Saturday marks the 40th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy -- a momentous day for a then-young photojournalist who now lives in Austin.
Two days later will mark the 40th anniversary of the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of killing Kennedy. Oswald was gunned down in a Dallas parking garage on live television.
George Phenix was there to witness -- and record -- history.
"A woman in the crowd had a transistor radio to her ear and she started crying and she's saying, 'He's been hit, he's been hit.' And just uncontrollable tears and I walked up and I said, 'Hit with what?' and I thought rock, bottle. I didn't hear, and she didn't say anything because turns out my boss was inside reporting to the world that the president had been shot," said former photojournalist George Phenix.
For Phenix, a young camera man, it was the beginning of nearly round the clock work. He was just 24, at the start of his career when Kennedy died at Parkland Hospital.
"I burst into some patient's room and I said, 'I'm press, I need that window' And to my amazement, they said, 'OK,' " Phenix said.
 |  |
 | |  |
| | | | | | | |
Phenix's video
Watch photojournalist's George Phenix's video of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald.
 
Phenix's in slow motion
This is a slow motion version of Phenix's video.
Recalling Oswald
George Phenix recalls the day Lee Harvey Oswald was shot.
| | |
| | | | | |
|
"It was a strange feeling, part of it was you're doing your job, part of it was, you wanted to know, and part of it, you felt a little guilty, because everybody was mourning. I didn't get to mourn for a couple of days after that," he said.
Instead he went to work and captured Oswald's murder on his camera. Phenix was working for KRLD in Dallas for about six weeks when he got the assignment.
Phenix was there as Jack Ruby shot Oswald.
"Ruby had come in during, I guess right at the start of that, and he was immediately to my right, but I was unaware he was there, because the camera had those big Mickey Mouse ears. I couldn't see that side. And he jumps out and shoots him and I'm right behind him," Phenix said. "The gun went off and it was like a cement box, it was loud. And I might have run, but I had an iron rail right behind me and I couldn't."
His video is now famous.
"In the frame right before that, Dan Rather thought he saw Oswald recognize Ruby, setting in motion the conspiracy theories," he said.
So, what does George Phenix think. Did Oswald act alone?
"I was 25 years old. I don't have any idea. I want to think the Warren Commission is right, but after being in government a number of years, I don't know if I trust anybody," he said.
One thing is certain, Phenix was in the right place at the right time.
"As the ambulance cleared the ramp out of my vision, my battery went dead. It could have gone dead at any minute. I was just lucky," he said.
He's only watched the video a handful of times.
"Ruby was actually in front of me, a little bit to the right. I didn't realize that," he said.
So, 40 years later, he's still learning things about the days he'll never forget.
Phenix and several of his former co-workers are working together again. They're writing a book about their experiences. It's called When the News went Live, and is expected out next year.
