Nov 22, 2008 3:14 pm US/Pacific
JFK Assassination, 45 Years Later
DALLAS, Texas (CBS 5 / AP) ―
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John F. Kennedy as 35th President in this photo taken June 1, 1962.
AP
Saturday marked the 45th anniversary since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas.
A couple whose efforts to shield their children after the gunfire became part of the JFK history.
Bill Newman and his wife, Gayle, settled on the lawn at Dealey Plaza a few minutes before Kennedy's motorcade glided by on Nov. 22, 1963. Their two sons, 4-year-old Billy and 2-year-old Clayton, were in tow.
Newman said he thought he heard fireworks as JFK's black convertible approached. But as the limo drew closer, Newman said he could see blood on Kennedy and Texas Gov. John Connally.
Newman said he told his wife: "Hit the ground."
Images of the Newmans shielding their boys drew international attention.
Meantime, retired Dallas police detective Jim Leavelle still gets letters from strangers because of a
1963 photo of him standing next to assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.
The 88-year-old Leavelle remains one of the investigation's most famous figures. He was standing in a tan suit and matching Resistol cowboy hat on Nov. 24, 1963 -- handcuffed to Oswald.
Then Jack Ruby fired a pistol and fatally shot Oswald. The snapshot was immortalized in the famous photo from the basement of Dallas police headquarters.
Leavelle leans back, his eyebrows furrowed and face stunned. Oswald grimaces. To the right, Ruby leans in and is still pointing his gun at Kennedy's assassin.
The Warren Commission concluded Oswald fired three shots at Kennedy's motorcade from the Texas School Book Depository.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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