Please join with me in a moment of reflection on another one of America's most famous families.

He originally wanted to fly over land but (according to one report I heard) his wife wanted to give her sister a lift to Hyannis port. He had very little time on this type of aircraft and would have been considered wise to postpone the flight until conditions had improved. He allowed time pressures (and perhaps his wife's desire to give her sister a lift) to over-ride his judgement. He may have even felt his masculinity was on the line, though we may never know.

He took a type of plane he was newly certified on and flew it in conditions he had little experience with. He flew at night, over water, in poor weather. He and two others are dead. The tragedy lies in the fact that they could have avoided this fate if they had not been in some sort of hurry.

My sympathy is reserved mainly for the survivors. As I am not a follower of Kennedy exploits (except for the ones they can't keep out of the media), could someone tell me if RFK Jr. had any kids? What about the sister-in-law? Was she married? Was she someone's mom? She was certainly someone's daughter.

--Baloo

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"Someday your ship will come in...and you'll be at the airport "
www.geocities.com/Area51/Shire/8641/

Baloo: As far as I know, there were no kids involved. JFK Jr and wife didn't have any, none have been mentioned in the sisters case. Caroline has two, I think.

He was at least the third Kennedy to die in an air crash. An Aunt and an Uncle before him, his father and Uncle were asasinated. Ted was in a plane crash in the 60's, and recieved a broken back. One cousin died of a drug OD. another in a sking accident.

I started out with a fasination with the asasination of JFK, and became a fan of the man and his ideals. The one thing he did that impressed me the most, was that he learned from his mistakes. That's something you can't say for a lot of US presidents. Most of them believe they are god by the time they get into office.

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WHO ARE YOU?

RW; If you watch the whole piece of film, you see his mother whisper to him just before he steps forward.
The President is the head of the military.

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WHO ARE YOU?

And yes, the president IS considered the commander-in-chief of the US's armed forces, (even if he does little or no actual commanding) so saluting HIM is appropriate as well.

We'll never know for sure whether he was prompted or not, or just imitating the soldiers. I've heard it both ways, from people I'm just as sure don't really know either.

As for JFK Jr: I'm sorry he's dead, he seemed like that rare thing nowadays, an OK Kennedy, but he died doing something, probably a series of somethings, that was spectacularly stupid for a man of his age and experience. You DON'T fly a plane under those conditions, especially if you're wearing a cast.

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"When we turn our back on our principles, we stop being human." -- Janeway, "Equinox"