It's 8 40 p.m., the sun has been set for
16 minutes and the Saratoga's occupants have only one hour to live. As the Saratoga is
descending through 2500 feet something happens that begins the accident sequence. John, Carolyn
and Lauren have less than three minutes to live. it's now been over 20 years since the tragic
airplane crash that killed John F. Kennedy Jr, his wife Carolyn and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette.
So why do we need another JFK crash story now? Since the world first learned of John's missing
single engine Piper Saratoga on Saturday morning July 17, 1999 there have been numerous
documentaries, news stories, magazine articles, and YouTube videos produced on the subject. I
think it's safe to say this crash has been one of the most scrutinized General Aviation crashes
of all time. But here we are over 20 years later and you would still be hard-pressed to find an
accurate accounting of what actually happened. Unfortunately but somewhat understandably, along
with the highly focused interest in this tragedy came a lot of misinformation in the form of
speculation, misinterpretation of facts, and jumping to conclusions. And frankly there's been a
collective throwing of John Kennedy private pilot under the bus. It's time to set the record straight
and that's what we're going to do in this video. What does the evidence show and what doesn't
it show. So what really did cause John's plane to crash in the water just 17 miles short of
the Martha's Vineyard destination airport? The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) listed
the probable cause using boilerplate terms such as "pilots failure to maintain control" and "spatial
disorientation" along with "haze" and quote "dark night" listed as contributing factors. So was John
a bad pilot? Was his training inadequate? Was his airplane poorly equipped or did it malfunction
in some way? Was he careless, reckless, arrogant, or just having a bad day? The short answer is no, no,
no, and no! Look, if we dismiss this accident as just another case of "failure to maintain control",
we're missing key information discovered by accident investigators that provides a much better
understanding of all the factors that cause this fatal crash. Let me just say this right off this is
not going to be some far-fetched conspiracy theory. I am an instrument-rated private pilot with
over four decades of aviation experience. I have spent countless hours researching the
information contained in the highly detailed NTSB Aviation Accident Final Report. I thoroughly
considered every conceivable scenario that might have caused John's accident. One by one I
eliminated every link in the chain of events that isn't supported by the hard evidence. In the end
we're left with only one sequence of events that completely explains why a highly trained very
proficient pilot ends up in a fatal loss of control accident. Now nothing i'm going to say
will change the tragic outcome of this accident. At the end of the day John was acting as
pilot-in-command. By doing so he alone has the final authority and responsibility
for the operation and safety of flight. With that said, it is my hope to clear up the mountain of misinformation
surrounding this accident. In this video we will recreate John's flight path,
the weather conditions, and the time of day that John took his last flight. You, the viewer, will be
riding in the same front left seat of the Saratoga where John sat as pilot-in-command. You will see
what John saw and what John didn't see. You will be in John's seat during the entire three minute
accident sequence that ended with the Saratoga slamming into the water. Let's run through a
quick review of some background information. John F. Kennedy Jr was the only son of
the 35th U.S President John F. Kennedy. Most people who are old enough can tell you
exactly where they were when they heard the tragic news that President Kennedy had been
assassinated. Ironically most people probably remember where they were when they heard John's
plane was missing. At the time of his accident John was 38 years old and had been married to
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy for almost three years. In the previous four years John had been working
as editor-in-chief of his political magazine "George". John had earned his private pilot's
license 15 months prior to the accident. Two and a half months before the accident John upgraded
from his single engine four passenger Cessna 182 to a 1995 single engine 6 passenger Piper
Saratoga. The Saratoga with its 300 horsepower engine and retractable gear was faster and better
equipped than John's former Cessna. At the time of the accident John has already logged 310 hours of
flight time with 55 of those hours being at night. John had also accrued 238 hours of flight training
flown with Certified Flight Instructors or CFI's. 238 hours of training! That is twice the amount
of training that a typical 300 hour private pilot receives. Although john was only certified for
flight in VMC or visual meteorological conditions, he had passed the FAA written instrument rating
exam in March of 1999. John had also begun flight training for his instrument rating satisfactorily
completing 12 of the required 25 lessons. He only paused on his instrument rating training to focus
