JFK Remembered By City’s AOH Members

“Immigration policy should be generous; it should be fair; it should be flexible. With such a policy we can turn to the world, and to our own past, with clean hands and a clear conscience.”  –  A Nation of Immigrants by John F. Kennedy

Members and friends of the city’s Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) continued their tradition of laying a wreath at the monument in memory of  President John F. Kennedy on Sunday, November 19th to mark the anniversary of his assassination.

A crowd of two dozen — most old enough to remember where they were and what they were doing when Kennedy was killed in Dallas 54 years ago this month– turned out for the ceremony. For the AOH members it was a prideful remembrance of the first Irish Catholic President who in his abbreviated administration inspired a call to public service through creation of the Peace Corp and VISTA – Volunteers In Service To America.

The AOH’s Tom Higgins and City Alderman Daniel Salerno made brief remarks as participants carried on the annual observance that began in 1964 less than a year after the assassination.   The late Dominic Colossale, a city contractor and Democratic alderman, led a fundraising drive for the monument that is located at the foot of Walnut Hill Park on West Main Street.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Kennedy’s birth and the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston offers a 100th anniversary exhibit and program through May 2018.