasons, in my view, for the assassination and coup d`etat that

followed on November 22, and reversed those plans completely.

The Coalition on Political Assassinations (COPA) holds an annual commemorative event at the plaque that marks the location of the speech, and you are welcome

to attend. We will gather for a meal and discussion of our November

regional meeting afterwards. Please respond if you are planning to come

- John Judge

"And We Are All Mortal..."

Commemoration to JFK's Call for World Peace

Sunday, June 10, 12:00 - 1:00 pm

Commemorative Plaque

Reeves Athletic Field (west end) (entrance off New Mexico from Nebraska)

American University

4200 Nebraska Ave, NW (at Massachusetts Ave.-Ward Circle)

Washington, DC

Here are general directions to the campus:

http://www.american.edu/maps/

Here is a map of the campus:

http://www.american.edu/maps/maincampus.html

Note the athletic field at the top left. The plaque sits at the west or

left end of the field, beyond the Broadcast Center and Beeghley Hall on

the access road.

For Ted Sorenson's speech at AU in 2003 commemorating the event, see:

http://www.american.edu/media/speeches/Sorensen.htm

Our annual regional conference in Dallas is scheduled from November

22-25th at the Hotel Lawrence. More details will follow. I am

negotiating with a number of authors and scientists who have made new

contributions to the research.

--

John Judge

Coalition on Political Assassinations (COPA)

PO Box 772

Washington, DC 20044

Annual conferences in Dallas on Nov 22 weekends

Speakers, films, books, resources, email for details

2008 - Memphis, LA and Dallas conferences

National organization of medical and ballistic experts, academics and

authors, researchers and interested individuals investigating major

political assassinations in America and abroad.

We are not allergic to donations, donations NOT tax deductible

****************************************************************

Thanks for posting this, Bill. I know my "dues" are long overdue. Does John take VISA? If he does,

could you ask him to e-mail me a form to enter my info if you get the chance, please? I know, as a member of COPA that he has my e-mail address on file, but if John has a form for VISA payment that he could personally e-mail me to fill out, I might be able to facilitate a quicker transfer of funds for my dues. I don't have PayPal, that's why I'm asking.

Thanks, Billy.

Ter

tmauro@pacbell.net

[William Kelly]

Thanks for starting this thread Dawn,

JFK would be 90 years old today, the same age as my mother, born in 1917.

Because November 22nd is noted for JFK's murder, seven or eight years ago COPA members began a tradition of meeting at the JFK Monument at American University at 12 noon on June 10th, holding a memorial service to commemorate President Kennedy's policies and achievements.

Sometimes there are a few dozen people, sometimes just a few, but we always take turns talking about JFK's presidency and why it is still significant today and read excerpts from his speeches, particularly the one read there. One Londoner flys in from England every year for the event, but most of those who participate live in the area or make it a day trip.

When Gorbachev visited Dealey Plaza he stoped at the TSBD museum and signed the guest register with a note that called attention to the June 10th speech and how significant it was received in the Soviet Union and how it may have led to his death.

Here's John Judge's recent letter to COPA members.

This year we will be having a luncheon afterwards to discuss the latest developments in the assassination, review idea for instigating Congressional Oversight Hearings on the JFK Act, update the JFK Grand Jury propsals and make plans for the Dallas COPA conference in November.

I hope some of you will join us.

Bill Kelly

bkjfk3@yahoo.com

Friends,

On June 10, 1963, just a few months before his assassination in Dallas,

President John F. Kennedy gave what his aide Arthur Schleisinger, Jr.

called the most important speech of his term in office. He addressed

the Cold War, the nuclear arms race and the chance for world peace through

detente and disarmament and a ban on testing nuclear weapons. The text

is attached with commentary. This was consistent with his decision in

April, 1963 to withdraw all US troops from Vietnam and his decision to

explore normalizing relations with Cuba following the Cuban Missile

Crisis that brought the world so close to nuclear war. All of these

were reasons, in my view, for the assassination and coup d`etat that

followed on November 22, and reversed those plans completely.

The Coalition on Political Assassinations (COPA) holds an annual commemorative event at the plaque that marks the location of the speech, and you are welcome

to attend. We will gather for a meal and discussion of our November

regional meeting afterwards. Please respond if you are planning to come

- John Judge

"And We Are All Mortal..."