on flight training in his newly acquired Saratoga. I think we can all agree as a private pilot
John Kennedy did not skimp on flight training. John was planning to attend his cousin's wedding
in Hyannis Port on Saturday June 17th. John planned the Friday evening flight from Caldwell, New
Jersey to Hyannis Port with a quick stop at Martha's Vineyard to drop off his sister-in-law
Lauren. The Piper Saratoga was capable of flying the 175 nautical miles to Martha's Vineyard in about
an hour. One of the last things John does before leaving his office and heading to the airport is
to log into the Weather Service International's "PilotBrief" website around 6 32 pm. The route
briefing John obtained included in-route weather observations from 15 different reporting
stations along his attended route of flight. These observations indicated visibilities varied
from 10 miles along the route to 4 miles in haze at the departure airport. Almost every station
was reporting clear skies. No cloud was forecast. The temperature dewpoint spread was 6 degrees
which is well outside the normal range for fog. In short, visual meteorological conditions
VMC prevailed along the route of flight. John had planned to arrive at the Caldwell
Airport between 5 30 and 6 pm on Friday evening. After doing some last minute shopping wife
Carolyn would meet him at the Caldwell Airport. John's planned departure time would have allowed
plenty of time to conduct a one-hour flight during daylight hours. But anyone who knows anything
about aviation understands delays are not unusual. There's no doubt John was a busy guy. He's dealing
with deadlines at work and isn't able to get away from his office until around 6 40 p.m. Much later
than he had planned. John picks up sister-in-law Lauren around 7 pm and arrives at the Essex County
(Caldwell) Airport in New Jersey around 8 p.m. Anticipating John's arrival a ramp worker has already moved
John's Saratoga from the hangar to the tarmac. Carolyn arrives at the airport around 8 20 pm. John
has completed his pre-flight preparations and is ready to go as soon as Carolyn and Lauren are
buckled into the two rearward-facing club seats. I was able to plot John's actual route of
flight using data from the NTSB report and from Air Traffic Controls' radar track of John's
final flight. John was familiar with the route to Martha's Vineyard having flown to or from the
destination area about 35 times in the previous 15 months. John flew at least 17 of these flight
legs without a CFI on board of which five of these were at night. John was well trained and qualified
to act as pilot-in-command on a VFR night flight. It's almost 8 30 pm when John
starts the Saratoga's single engine. John runs through standard checklist
items. He checks flight controls, flight instruments, and listens to the automated terminal
information service or ATIS broadcast. The ATIS broadcast is a standard feature at
an airport with a control tower in operation. Caldwell information "Quebec". 2-2-1-4 Zulu. Wind 2-2-0 at 5. Visibility 5 in haze. Sky clear below 12,000. Temperature 3-1. Dewpoint 1-9. Altimeter three zero zero seven. Landing and departing runway 2-2. Advise controller on initial
contact you have "Quebec". Caldwell information.. (repeats) With standard checklist
items completed, ready to taxi John contacts the Caldwell Ground
Controller for taxi clearance. Caldwell Ground Saratoga 9'r 2 5 3 November ready to
taxi with "Quebec" right turnout northeast bound. Saratoga 9'r 2 5 3 November Caldwell Ground taxi runway
2-2 via papa. Cross runway 2-8. Runway 2-2 via papa cross 2-8 Saratoga 5-3 November. Taxi
light on, parking brake released, it's 8 34 pm. John taxis the Saratoga the short distance
to the departure end of runway 2-2. Saratoga 5-3 November monitor tower. Switching to tower Saratoga 5-3 November. John completes a few final pre-takeoff checks in the cockpit and calls Caldwell
Tower for takeoff clearance. Caldwell Tower Saratoga 9'r 2-5-3 November holding
short runway 2-2 ready for takeoff. Saratoga 9'r 2-5-3 November wind 2-3-0 at 4 runway 2-2 cleared for takeoff. Runway 2-2 cleared for takeoff Saratoga 5-3 November. And Saratoga 5-3 November are you heading
towards Teterboro? No sir I'm uh actually heading a little north of it uh eastbound Saratoga
5-3 November. Saratoga 5-3 November make it a right downwind departure then. Right downwind
departure Saratoga 5-3 November. It's 8 40 p.m, the sun has been set for 16 minutes and the
Saratoga's occupants have only one hour to live. John advances the power, checks his engine gauges, releases the brakes, and
tracks the center line using the rudder pedals. Airspeed's alive 60 knots, 70, 80 knots rotate easing back
on the yoke, positive rate of climb, gear up. 400 feet above the ground start a right
turn for the right downwind departure. Adjust the power setting to
30 inches manifold pressure, and adjust the prop to 2400 rpms. John levels the Saratoga off at about 1900 feet
and turns to a northeasterly heading. John is intentionally staying at a low altitude to remain
below New York's Class Bravo Airspace. In fact he would need a clearance from Air Traffic Control
(ATC) to enter the Class Bravo Airspace. Like many VFR pilots John has chosen not to request "Flight
Following" or radar services from ATC for this flight, nor is he required to do so for VFR flight.
