JFK remembered 50 years after assassination

Communities around America have paid tribute to John F. Kennedy who was shot and killed 50 years ago.

16:51 22 November 2013

50 years after John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he was driven through Dallas, Texas in November 22, 1963, he has been remembered by the American people today.

Cities and towns across the United States honoured the life and legacy of the charismatic leader. The city of Dallas staged an "observance to celebrate the remarkable life, legacy and leadership" in the plaza where he was shot.

Tina Towner Pender was one of the people who witnessed the assassination. She was 13 at the time and was filming on her 8mm camera with her parents.

She said: "I saw Jackie Kennedy in her pink suit, looking right at me."

She had just stopped filming when the shots rang out.

"People have written that America lost its innocence that day and I think America did change that day; the whole world changed."

President Barack Obama hailed JFK’s legacy saying: "He stays with us in our imagination, not because he left us so soon, but because he embodied the character of the people that he led.”