The pall of death hangs over America.

A great man died Friday. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a man who had given of himself in the Navy, House, Senate and for almost three years in the presidency, was struck down by a bullet from an assassin’s gun.

A part of every American died Friday, wounded too by that bullet.

As hundreds of thousands of people turned out to greet the president, possibly to assure him that Adlai Stevenson’s bad time in Dallas was not representative of Texas welcomes, one unthinking person wiped out the life of a man who had to think about everything.

We extend our deepest sympathy to the Kennedy family, who had already lost a son fighting for America during World War II.

Ironically, the new president, Lyndon B. Johnson, was born and sworn in here in Texas, where his predecessor died.

The nation will go on, life will go on. Our new president is eminently capable of leading our country.

We will continue our lives. But we will never forget the grief shared throughout the world yesterday when a great man was murdered.