That's another topic for later discussion but for now just know it's doubtful that "Flight Following"
would have changed the outcome of this flight. John maintains this direction of flight
for 20 nautical miles or about 8 minutes until he reaches the Hudson River. Reaching the Hudson River in the
vicinity of the Tappan Zee Bridge John banks left to a more
northerly heading up the river. Nearing the outer limit of New York's Class
Bravo John gently pulls the Saratoga's nose up by easing back on the yoke to initiate a climb
to his planned cruise altitude of 5500 feet. It's likely that around this time he inputs the
Martha's Vineyard Airport identifier into his GPS. Kilo, Mike, Victor, Yankee, (KMVY) he hits
the "direct to" button and confirms. After six miles on this heading
he begins a right turn on course remaining clear of Westchester
Airport's Class Delta Airspace. John levels off the Saratoga at
his cruise altitude of 5500 feet. He makes adjustments to his heading to
intercept the GPS course to Martha's Vineyard. From the radar track of John's flight it's
apparent that John used the autopilot to maintain his altitude and course. The Saratoga
tracks a direct course to Martha's Vineyard and remains at 5500 feet for the next
100 miles or approximately 37 minutes. It has been suggested by some that the Saratoga's
autopilot is the one piece of equipment on board that could have potentially saved John and his
passengers lives. I agree an autopilot can reduce the single pilot cockpit workload, especially
during busy times such as departure and arrival. In this particular instance however i'm very
suspicious that John's use of the autopilot may have in some ways been a link in the
chain of events that led to the accident. More on this in a few minutes. The 100
degree course continues just south of and parallel to the Connecticut and Rhode
Island coastlines. Even in the dark and hazy conditions John is still able to maintain
visual reference with lights along the coastline. As the pilot of a high performance single quickly
learns it's important to stay well ahead of the airplane. Staying ahead of the airplane means
being prepared for the next phase of flight well before the airplane gets there. While still
in level cruise with the autopilot doing the work of maintaining altitude and heading, John would use
this time to turn radios to the proper frequencies, calculate time and distance needed for normal
descent, and run descent checklist. Although John was not required to communicate with Air
Traffic Control while in-route on this VFR flight, the Martha's Vineyard Airport has a control
tower. John will need to contact the Tower Controller for a landing clearance. John will also
need to listen to the Martha's Vineyard ATIS, automated terminal information service broadcast
prior to contacting the controller. John tunes his number two radio to the Martha's Vineyard ATIS and
flips it to the active position. He's too far away to pick up the broadcast but at this altitude he
should start receiving it in the next few miles. There's a problem. John has made a very small
and very common mistake that every pilot is prone to make. He has mis-tuned the frequency
for the Martha's Vineyard ATIS by one digit. John tuned 127.25 when the actual frequency is
126.25. Since currently he's still beyond the ATIS broadcast range John doesn't realize
he has the wrong ATIS frequency tuned in... yet. The other frequency John tunes is 121.40 which
is the Vineyard Tower frequency. Once he receives and listens to the ATIS broadcast, pressing a
single button will flip the tower frequency into the active position. He typically makes initial
contact with the Tower Controller when he's roughly 10 to 15 miles out from the airport. The
initial call would be something like "Vineyard Tower Saratoga 9'r 2 5 3 November 15 miles to the
east inbound landing with (ATIS) information "Charlie". On this night John will not have
a chance to make that radio call. Next John does a quick calculation to determine
when he should start his descent into Martha's Vineyard. He will need to descend from his cruise
altitude of 5500 feet down to 1000 feet to prepare for a standard visual approach to the runway. A
500 feet per minute descent rate is a good rule of thumb for planning purposes. At 500 feet per minute
it will take 9 minutes to descend 4500 feet. The Saratoga will be descending at 160 knots
ground speed which calculates to almost 3 miles per minute. 9 minutes at 3 miles per minute is
27 miles. John would want to be at the 1000 foot altitude about 5 miles before reaching the airport
so he needs to start descending when he is about 33 miles out from Martha's Vineyard. One more item to check in preparation for the arrival is fuel. The Saratoga has two fuel tanks, one in each wing.
Like many low wing single-engine aircraft the Saratoga's engine only draws fuel from one of the
two tanks at a time. An inherent problem with this type of fuel system is a persistent fuel imbalance
that develops as flight progresses. The Saratoga's pilot operating handbook (POH) recommends switching the
tanks at one hour intervals. Side note, in all my years of flying low wing aircraft I have always
switched the fuel tanks at 30 minute intervals. The Saratoga's 300 horsepower engine consumes
around 16 gallons of fuel per hour at normal cruise flight. At 6.7 pounds per gallon 16 gallons
of aviation fuel weighs over 100 pounds. Since the Saratoga carries some of its fuel well outboard
in each wing a 100 pound fuel imbalance is bound to cause the airplane to have a banking tendency
if the autopilot is disconnected. If John took off on this one hour flight with the fuel selector
set on the left wing tank and waits until he is nearing Martha's Vineyard to switch tanks, he would
have a right wing heavy fuel imbalance, and it's very possible that fuel imbalance could cause the
airplane to begin a right bank. Hold that thought for a few moments. The procedure for switching
tanks is; auxiliary electric fuel pump - ON The Saratoga's fuel selector is located below
the center of the instrument panel near the cockpit floor. Move the selector to the right
tank. Verify the fuel pressure remains normal. Switch off the auxiliary fuel pump. Double check the fuel pressure
remains normal. You're good to go. Okay, Point Judith Rhode Island is
passing below the left wing and the Saratoga is heading out over the 30
nautical mile stretch of open water. In preparation for the descent John starts slowing
the aircraft by slowly reducing power easing the throttle back in small increments. The autopilot in
John Saratoga does not have the option of allowing the pilot to pre-select an altitude and use the
autopilot to fly to and maintain that altitude. John's autopilot has a vertical pitch trim rocker
switch that the pilot uses to trim the aircraft nose up for a climb or down for a descent. To initiate
the descent John would disengage the altitude hold mode by a press of the ALT button and use the
trim rocker switch to pitch the nose down slightly. John is probably wondering why he hasn't heard
the Martha's Vineyard ATIS broadcast yet but that will have to wait. It's time to start
down. Based on the radar data it's likely that John's still using the autopilot to
maintain course while he descends. From his left window John still has decent
visual contact with lights along the coastline, but the view out of the windshield is
slowly diminishing to almost no visual references. In this situation John will be keeping
a close watch on the lights he can see because those are his only
remaining external visual references. It's now around 9 38 p.m. John, Carolyn, and Lauren
have less than three minutes to live. As the Saratoga is descending through 2500 feet something
happens that begins the accident sequence. As the descent continues the Saratoga begins a slow
steady turn to the right at a shallow bank angle. After about 30 seconds the descent
stops at an altitude of about 2200 feet. The aircraft starts to climb at a
rate of near 600 feet per minute. The right turn stops on a southeasterly
heading of around one five zero. The aircraft levels off at 2500 feet, the
same altitude it was at when the right turn off course commenced. Ror the next 50 seconds the
Saratoga proceeds in straight and level flight. The airspeed returns to 160 knots, heading 150,
altitude 2500 feet. Although for the moment everything seems to be under control, John's
currently heading away from Martha's Vineyard out into the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean. And
to make matters worse he has now completely lost all outside visual references. The only way
for John to know which way is up is to rely completely on his instruments. It's something John
is certainly trained for... but what John is about to encounter has caused even highly experienced
veteran pilots to lose control of their aircraft. John begins a left turn back towards Martha's
Vineyard at a bank angle of around 28 degrees. The aircraft climbs slightly and then begins
descending at about 900 feet per minute. John rolls out of the turn on a zero nine zero heading towards
the vicinity of the airport again, momentarily slowing the descent. Wings are level and if he
can just hold this heading he will surely see the airport within five or six minutes. But within only
about eight seconds the aircraft begins another right turn. What happens next makes it clear
John is suffering from the onset of spatial disorientation. The Saratoga begins descending again
and the bank angle continues to steadily increase. As bank angle increases, rate of descent
increases. John knows he's descended, he's pulling back on the yoke trying to arrest the
descent. But with the Saratoga in a steep turn that's only making it worse. John's now entered
into what aviators call the "graveyard spiral". He advances the throttle the full power. Why wont it
climb? The bank angle continues to increase all the way to 125 degrees. The nose is pitched downward
30 degrees, the airspeed indicator goes off the scale The aircraft slams into the water
inverted at a speed of 250 knots. It's 9 41 p.m. An hour since taking off from
New Jersey. John 38, Carolyn 33, and Lauren 34 all died instantly on impact. Based on the fact that the
flight was made over featureless water at night, and the possibility that the horizon could have
been obscured by haze, it's hard to argue with the NTSB's boilerplate probable cause findings;
"the pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during a descent over water at night
