30th Year Since J.F.K.’s Death Marked From Dallas to Berlin

The world paid solemn tribute to President John F. Kennedy on the 30th anniversary of his assassination Monday, with dedication of a landmark in Dallas, visits to his grave in Arlington, Va., a memorial Mass in Dublin and flowers in Berlin.

In Dallas, twin fighter jets thundered low above Dealey Plaza and a flock of white doves fluttered skyward at 12:30 p.m., the time of the assassination.

In 1963, a clock atop the Texas School Book Depository recorded the time as a sniper inside opened fire on the President’s motorcade, killing Kennedy and wounding Texas Gov. John B. Connally.

On Monday, Nellie Connally, the former governor’s widow, slipped a black drape from a plaque marking the sloping, sun-swept plaza as a national historic landmark.

“Thirty years ago, fate brought me here as an unwilling player in the most unforgettable tragic drama of our time,” Connally told about 5,000 spectators and dignitaries.

Some choked back tears, and others wept openly.

“Now,” she continued, “three decades later, we are gathered not to look back with grief, but to look forward with hope.

“Many of us share our own indelible memories of that awful hour, but today we recognize the lasting place this site will forever have in our nation’s history.”

Throughout the ceremony, spectators glanced and pointed intermittently toward the seven-story red brick building from which the Warren Commission concluded that sniper Lee Harvey Oswald shot the President.

At Arlington National Cemetery, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and other family members and friends marked the day with visits to the President’s grave, along with a steady stream of visitors, some of whom knelt in prayer or left flags or flowers.

Among those paying their respects were Evelyn Lincoln, who was President Kennedy’s personal secretary, and South Korean President Kim Young Sam, who was scheduled to meet today with President Clinton.

Berlin marked the anniversary with flowers, television programs and a flood of newspaper articles. At John F. Kennedy Platz, city officials placed a wreath beneath a plaque at Schoeneberg City Hall, marking the spot where Kennedy delivered his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner) speech.