What Might Have Been

          What Might Have Been

Suzanne Marsh

A look of bewilderment passed over John McBride’s face, was what he saw in this picture possible? Once again the FBI agent was attempting to prove that President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot by two different people. He had been trying to prove this for many years, Kennedy had been his very first assignment with the bureau. The photograph was black and white but also grainy. He continued to stare at the photograph as he wondered what to do about the picture. He could make it disappear, never to be seen again. That was the last thing he wanted to do, he intended to show this to his superiors but first, he made copies that he hid in several places. This he was sure would ensure his safety once the photograph was made public.

Jeremy Hogg, CIA’s top agent received the call from McBride informing him of the photograph he had found:

“John, bring it over to me, I want to see what you have found. Why do you think this

is any different than the others you have looked over the years.”

John knew the moment he placed the call he placed himself in harm's way. Time was not on his side, not with that picture. He thought he knew exactly who was the sniper in the picture, other than assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. The more he stared at the photo the more he was sure it was an elderly CIA agent he had met once years ago.

The flip side of the coin was why would the CIA want President John F. Kennedy dead? The what ifs had he survived the assassination attempt were in all different parts of the world. Vietnam came to mind, especially since John had served there. John knew that Kennedy had wanted peace in the world not war, ergo, what would have happened if Kennedy had survived. Vietnam, John remembered was truly beautiful, however the government was very corrupt. The Diem regime had proved that over and over again. When Diem was ousted by Nguyen Nan Thieu and Nguyen Cao Ky the Vietnam Police Action was well underway.

John glared at the old photograph again, then he realized the CIA agent was actually a double for Lee Harvey Oswald. The American public had been duped into believing that Oswald acted on his own recognizance. He also considered what this would mean after all these years of silence. It would bring back Kennedy, it would only serve to cause more issues for the media to raise more questions than they answer for. Somehow John felt as if he should show the picture to his superiors, he owned John F. Kennedy that much. His assignment on the day of the Kennedy assassination was to watch the crowd level, keep his eyes open and his mouth shut.

John remembered the bright Texas sun, the temperature was hotter than Washington DC this time of the year, he was enjoying it until pandemonium broke louse. He recalled the sound of the first rifle shot rang out, then the second shot rang out, the strange thing was the shots were in sequence, one right after the other. The theory of two separate shooters was beginning to seem feasible. The question that remained in John’s mind was still recalling that even years after the assassination there was a theory that he might have survived, there had even been a picture showing JFK; in a wheelchair covered with a blanket.

Once again John turned his thoughts to what might have been, had President John Fitzgerald Kennedy not been assassinated. The Cold War would have been settled, and the United Nations would have been stronger with United States backing, more so than it is. Civil Rights would have happened earlier than it did. So what was the CIA so afraid of? The more John thought about it; the more he realized that the CIA feared that Kennedy would break them up and start a new agency that would coordinate better with the President and his cabinet.

Finally, there was Vietnam to consider, a Police Action; it was NOT A WAR. LBJ should have had the War Powers Act there might not have even been a Police Action. The loss of life was more than anyone had thought. Young men who served were spit on and called baby killers by left-wing anti-war activists. There certainly would not have been Nguyen Van Thieu or Nguyen Cao Ky. The entire Police Action could have ended with a United States victory in Vietnam, because Kennedy would have gambled; listened to his advisors, and bombed the Ho Chi Minh trail. Bombing the trail would have stopped the influx of weapons, manpower, ammunition and other supplies for the communist faction in South Vietnam. John, thought about what that could have meant to the soldiers who were in Vietnam, how angry was the average soldier? That was a question no one except a former soldier, John recalled how angry he was as he fought off the Viet Cong and the RVN. Recon patrols would come in with locations along the Ho Chi Minh trail only to discover they had risked their lives for nothing, no they could not bomb the trail, final word.

John sat quietly contemplating what to do with the grainy photograph; Lee Harvey Oswald had a double, who was actually the sniper if this picture was correct. How could something like this happen in the United States? Was the Police Action in Vietnam worth all the lives that were lost? Would President John Fitzgerald Kennedy make that much of a difference? The more he thought these questions through, the more he realized that reopening wounds from the past, would not change the legacy of John Kennedy, he had been dead and buried for over sixty years. Could he have changed things, made things better for Americans’

The answer is a simple yes, he was perhaps one of the strongest presidents the United States ever had. The one thing he wanted more than anything else was world peace, he understood war since he served.

Sixty-one years ago President John Fitzgerald was assassinated, the date was November 22, 1963. A day as another President has said: “will go down in infamy.”