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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 23, 1983)
Wednesday, November 23,1983/The Battalion/Page 5 Last ceremony held for Kennedy death Five members of the Class of ’84 fall off Vance the elephant after the trainer commanded him to roll. The Class of ’84 brought Vance to The Grove Tuesday to ■ celebrate Elephant Walk. From bottom to "V 1 top, Debbie Sherman, an agriculture sj - Class of ’84 takes a fall Mike Davis, Battalion staff United Press International DALLAS — Some 1,()()() peo ple packed the John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza Tuesday for the 20th and final official ceremony commemorating the late presi dent’s assassination. The crowd gathered under overcast skies alternating — as they had that morning 20 years ago — between threats of rain and promises of sunshine. The sun won out during a ringing baritone invocation by People’s Baptist Church Pastor the Rev. S.M. Wright, whose prayer echoed off the last rem nants of the downtown skyline as Kennedy had seen it in the final moments of his life. “We need a pluralistic men tality,” Wright implored, “to help us empathize with the needy, the jobless, the down trodden. “To this end, Almighty God, we thank you for the life and contribution of John F. Ken nedy.” The services had running through them a dual theme: commemorating Kennedy in life, and expunging Dallas of blame in his death. Toward the latter end, mas ter of ceremonies U.S. Rep. John Bryant, D-Texas, read a letter from JFK’s brother, U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D- Mass., conveying his regrets at not attending the ceremony. “Among the last words my brother heard were, 'Mr. Ken nedy, you can’t say Dallas doesn’t love you (spoken by Nel lie Connally, wife of former Gov. John Connally),” the letter slated. “I believe those words were true then and are true today.” Keynote speakers included former Sen. Ralph Yarborough, Kennedy’s colleague in the Sen ate from 1957 to the presidential election in I960. Commemorative addresses also came from U.S. Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez, D-Texas, and state Rep. Thomas McGee, speaker of the Massachusetts House. McGee, whose speech ended the ceremony, cited an address by Kennedy to the Mas- sachusetts House in which he outlined traits required of politi cians aspiring to greatness. “Those qualities he (Ken nedy) ascribed to the founding fathers of Massachusetts best de scribed him,” McGee said. “Pres ident Kennedy was a man of courage, justice and integrity.” The well-groomed and most ly youthful crowd applauded politely during the speeches. Their reasons for attending seemed as diverse as the appeal of Kennedy himself. “My mother was in Parkland Hospital having my little sister the day he was shot,” said Alma Warlick, 24, of Dallas. “My sister was born and died that same day. So I decided to come down here and commemorate her death Loo.” Dallas lawyer Sam Boyd, 38, also was there. With a U.S. Army Spcial Forces patch pinned to his lapel, he said Kennedy was espe cially revered at the North Caro lina Special Forces school which bears his name. This year will be the final tri bute on the anniversary of Ken nedy’s death. Dallas County Democratic Party officials said they will acede to a request of Kennedy’s children that future observances be on the date of their father’s birth. economics major from China, Tx., Margie Stenzler, a marketing major from Ft. Worth, Jeretta Broussard, an agriculture economics major from Nome, Sharon Fontenot, a marketing major from Beaumont, and Tina Hawley, a marketing major from China, Tx. r )riginal Thanksgiving dinner fas in Texas, historians say United Press International L PASO — The first Thank ing dinner held in what is I /the United Slates was in El not Plymouth, Mass., bor- historians are claiming. jppMAnd the menu for the ban- e ligliB 110 g’ ve thanks to God prob- (jlosijM) included the traditional jxican dishes of tacos and ■ales, not turkey, said Leon Tz, southwestern history ex- j and author. The year was 1598 and the rims all spoke Spanish, Metz lage. iaiil. The Pilgrims in Mas- ausetts celebrated the first anksgiving in 1621. endalfBOonJuan de Onate of Zacate- oomstffi, Mexico was leader of a siz- areaaitbje colonizing expedition :d forlthch crossed into what is now gatlMjexas in that year, according to of SfJjslorical accounts. eri.BThe soulh-of-the-border pil- ksmiifcs had no problems with the in Belt winter, but they had her reasons to be grateful, leu. said. (The Onate expedition Irked the first attempt by any Riquisiadors to cross that ilretch of desert from Chi- Iliahua City, 240 miles south of Paso, to the border,” Metz 1. “They nearly died in the tempt.” Onate is credited with settling what is now New Mexico. His claims were also the basis for Spain’s ownership of a number of other western states. The conquistador was a man of considerable wealth. His father was Don Cristobal Onate, a Spanish nobleman, and his mother was Dona Isabel de Tolosa, the great granddaugh ter of Montezuma. Relying on Indian reports of a great river to the north, Onate traveled directly across the de sert, searching for water holes along the way. Armando Chavez, official his torian for Juarez, Mexico, said Onate’s expedition consisted of “two Franciscan priests, 400 sol diers, 130 families in 83 ox carts and 7,000 animals including cat tle, sheep, pigs, mules and horses.” Metz said the expedition ar rived on the shores of the Rio Grande around the end of April, 1598. He said Onate and other members of the expedi tion knelt on what is now Texas soil and thanked God for guid ing them safely across the de sert. “Members of the expedition claimed a miracle or two helped them along the way,” Metz said, “such as an unexpected rainfall when they were wandering in the desert, and clouds when the heat became too unbearable.” Chavez said the first El Paso Thanksgiving was held on Thursday, April 30, 1598 on the Roman Catholic Feast of the Ascension. 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