Editor, Gazette-Journal:

President John Kennedy’s words echo through the canyons of our collective conscience. Approaching Nov. 22, Dallas and JFK’s legacy are on America’s minds—mine in particular. I lived in Hyannis on the Cape. I attended services and if I arrived early enough at the church, I’d catch a glimpse of the President and the First Lady.

I’d take a short walk along the beach and watch the Kennedy clan play football. No Secret Service personnel were in sight. At thirteen years old, I was mightily impressed by a promise of going to the moon by the end of the decade.

When news came over my high school’s intercom of his death, I—more than most—felt a personal loss. All these years later, with triumphs and tragedies having befallen America, my generation is more reflective than ever on the subject of challenges, met and unmet, and promises kept and unkept. JFK also said, “… what can we do for our country.” I am left to wonder at his eloquence and at a country he might...