FRATERNALISM IN 1963
FRATERNALISM IN 1963
by JAMES A. MARPLES
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Nearly everyone, whether they were alive or not, knows of the fateful Friday November 22, 1963: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The calendar for 2024 matches up exactly. This year, the day also falls on a Friday.
I, myself, was 22 days away from being born on Saturday December 14th in Kansas. Thus, I had to rely on my parents, friends, teachers and history-books. Recently, a good Church friend of mine told me that he was in Dallas that day in ’63 attending corrosion school. I have talked to the former Administrator of Parkland Hospital who helped lift the President from the limo. I have also talked to the late Jim Leavelle, the detective handcuffed to Oswald when he was shot.
I find it odd that not many people know that when he climbed down the steps of Air Force One, President Kennedy was a Knight of Columbus, a Rotarian, and an Elks Lodge member since he was age 33. I likewise joined all these groups later (plus more).
Riding several cars behind the Presidential car in Dallas was Senator Ralph W. Yarborough who was a Mason and Shriner. When the announcement of the death was made, Yarborough visibly cried in grief. Former President Harry Truman was also a member of the Masonic Lodge and Elk’s Lodge and expressed sorrow for Mrs. Kennedy and her children. The famous artist Norman Rockwell was also a Mason as was Gerald R. Ford. Around the world, Winston Churchill was a member of the Odd Fellows lodge as was the well-known man Red Skelton.
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Nearly everyone, whether they were alive or not, knows of the fateful Friday November 22, 1963: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The calendar for 2024 matches up exactly. This year, the day also falls on a Friday.
I, myself, was 22 days away from being born on Saturday December 14th in Kansas. Thus, I had to rely on my parents, friends, teachers and history-books. Recently, a good Church friend of mine told me that he was in Dallas that day in ’63 attending corrosion school. I have talked to the former Administrator of Parkland Hospital who helped lift the President from the limo. I have also talked to the late Jim Leavelle, the detective handcuffed to Oswald when he was shot.
I find it odd that not many people know that when he climbed down the steps of Air Force One, President Kennedy was a Knight of Columbus, a Rotarian, and an Elks Lodge member since he was age 33. I likewise joined all these groups later (plus more).
Riding several cars behind the Presidential car in Dallas was Senator Ralph W. Yarborough who was a Mason and Shriner. When the announcement of the death was made, Yarborough visibly cried in grief. Former President Harry Truman was also a member of the Masonic Lodge and Elk’s Lodge and expressed sorrow for Mrs. Kennedy and her children. The famous artist Norman Rockwell was also a Mason as was Gerald R. Ford. Around the world, Winston Churchill was a member of the Odd Fellows lodge as was the well-known man Red Skelton.
Veteran newsman Walter Cronkite belonged to the Elks Lodge, also, as does actor Clint Eastwood. Jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong and former Vice Presidents Hubert Humphrey and Nelson Rockefeller were all members of the Knights of Pythias lodge.
Former basketball star Larry Byrd and current U.S. Senator Joe Manchin III, are both members of the Moose Lodge as were actors Jimmy Stewart and Erik Estrada.
Bob Hope and Harry Truman both belonged to the Fraternal Order of Eagles lodge.
In 1963, about 1 in every 8 adult American males belonged to some type of lodge/fraternal group. I think our world was better. A sense of “belonging”. There is nothing quite like the friendly grasp of a REAL HANDSHAKE AND SMILE. Social-media is okay, but somehow it doesn’t convey the flesh and blood, eye-to-eye, human bonds of connection that make our world a happier place, instead of the current impersonal “click-bait” of ‘likes’ versus ‘dislikes’. We need to like our world… all of it.