Weir Lundstedt was an infant when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963.
His mother, Carolyn Lundstedt, undoubtedly feeling the sense of loss gripping the country at that time, wrote her son and his sibling’s letters expressing her emotions in the moments following the national tragedy.
“I’m nervous,” he told WMUR 9 on Wednesday as he cut the envelope’s seal, addressed to “Master Frederick Weir Lundstedt,” postmarked in Riverton, New Jersey, with a 5-cent stamp.
His mother oddly enough passed away on Nov. 22, 1989. Nearly 20 years later, in 2008, Lundstedt found the letter addressed to him but never opened it.
Now, 60 years removed from the president’s killing, he stumbled upon the forgotten letter while sorting through his parents’ possessions after his father died last month.
“Friday, Nov. 22, 1963. Dear Weir. As you were sleeping now in your crib upstairs, you are too young to realize,” Lundstedt read for the first time, in front of the local station’s camera crew.
Needing a moment to regain his composure as he became overcome with emotions, Lundstedt continued.
“You will one day read about this in your history book. Know that he has been, we feel, a good, honest, and devoted young president,” his mother wrote.
“He has been energetic and tireless in his quest for lasting world peace. What a pity that one of his own people should take it upon himself to destroy this vital man. Lovingly, your mother and dad,” Lundstedt recited.
“I should have opened this sooner,” Lundstedt added.
Lundstedt’s mother — like most of the nation that day and those after — understood the impact of what happened to America and needed to share what she was feeling with her children.
Kennedy, gearing up to announce his next presidential campaign, was 46 years old when he was shot in front of crowds of adoring supporters while riding in a motorcade in Dallas at around 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 22, 1963.
By 1 p.m. the 35th president of the United States was pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital.
Around two hours after Kennedy was shot, a shockwave ricocheted through the nation as Americans watched Lyndon B. Johnson get sworn in as president next to the now-widowed First Lady Jackie Kennedy on Air Force One, still wearing the same outfit stained with her husband’s blood.
During a 21-hour period leading up to his funeral, over 250,000 people filed into the Capital Rotunda –where the president’s flag-draped casket was on display — to pay their respects to the promising young president taken in the prime of his presidential career, according to the JFK Library.
His funeral saw the likes of more than 100 heads of state and representatives from various countries and was viewed by millions more watching the ceremony on television on Nov. 25, 1963.
At the time of his death, Kennedy averaged around a 70% approval rating with Americans, according to a 2023 poll done by Gallup.
Kennedy remains the most highly-rated former president, with a 90% job approval rating.