The Editor’s Vault: Remembering President Kennedy Published Nov. 21, 2014 By Annette Crawford Air Force Recruiting Service Public Affairs JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas -- In 1993, I was a technical sergeant stationed at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio. On Nov. 21 of that year, the base observed the 30th anniversary of the visit of President John F. Kennedy. He was at Brooks to dedicate the four-building complex that housed the Aerospace Medical Division headquarters and the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine. It would be his last official act. This year marks 51 years since that dedication ceremony. Brooks AFB is now Brooks City Base. The complex that Kennedy dedicated was recently announced as the future home of the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine. General Bedwell In covering the anniversary, I interviewed several people who were at Brooks for Kennedy's visit. Among them were retired Air Force Maj. Gen. T.C. Bedwell. Bedwell was commander of the Aerospace Medical Division and hosted the president during his visit. The general retired from the Air Force Aug. 1, 1968, as the director of staff for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Health Affairs, and lived in San Antonio until his death on Oct. 11, 1997. The headquarters building at Brooks was named after him. Here is his story: The logistics and planning of the president's visit was quite a project, the general remembered. "We went through the governor, John Connally, to make sure that the president got his invitation. We had a date set and sent out 400 invitations. Then the White House called to cancel the date. It was quite a chore to regroup - all those invitations and all - but we did it." President Kennedy spent a couple of hours at the base. "He had an incredible amount of charisma. We really enjoyed being with him." The general said Nov. 21 was a beautiful day, but it was very windy. "I remember the president had a bit of trouble with his notes." After his speech, President Kennedy went to tour to four Airmen who had volunteered to spend 42 days in a simulated space cabin at the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine. The four teen-agers were recent graduates of basic training at Lackland AFB. "He talked to them for quite a bit," Bedwell recalled. "Mrs. Kennedy gave the m the thumbs-up sign." On Nov. 22, the general met his daughter downtown for lunch at the St. Anthony Hotel. "When I came in everyone asked me if I had heard the news, that the president had been shot. I called my wife and she said someone had called her but that she could hardly believe the news. She turned on the TV, and by then, that's all anyone could talk about." Colonel Kenny When I cross-trained into the public affairs career field at Scott AFB, Ill., in 1982, my first boss was Lt. Col. Robert J. Kenny. In 1963, he was the assistant information officer for the Aerospace Medical Division Office of Information (forerunner of today's public affairs). When he told the story of Kennedy's visit, you could tell the impact it made on the junior officer who had only been in the Air Force one year. Because of my mutual admiration for Kennedy, I knew I had to share his experience. Kenny retired from the Air Force in 1982, and lives in Belleville, Ill. Here is his story: Kenny's job was to "honcho" the White House press corps, an awesome task for the young second lieutenant. "I was out on the tarmac trying to get the buses lined up. The maintenance people were worried they were too close to the plane. The utter confusion and so many people - I was 'sir'ing everybody I ran into, trying to get things set up." But everything fell into place and his efforts were well-rewarded when the door to Air Force One opened up. "Those two (the president and Jackie) popped out and it was absolutely breathtaking - their youth and their good looks were so unbelievable. It was as if the entire crowd gasped at once, an audible intake of breath. "We stood there in silence looking at them for what seemed like five minutes but couldn't have been more than three seconds. They were so stunning." Everything moved quickly once the presidential party arrived. Kenny and the press were in their buses in the motorcade - "the same motorcade that would travel in Dallas the next day. It was chilling to think of it later." Kenny said the motorcade traveled through town, with thousands of cheering San Antonians lining the roads. At one point, President Kennedy jumped out of the car and shook hands with some nuns. The following day, Kenny met some of the "hangover press" for lunch at the club, and then took them out to the airport. "Of course, none of us knew anything at that point. I was so relieved that the media were gone, that we could all sit back and reflect and talk about how great everything had gone, but we were robbed of that opportunity. "After I dropped them off I turned on the radio. I was so tired. I must have listened to the news a good 10 minutes before I realized what I was hearing. It just wasn't sinking in. I thought it was a re-creation of Lincoln's assassination." When the news finally sunk in, Kenny had to pull off the road. "I was overwhelmed, struck dumb. I couldn't drive, I couldn't think. It was unbelievable. "His death marked the end of an era. Life would never be the same again." "The Editor's Vault" takes a look at articles written by retired Master Sgt. Annette Crawford throughout a career in public affairs that began in 1982. Stories are run exactly as they were at the time of publication; if there are words or terms that are unfamiliar, or if the writing style doesn't seem consistent with other articles in the newsletters, that's why.