Commemoration to JFK's Call for World Peace

Sunday, June 10, 12:00 - 1:00 pm

Commemorative Plaque

Reeves Athletic Field (west end) (entrance off New Mexico from Nebraska)

American University

4200 Nebraska Ave, NW (at Massachusetts Ave.-Ward Circle)

Washington, DC

Here are general directions to the campus:

http://www.american.edu/maps/

Here is a map of the campus:

http://www.american.edu/maps/maincampus.html

Note the athletic field at the top left. The plaque sits at the west or

left end of the field, beyond the Broadcast Center and Beeghley Hall on

the access road.

For Ted Sorenson's speech at AU in 2003 commemorating the event, see:

http://www.american.edu/media/speeches/Sorensen.htm

Our annual regional conference in Dallas is scheduled from November

22-25th at the Hotel Lawrence. More details will follow. I am

negotiating with a number of authors and scientists who have made new

contributions to the research.

--

John Judge

Coalition on Political Assassinations (COPA)

PO Box 772

Washington, DC 20044

Annual conferences in Dallas on Nov 22 weekends

Speakers, films, books, resources, email for details

2008 - Memphis, LA and Dallas conferences

National organization of medical and ballistic experts, academics and

authors, researchers and interested individuals investigating major

political assassinations in America and abroad.

We are not allergic to donations, donations NOT tax deductible

****************************************************************

Thanks for posting this, Bill. I know my "dues" are long overdue. Does John take VISA? If he does,

could you ask him to e-mail me a form to enter my info if you get the chance, please? I know, as a member of COPA that he has my e-mail address on file, but if John has a form for VISA payment that he could personally e-mail me to fill out, I might be able to facilitate a quicker transfer of funds for my dues. I don't have PayPal, that's why I'm asking.

Thanks, Billy.

Ter

tmauro@pacbell.net

Hi,

Many thanks for your support of COPA over the years. I don't know if they take CC or Pay Pal, or how those things work either, but we are trying to bring COPA into the game as a Political Action Coalition - PAC and become instigators.

The most important thing all COPA members and associates can do is to pass on the info on the June 10 AU event, and get ready for a serious November in Dallas, even though it does fall over the Thanksgiving holiday.

If you know anyone who lives near DC and would like to help promote JFK's Peace proposals, as they relate to today, the more people that participate the more influences can be made and increases the possibility of mainstream media coverage.

Not necessarily numbers, but potentially influencial individuals,

BK

[Stephen Miller]

God bless JFK! He was truly America's last real President and a lot better than the ilk we have here today. Seeing those photos bring tears to my eyes and I would have loved to been older back then and talk shop and politics with him and Bobby. God bless them all!

[Charles Drago]

How about a Fair Play for COPA Committee?

In all seriousness, that organization is to be commended for its contributions to the search for the truth. We should support its efforts, and those of JFK Lancer, without reservation.

Charles

[William Kelly]

How about a Fair Play for COPA Committee?

In all seriousness, that organization is to be commended for its contributions to the search for the truth. We should support its efforts, and those of JFK Lancer, without reservation.

Charles

It's not so much about COPA as it is JFK.

He was no saint but he was killed for a reason.

I can't imagine the President of the USA today visiting the aging 90 year old president on his birthday, seeking his advice.

"I should have know that he was magic all along. I did know it - but I should have guessed it could not last. I should have known that it was asking too much to dream that I migth have grown old with him and see our children grow up together." - Jacqueline Kennedy

Thanks to Vinnie the Bug for that quote.

BK

[William Kelly]

Today, John Judge, as I write this, is visiting the JFK Memorial at American University, and commemorating the Peace Speech that JFK gave there 45 years ago.

Dennis Bartholomew and a few other trusty souls are with him, and I would like to be but circumstances just don't allow, so instead I am writing this as my contribution to the memory of JFK's life, administration and policies.

It is fitting that I am reading James Douglass' "JFK and the Unspeakable," that places strong emphesis, as it should, on the speech, and how it contributed to JFK's death.

Douglass includes the entire speech as the only appendix to the book.

Members of COPA began to memoralize the June 10th event after it was suggested, by members of the Kennedy family, that JFK should be remembered for what he did, and not how he died.

While JFK and November 22nd will be forever entwined, rather than his murder, today we call attention to JFK's life, his administration, and what he tried to accomplish.

"Norman Cousins was right in foreseeing the transforming effect Kennedy's speech would have in the Soviet Union, but wrong in imagining a similar impact in the presiden't own country. At the same time that the American University address was highlighted by the Soviet media, it was ignored or downplayed in the United States. Few Americans even knew Kennedy had given a groundbreaking speech on peace, let alone what was in it. That has remained true to this day. The American media response to the speech was, and has been, almost total silence. It was as if someone had unplugged the president's microphone as soon as he began talking about peace." - James Douglass p. 350.