which was the result of spatial disorientation". The question that looms for me is; what caused
the Saratoga to begin the initial right turn off course that went unchecked for 30 seconds? Without
that right turn this accident doesn't happen. Let's replay the accident sequence to see what
makes the most sense as to why a well-trained very proficient 310 hour pilot lost control of his
aircraft within minutes of his destination airport. Without having received the ATIS broadcast
John begins descending from his 5500 foot cruise altitude. He knows he needs to stay ahead of
the airplane and Martha's Vineyard is only about 12 minutes away. He needs at least nine minutes
to descend 4500 feet at 500 feet per minute. John disconnects the autopilots' altitude
hold mode. He uses the autopilots' electric trim rocker switch to pitch the aircraft nose
down for a descent. NTSB calculated performance parameters indicate that Saratoga's descent rates
were varying between 400 and 800 feet per minute. Now there are aerodynamic explanations as to
why manually trimming an aircraft for a steady descent rate can be tricky and I don't want to go
down that rabbit hole now. Just know for the first three minutes and 40 seconds of descending John
is focusing on obtaining a constant descent rate. During these first minutes of the descent even
though John is preoccupied with establishing a steady descent rate, the aircraft maintains an
own course heading towards the airport. Accident investigators found the Saratoga's horizontal
situation indicator or HSI with the heading bug located at the 095 degree mark. That's
pretty convincing evidence that John was most certainly using the autopilots' "heading" (HDG) mode
to track the inbound course to Martha's Vineyard. It isn't until the Saratoga is descending through
3000 feet that John attained a 600 feet per minute steady rate of descent. Also he's descended at
a faster rate than he intended. If he continues descending at the same rate he will be at only (a)
one thousand foot altitude within two minutes and he'll still be 20 miles from the airport.
That's too low too far out. So what if at 2500 feet John decides to stop descending? It's what
I would do if I were in John's seat. He's descended a little quicker than planned and he doesn't want
to fly at only a thousand foot above the dark water for the last 20 miles of his trip. Also from
his previous experience of numerous flights into Martha's Vineyard, John knows he should have
already picked up the ATIS broadcast before now. He needs to double check the frequency to
make sure it's properly tuned. He needs that ATIS information now because he needs to contact
Vineyard Tower in about three minutes. He's flying towards the airport at 160 knots and he's starting
to fall behind the airplane. A sense of urgency is creeping in. He really needs the autopilot to fly
the Saratoga straight and level to give him enough time to double check the Martha's Vineyard ATIS
frequency. Leveling off at 2500 feet seems like a good decision to me at this point. And it's at
precisely 2500 feet indicated on the altimeter in the dark cockpit John reaches over
to re-engage the altitude hold mode (ALT) But in his haste he has actually inadvertently
disengaged the heading mode. The two buttons are located side by side and it would be easy to
press the wrong button if you were in a rush. Thinking that the autopilot is flying the airplane
straight and level, John grabs his flashlight and his notepad or his chart trying to verify the
ATIS frequency. Now remember the fuel imbalance. With a right wing heavy fuel imbalance and without
the autopilot to maintain the Saratoga's heading, the aircraft has begun a subtle 13 degree bank
to the right. Momentarily distracted with looking up the ATIS frequency John doesn't notice the
slight right bank or that the aircraft is still descending. 30 seconds after the right turn started
John glances up to his instruments and realizes not only is the aircraft still descending but now
it's also in a right turn. He doesn't have time to troubleshoot why the autopilot isn't doing it's
job so he quickly hits the autopilots' master disconnect switch. Easing back on the yoke he pulls
the nose up... adds left aileron to level the wings. John climbs back up to 2500 feet and levels off. Now he's flying to Saratoga by hand with
reference only to his flight instruments. John keeps the Saratoga flying straight level
for the next 50 seconds. I'm certain John decides to forget about tuning in the ATIS. He needs
to keep all his attention focused on the Saratoga's instruments. There are worse things than
contacting the tower without the ATIS information. John presses the button to flip the Vineyard
Tower frequency into the active position of his number two radio. All he needs to do is turn
back towards the airport and contact the tower in a couple of minutes. The shoreline that John
had been relying on for visual reference is now directly behind him. There's nothing to
see out of the windshield but blackness. Scanning the instruments John realizes he has
turned about 50 degrees to the right of his course to Martha's Vineyard. He puts the Saratoga in a 28
degree left wing down bank to get back on course. The Saratoga climbs slightly up to 2600 feet. In
the 28 degree turn the Saratoga starts descending at 900 feet per minute. John levels the wings
when he reaches a heading of zero nine zero. He pulls back on the yoke and momentarily slows the
descent. Head movements, gentle turns, acceleration, deceleration, etc all can contribute to the onset
of spatial disorientation and the effects are starting to set in. John's senses are screaming
to him! He feels strongly the aircraft is still turning left. He applies right aileron to stop
the turn. He's convinced something must be wrong with his instruments. He doesn't want to descend!
