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Thousands gathered in cold and dreary weather Friday in Dallas' Dealey Plaza to mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
The 50th anniversary commemorative ceremony began at 11:30 a.m. local time - the time when Kennedy's motorcade made its way through downtown Dallas on November 22, 1963.
A memorial was unveiled in the plaza inscribed with the last lines of the speech President Kennedy planned to deliver in Dallas 50 years ago today - but never got to make.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings also read some of those words aloud to the crowd.
"I leave you with those resonant words. We in this country, in this generation, are by destiny, rather than choice, the watchman on the walls of world freedom. We ask therefore that we may be worthy of our power and our responsibility. That we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint."