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Jul. 11--An X marks the spot on Elm Street. Perhaps hundreds -- I don't know, maybe thousands -- of cars, SUVs, vans and buses drive over it every day. Some seem to switch lanes just to avoid the spots. Others drive directly over it.
There's no buried treasure under the X, just history. The white-painted letter in Dallas marks the spot where Lee Harvey Oswald's bullet struck and killed President John F. Kennedy.
I was in Dallas recently for a conference and had an opportunity to go to the Sixth Floor Museum, located in the old Texas School Book Depository building from where Oswald pointed a rifle out the window, pulled the trigger and shot the president on Nov. 22, 1963.
It's been nearly 43 years, and I was struck by how many people still go to the site. According to Gary Mack, head of the museum, it gets about 400,000 visitors per year.
There have been tons of conspiracy theories about the assassination of Kennedy. It was the mob. It was the Russians. It was the CIA -- and I can go on.
Mack told our gathering the most outlandish theories he had ever heard were that the driver of the car shot Kennedy and that Jackie Kennedy herself shot Kennedy.
As for Mack, he said evidence points to Oswald as the lone shooter, but he wouldn't necessarily say that Oswald acted alone in the assassination. He admitted though that there were plenty of holes in his -- and for that matter, many other -- theories.
He said many in Dallas are still concerned about the city's image the assassination produces. That may be why the museum didn't open until 1989 and why the area wasn't even a historic landmark until 1993.
I wasn't born when Kennedy was killed, but I've seen a lot of History Channel-type programs and documentaries on the shooting.
So, I admit it was kind of surreal standing next to the window from where Oswald fired the fatal shots. (The actual window is blocked by glass, but you can still get a pretty good feel for what happened that day.)
The trees have grown since 1963, but looking out that adjacent window, you can see the clear shot Oswald had. You can also see how the theories came into being. How could Kennedy's head have flown backwards when the fatal shot was fired from almost directly behind him?
From the building, you can see plenty of places from where a second shooter could have fired, from the grassy knoll to the bridge overpass to areas across Elm Street.
You can see the many people walking and exploring the area themselves, maybe coming up with their own conspiracy theories of what happened on that fall day in Dallas.
You can also see the two Xs on the road, one marking the spot where the first bullet hit Kennedy and the second marking the spot of the fatal shot.
Whatever theory you believe, the assassination changed the nation forever.
And, an X marks the spot.
Ken Buday can be reached at 635-5670 or at kbuday@freedomenc.com.
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