He pulls back on the yoke, he's still descending! He pulls harder and adds full power! John
wasn't past the point of no return yet. Recoveries from unusual attitudes are practiced
in primary flight training and instrument flight training... but they are practiced in daylight,
without the hideous effects of full-blown spatial disorientation. A nose-down steep turn power-on
unusual attitude can be recovered from quickly if the pilot can rapidly interpret and completely
trust what his instruments are telling him. We can hear the engine is racing, the VSI is showing
a descent, the altimeter is winding down, the airspeed is increasing, the heading's spinning right.
We're in a high speed diving right turn! Pulling back on the yoke in an attempt to stop the descent
at this point only causes the bank angle and rate of turn and nose down angle to increase into the
classic "graveyard spiral". What we must do to save our lives is reduce power while simultaneously
leveling the wings with ailerons. Only after the wings are level do we pull back slightly on the
yoke to ease the nose up and arrest the descent. When the descent has stopped we can add power back
in, continue to ease the nose up to climb to safety. I can only imagine the immense intensity of
the confusing and debilitating effects John suffered from the onset of spatial disorientation.
It's so easy in hindsight for pilots to quickly pass judgment saying, "that would never happen
to me because..." blah blah blah. The truth is what happened to John can happen to any pilot. It
definitely could have happened to me and my family on more than one occasion. Many times
in aviation the difference between success and failure, life and death, is razor thin. Now
don't forget at the time of this accident John has logged 238 hours of flight instruction from FAA
Certified Flight Instructors. Way more instruction than the average private pilot receives. I think
this accident begs the question; Is there something in the private pilot training syllabus that needs
improving? It has been suggested by some aviators that there is insufficient awareness among
VFR pilots about the hazards of night flying. The FAA only requires a student pilot to log
three hours of night flying to qualify for a private pilot's license. That license subsequently
allows a private pilot to fly with passengers at night as long as there is a minimum of three
miles visibility and a 1000 foot cloud ceiling. As pilots we are often faced with less than
ideal circumstances to complete a flight. As we build flight hours and experience every pilot can
look back and recall moments of near catastrophe. Aviation, and particularly General Aviation
is often conducted in a hostile and unforgiving environment. Fortunately most
pilots live to learn from close calls and we become better pilots for having done so. John F. Kennedy Jr was a good pilot. Described as
skilled and cautious by his instructors. On this flight John made a minor mistake tuning a radio
frequency that began a chain of events that ended in tragedy. John's misfortune cost the ultimate
price... his life and the lives of Carolyn and Lauren. From the first day of his life John seemed to
belong not only to our family but the American family. The whole world knew his name before he
did. But John was so much more than those long ago images emblazoned in our minds. He was a boy
who grew into a man with a zest for life and a love of adventure. He saw things that
could be lost in the glare of a spotlight. And he could laugh at the absurdity
of too much pomp and circumstance. He drove his own car and flew his
own plane which is how he wanted it. And for a thousand days he was a husband who
adored the wife who became his perfect soul mate. He was lost on that troubled night. But we will
always wait for him. So that his time which was not doubled but cut in half will live forever in
our memory and in our beguiled and broken hearts. We dared to think in that other Irish phrase
that this John Kennedy would live to comb gray hair with his beloved Carolyn by his side. But like
his father he had every gift but length of years. We who have loved him from the day he was
born and watched the remarkable man he became, now bid him farewell...
