Online edition of Daily News

It is a question on the lips of so many around the world as they think back to the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas in the United States of America. President Kennedy's death stunned the people of Ceylon.

John F. Kennedy was viewed as a highly intelligent, charismatic US President by many in South Asia including Ceylon. He was the youngest President of the United States, narrowly beating Richard Nixon in the Presidential Elections in 1961. He was 43 years old.

Radio Ceylon highlighted the news of a visit of a delegation from Ceylon which included Dr. N.M. Perera. They met President Kennedy in the Oval Office in the White House in Washington. They were struck by his warmth, his intelligence and his humour. Ceylon and the United States enjoyed warm diplomatic relations during the Kennedy era.

1961 was a historic year for both Ceylon and the United States of America. On January 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the youngest ever elected President of the US.

In Colombo, on July 20th, 1961, Sirimavo Bandaranaike widow of Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was sworn in as the world's first woman Prime Minister.

Radio Ceylon, the first radio station in South Asia, broadcast news of both occasions. Millions in South Asia from India to even Burma turned into Radio Ceylon - it was regarded as one of the finest radio stations in South Asia and millions of listeners wrote in, filling mailbags.

The world was in shock when John F. Kennedy was assassinated at 1.00 p.m. on 22nd November, 1963 in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas - he was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald who fired shots from the top of the Book Depository building in Dealey Plaza.

President John F. Kennedy and Jacquelien Kennedy arrive in Love Field, Dallas on November 22, 1963.

The legendary newsman Walter Cronkite broke the news over CBS that Kennedy had been shot. Soon the news flashed that John F. Kennedy had died, was broadcast over the airwaves of Radio Ceylon.

In 1963, the popular Radio Ceylon announcer, Vernon Corea worked as Commercial Assistant in the Commercial Service. It was Vernon who launched Radio Ceylon's tribute to President John F. Kennedy.

Vernon included some of the great speeches made by John F. Kennedy and announced the assassination of the youngest ever President in Dallas, Texas.

Vernon asked Craig Thompson, the young American Peace Corps volunteer - who was in the first batch of Peace Corps staff working in Ceylon, to co-present the radio program over the airwaves of Radio Ceylon.

'One of the most difficult requests anyone has ever made of me, was when Vernon requested that I record a 30 minute tribute of condolences following the death of President John F. Kennedy - shortly after the assassination. It was all I could do to "hold it together" while I read the sad messages that had come in from all around the world. But Vernon was there to help me get through it all."

John F. Kennedy was held in respect in Ceylon - by Ceylonese politicians across the political divide. President Kennedy never visited Ceylon, although his arrival in the Presidential Elections, Richard Nixon visited Colombo in the 1950s.

People across South Asia were taken up by the youngest ever American President and all that he stood for. They mourned this tragic loss. The Government of Ceylon even released a special First Day Cover in 1963 titled 'Ceylon mourns the death of President John F. Kennedy.'

Vernon Corea never met John F. Kennedy. However, in 1986 he visited Washington and the John F. Kennedy Centre when his brother, Ernest Corea was Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the United States. Vernon was the BBC's Ethnic Minorities Adviser at the time.

It was a very special moment for Vernon, as he stood in the foyer of the John F. Kennedy Centre in Washington in 1986.