WIESBADEN, Germany — On a dull and sorrowful Monday morning, which seemed somehow in concert with the occasion, some 2,000 USAFE officers, airmen and WAFs heard their commander-in-chief, Gen Gabriel P. Disosway, read the official announcement of the death of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
There was a contagious air of solemnity as the troops marched onto the parade ground facing USAFE headquarters.
There were spectators, almost half as many as troops, lining the square, but one could close his eyes and feel he was standing alone in some remote, isolated and hallowed refuge.
A Silence
The secretaries and German civilian employees were there, but there was no clickety-clack of high heels; they came as if on tiptoes, as if they felt they might be infringing on something close and personal, but wanting to be there in respect to a man they admired and loved.
There was no conversation, not even whispered greetings.
There was no moving about, seeking a better view. It was as if one had suddenly found himself in the midst of a congregation at prayer.
At 10 a.m., Disosway read the official announcement issued by Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara.
He also read a joint message from Secretary of the Air Force Eugene M. Zuckert and the USAF chief of staff, Gen Curtis E. LeMay..
Chaplain (Lt Col) N. P. Geany then offered prayer, and the troops were dismissed.
It was over in five minutes. But it was a gesture of homage needing no further embellishment.
As they left the parade ground, many of the troops made their way to four Wiesbaden-area chapels — at Wiesbaden Air Base, Lindsey Air Station, Camp Pieri and the USAF Hospital — to participate in interdenominational services.
Earlier, Catholic masses had been held at the hospital and at the Hainerberg housing area chapel, and a Protestant service was conducted at the Hainerberg Chapel.
At noon a USAREUR gun crew joined USAFE airmen in providing a 21-gun salute from the USAFE parade ground.
At a formal retreat at 4:15 at Lindsey, the USAREUR crew fired a 50-volley salute — one for each state of the union.
At Ramstein Air Base, some 3,000 persons attended memorial services at 11 a.m.. Monday at the southside athletic field.
Earlier in the morning the official messages from McNamara, Zuckert and LeMay, had been read at unit assemblies.
The messages were also read at the memorial service by Col Frank X. Krebs, the base commander.
