Athlone resident recounts his role in John F. Kennedy"s funeral

Last month marked the 45th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy - a milestone which carried particular significance for one Athlone resident. Col Billy Nott, then an eighteen-year-old in his second year as an army cadet, was one of 26 Irish cadets who formed a guard of honour at the funeral of one of America"s most iconic figures. Speaking to the Westmeath Independent this week, Col Nott recounted his role in the historic event. A Cork native who moved to Athlone in 1974 and lives in Coosan, he joined the FCA as a teenager and was accepted to the cadet training centre in the Curragh in 1962. He remembers watching footage of Kennedy"s visit to Ireland on television in the summer of 1963, and said the US President had a real impact on him and his colleagues. 'You could possibly compare his visit to Ireland with the Pope"s visit. People turned out in their hundreds of thousands, wherever he went,' Col Nott recalled. 'He had a huge appeal, particularly to young people. He spoke directly to young people, saying things like "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." We were all idealistic at that time so he was our hero.' While in Ireland, Kennedy was particularly impressed with a guard of honour which had been staged during his visit to Arbour Hill. 'He was very taken by that. When he went back to the States and would talk about the visit, he always referred to it,' said Col Nott. In fact, the President was so impressed by the guard of honour that he requested a recreation of the drill be filmed and sent to him. Though Col Nott was not one of the participants in the ceremony at Arbour Hill he did participate in its filmed recreation which was mailed out to be shown in the White House. Col Nott remembers seeing a newsflash on television announcing that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas, Texas, on Friday, November 22. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Kennedy"s widow, Jacqueline, remembered the impact the Irish cadet guard of honour at Arbour Hill had made on her husband, and she requested that the same drill be carried out at his funeral. News of her request filtered through to the Curragh late on the Saturday night. 'That Saturday I was on a weekend pass in Dublin when I got a phonecall to come back fast because something was up. So I dashed back to the Curragh by taxi and when I arrived at midnight they were already forming us into the group of 26 that went to Washington.' After practising the drill that night, the cadets got to bed at 2am. At Dublin airport the next day, they met President Eamon De Valera, who was to travel with them on the special Aer Lingus flight to Washington. During a stopover in Shannon, Col Nott found a phonebox and called his family in Cork to let them know that he would be participating in the funeral of the US President. 'The excitement was huge,' he said. 'At that stage we had never been on an aeroplane, we had no passports, we had nothing. Foreign Affairs got us clearance and headed for the airport. I remember that we had our rifles underneath our seats on the plane!' he said. The then-Lt Frank Colclough - a native of Clonbonny - was also among the group, serving as officer in charge of the guard. Upon their arrival in the US, late that Sunday night, the Irish contingent was greeted by Secretary of State Dean Rusk and then taken to the US Army base at Fort Meyer, Virginia. The funeral was to take place the next day and, after rehearsing their guard of honour at Fort Meyer, the cadets travelled to Arlington cemetery to await the arrival of the cortege. 'Arlington cemetery is actually quite near the city of Washington, and as the cortege passed through the city and started moving towards the cemetery we could hear it coming, with the drums of the band getting louder and louder. Eventually the cortege arrived at the graveside and that"s when Frank Colclough gave us our orders,' Col Nott said. 'Our drill would take three or four minutes, which in ceremonial terms is actually quite long because it"s dead silence and you"re going through it in slow motion. I was at the end, just opposite the grave, and out of the corner of my eye I could see the Kennedy family and cortege.' 'These really were heady days because nobody knew whether or not this might be the start of World War 3. There was a lot of fear, a lot of unease and, of course, a lot of sadness at the time.' Pleased that the guard of honour had passed off without a hitch, the Irish cadets were approached after the funeral by numerous US Senators, Congressmen and State Governors who had Irish connections. 'They all came over telling us how proud they were that we had been there,' said Col Nott. The Irish group made a brief visit into Washington that night, and on the Tuesday morning they were given a tour of sites such as Capitol Hill, the Lincoln monument, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They also visited President Kennedy"s grave once more before getting on a bus to the airport that afternoon. The group"s trip to the airport for their return journey proved to be eventful. 'The American officer in charge of us was Lt Martin Dockery, whose family came from Roscommon. He had to get us to the airport on time, but there are a couple of airports in Washington and he was taking us to the wrong airport. 'When he realised this he had to turn the bus around on one of the State highways. It went up on the grass and got stuck there, so we were all out pushing the bus. Eventually a squad car came out and a few American cops picked us up and took us to the right airport, where President De Valera was waiting patiently for us to return.' Their involvement in Kennedy"s funeral was big news. 'When we returned to Ireland, we were feted by so many people. I had to retell the story thousands of times then. I didn"t think I"d still be telling it 45 years later!' he laughed. The trip was a high-profile beginning to Col Nott"s army career. He became an artillery officer who served overseas on a number of occasions in places such as Cyprus, the Middle East, Lebanon and Yugoslavia. He was called to the bar in 1969 and took up a role as legal officer at Custume Barracks in 1974. Now the Director of Legal Services for the Defence Forces, he divides his time between Athlone and Dublin. Col Nott is the only one of the 26 cadets from Kennedy"s funeral who is still in uniform, though his 47-year career in the Defence Forces is set to come to an end when he retires next July. Outside of his army career, he has been involved in drama since he moved to Athlone, and he has been Director of the All-Ireland Drama Festival for the last seven years, a role he describes as 'a great honour.' Earlier this year Col Nott had a unique opportunity to revisit the scene of his involvement in Kennedy"s funeral all those years ago. The Nemeton production company made a documentary for TG4 on the participation of the Irish cadets at the funeral. 'They decided to pick three of the 26 who hadn"t been back since 1963. So myself, Martin Coughlan and Mick McGrath went to Washington last June. This time we stayed at the Washington Plaza Hotel - which was much more luxurious than Fort Meyer! 'We went again to Fort Meyer and were very well-received there. We were chatting to the current crop of young American soldiers who render honours at gravesides and they were fascinated to meet people who were at Kennedy"s funeral - this was something from way back in history as far as they were concerned,' he said. The group also returned to Arlington Cemetery and at John F. Kennedy"s grave they laid a wreath of 39 white roses - one for each member of their cadet class in 1963.