Kennedy himself wasn't sure people understood what he was saying.

After the speech, Kennedy asked Sorensen if even the students at their graduation commencement understood. "Do you think they got it?" he asked, as they didn't seem to be paying much attention.

I don't know if the situation has changed.

BK

[William Kelly]

When Mikhail Gorbachev visted Dallas in 1998 he stopped by Dealey Plaza and at the Sixth Floor Museum he called attention to the AU speech when he wrote into the guest book:

I've long been interested in the life of John F. Kennedy. He was certainly a great president of the United States. For us who live in a complicated time of transition of great importance is the vision of John F. Kennedy, his thoughts about peace and about how to live in the world.

President Kennedy's remarks on June 10, 1963 at American University are of even greater importance today than then. Thirty five years ago he already saw what we have come to understand only now.[/size][/font]

The best memory of this man would be to understand his deeds and thoughts and to translate them in policies and more importance in the life of nations. He looked far ahead and he wanted to change a great deal. Perhaps it is this that is the key to the mystery of the death of President John Kennedy.

Signed

The President of the USSR

Mikhail Gorbachev

October 12, 1998

Courtesty the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

and Gary Mack

Edited June 10, 2009 by William Kelly

[Jim Root]

And just two days after the June 10th AU speech, John J. McCloy would pen a letter to Maj. Gen. Edwin Walker. The subject matter contained in this letter was related to Sylvanus Thayer, "The Father of West Point."

Sylvanus Thayer was the Superintendent of West Point from 1818 - 1833. When assigned to the Superintendency the students mutinied when Thayer replaced the previous superintendent. This mutiny led to the placing of West Point under strict military disipline and the cadets from this point forward were considered soldiers subject to military law and discipline.

This mutiny occurred on Nov. 22, 1818 exactly 145 years before the assassination of John F. Kennedy. In some ways this mutiny led to the assendency of a professional military elite within the United States. It was this event that began Sylvanus Thayer's march to becomming the "Father of West Point."

Some thoughts here........

Although Kennedy was calling for a comprehensive nuclear test ban in public:

"We have also been talking in Geneva about other first-step measures of arms control, designed to limit the intensity of the arms race and to reduce the risks of accidental war. Our primary long-range interest in Geneva, however, is general and complete disarmament -- designed to take place by stages, permitting parallel political developments to build the new institutions of peace which would take the place of arms. The pursuit of disarmament has been an effort of this government since the 1920's. It has been urgently sought by the past three Administrations. And however dim the prospects may be today, we intend to continue this effort -- to continue it in order that all countries, including our own, can better grasp what the problems and possibilities of disarmament are.

The one major area of these negotiations where the end is in sight, yet where a fresh start is badly needed, is in a treaty to outlaw nuclear tests. The conclusion of such a treaty, so near and yet so far, would check the spiraling arms race in one of its most dangerous areas. It would place the nuclear powers in a position to deal more effectively with one of the greatest hazards which man faces in 1963, the further spread of nuclear arms. It would increase our security -- it would decrease the prospects of war. Surely this goal is sufficiently important to require our steady pursuit, yielding neither to the temptation to give up the whole effort nor the temptation to give up our insistence on vital and responsible safeguards.

I am taking this opportunity, therefore, to announce two important decisions in this regard.

First: Chairman Khrushchev, Prime Minister Macmillan and I have agreed that high-level discussions will shortly begin in Moscow, looking toward early agreement on a comprehensive test ban treaty. Our hopes must be tempered with the caution of history -- but with our hopes go the hopes of all mankind.

Second: To make clear our good faith and solemn convictions on the matter, I now declare that the United States does not propose to conduct nuclear tests in the atmosphere so long as other states do not do so. We will not be the first to resume. Such a declaration is no substitute for a formal binding treaty, but I hope it will help us achieve one. Nor would such a treaty be a substitute for disarmament, but I hope it will help us achieve it."

In reality he had already backed his position away from a "comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty" and was, for political reasons, prepared to accept a "limited test ban treaty" (which the US formally adopted in August of 1963). For this reason his lead negotiator, John J. McCloy refused to participate.

Did this "change" in position lead to the death of Kennedy? I believe very strongly that the investigation of this area of research remains fertile!

Jim Root