22 GA "Kid" Ashe - Archives - University of Notre Dame

pARALLeL
IN bisTORy
IN MeMORiAM JobN p. keNNet>y
By LAWRENCE J. CULLINEY '28
CBr ONG AGO at the dawn of a magnificent
T-' centur>', a tall, strong youth pursued
the manly game of sword and lance. Skilled
therein, he became the undefeated victor
of five hundred mounted encounters, the
champion knight of Christendom. Brave in
vcar, he unhorsed the doughty Richard of
the Lion Heart and rebuked that ingrate
who pursued his defeated and dying father,
the king. Defending England from the in-
\*ader, he had ardor for battle, a bareheaded
warrior relieving the siege at Lin-
'^oln. -•^s regent for a young king he became
head of state. -Amid the violence of tournament
and war, he remained true to his God,
devoted to his young and beautiful wife,
and was just and moderate. Loyalty was
hi.s hallmark. His death on May 14, 1219,
plunged the people of his country* into the
deepest grief, and even England's foe, Philip
.Augustus, mourned and acclaimed the loyalty
of the deceased knight. Bishops and
barons, great men and common followed
the funeral train to London: all knew he
had saved England. Before his bier the
archbishop proclaimed him the best knight
,^f all the world. This warrior-leader was
"Villiam the Marshal, First Earl of Pembroke,
the greatest fighting man of the century—perhaps
of any century—but he was
known as The Good Knight.
N OUR TIME seven centuries later emerged
I such a man. A tall, slim youth, serious
student and ardent athlete prepared for
tasks that lay ahead. Soon came World War
II and a nation knew the wounded and
heroic skipper of PT 109. Later his battles
were in the field of politics, and issues and
eloquence were his sword and lance. In
spirited campaigns he mounted ever higher
to his goal. From interlude induced by
injury, a legacy from the South Pacific, came
literary triumph; his courage knew no pause,
for it ^vas his badge. Against great odds he
achieved the highest office in the land, became
the thirty-fifth and youngest President
of the United States. His program ^vas
The New Frontier which charted a course
of national strength and pointed to tomorrows
of peace and justice, and freedom
from want and oppression. Then, in the
summer of his life, on November 22, 1963,
came a monstrous deed: a craven's bullet
hushed a brilliant mind and stilled a gallant
heart. Shocked as never before in this century,
his nation grieved and a world
mourned. Even the Soviet leader, whom he
bested at an hour of national peril and at
the risk of nuclear war, sent condolence for
the martyred Statesman of the West.
Monarchs and heads of state, high officials
of his nation and the great of other lands
marched on foot in the warrior-hero's funeral
procession: and the common people watched
and wept. Richard Cardinal Gushing, Archbishop
of Boston, at graveside bade farewell
to a wonderful man. Withal, the greatest
world leader of his time was one true to his
God, devoted to his wife and family, lo^ng
his countr)- which gave him its trust; he,
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, will be remembered
as The Good President.
KENNEDY MEMORIAL Scholarships at ND to promote the late President's cause
of racial justice were donated to the University hy Mr. and Mrs. John Btmdschuh of
New York. Here Btmdschuh (left) and Fr. Hesburgh join Speaker of the US House
of Representatives John McCormack (center) in congratulating the first recipients,
who had already been enrolled as ND students: Jacques Yates (2nd from left), a
sophomore from Waukegan, HI.; and Leon J. Roos, a senior from Houston, Tex.
Rep. McCormack (D-Mass.), a former colleague of President Kennedy, made the
scholarship presentation on behalf of the Bundschuh family and the University.
MeMORiAL
MASS
Some 1,500 persons jammed the Cathedral
of St. Matthew in Washington for
a low memorial Mass for President John
F. Kennedy. The funeral sen°ice for the
President was held in the same church following
his assassination a year ago.
Father John J. Cavanaugh CSC, former
president of Notre Dame and a friend of
the Kennedy family, offered the Mass and
preached the sermon. The Mass was requested
by the Kennedy family. Senatorelect
Robert F. Kennedy of New York with
his wife and their son Robert Jr., S.irgent
Shriver and his daughter Maria attended.
.Also present were Chief Justice Earl Warren,
members of the U.S. Supreme Court,
members of President Johnson's cabinet and
members of the diplomatic corps.
In his sermon Father Cavanaugh said of
President Kennedy: "He walked among the
noblest and he walked among the workers
in the fields and factories, and he walked
with reIa.\ation and joy, and they smiled
back at him. He spoke and lived for peace,
yet he knew that armaments and trained
fight forces made his voice carry and carry
convincingly...."
"He spoke of religious poverty not as a
new political slogan hut ... as a sacred
cause that hb and no other man's conscience
can turn from. He spoke of going on with
racial justice as if everyone who had suffered
from racial injustice was one of his
anguishes and had entered into his flesh
and blood."
"This morning's rededication" to him.
Father Cavanaugh concluded, "has a very
important meaning. It is the . . . urge to
get on with the tasks, with good consciences
our only reward, with history as our jn^c"
Notre Dame Alumnus, Year End, 1964 9