Archive - November 12, 2013

The noontime news on my car radio reported that the President was in Dallas, Texas. Any mention of JFK boosted my adrenalin and brought back memories; my connection to the President was personal. In September 1961 my Peace Corps group (Colombia I) met with JFK in the East Room of the White House. And, several months later, he and Jackie were welcomed by millions of Colombians and two-dozen volunteers in Bogotá. The love affair between Colombians and our Catholic President was pervasive and mystical. His picture was posted on mud walls of huts throughout the country. Volunteers in Colombia and all of Latin America were referred to in the press and radio as los hijos de Kennedy – Kennedy’s children. The connection opened hearts, doors and countless bottles of beer. In 1963 in the USA, the Peace Corps was expanding; up to 100,000 a year was a number kicked around. . . .