Assassination of John F. Kennedy President Kennedy as his motorcade continued down Elm Street. About 80% of the witnesses recalled hearing three shots. A minority of the witnesses recognized the first gunshot they heard as weapon fire, but there was hardly any reaction to the first shot from a majority of the people in the crowd or those riding in the motorcade. Many bystanders later said that they heard what they first thought to either be a firecracker or the backfire of one of the vehicles shortly after the President had begun waving. Although some close witnesses recalled seeing the limousine slow down, nearly stop,
Foreign military units at the state funeral of John Kennedy Balcony with his children John Kennedy, Jr. and Caroline Kennedy. According to some accounts, Jacqueline Kennedy later remarked it was the last time she had seen the president happy before his death. The band was still in the United States at the time of the assassination, having just completed a performance in Knoxville, Tennessee. Jacqueline Kennedy requested their participation in the funeral procession, a request which was accommodated by eight pipers and a Pipe Major. The contingent was the twenty-fourth element of 32 that made-up the procession. During the state visit of the United States to Ireland in June 1963,