Assassination of President

1330 Attending college, without the right to vote, I had little or no interest in national politics (or state or local, for that matter). In the fall of 1960, John Kennedy arrived in Dayton to give a morning campaign speech from the courthouse steps. Cutting classes, I zigzagged through the crowd to watch and hear Kennedy speak to everyone, regardless of age, race, religion, or gender. That speech crystallized his appeal and the potential that went, for the most part, unrealized and terminated by the tragic events on November 22, 1963, just 3 short years after his election. His accomplishments, though, were considerable: the launch of the Peace Corps; a stand-down of the Soviet Union with the Cuban missile crisis; and insistence on the passage of civil rights legislation, to name several. To this day, his favorable public opinion ratings remain high. The following three pieces are dedicated to his memory: a scenario centered on the injuries, illustrating the progress in the plastic surgeon’s management of trauma; a similar discussion focusing on maxillofacial trauma; and a description of the evolution of trauma triage, employing as an example the recent bombing at the Boston Marathon.