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 cemetery's archives. Foreign military units at the state funeral of John Kennedy Foreign military units at the state funeral of John Kennedy included elements of the British Army and Irish Army. , it is the only state funeral of a President of the United States in which foreign military forces have participated. In late 1963, the band of the Black Watch Regiment conducted a three-month performance tour of the United States. Several days before John F. Kennedy's assassination, the band was invited to undertake a charity performance on the South Lawn of the White House. Kennedy observed the performance from