A few hundred people, mostly tourists, gathered near downtown Dallas' Dealey Plaza and the famous grassy knoll to mark the event Thursday at the time of the early afternoon shooting in 1963.
Most people bowed their heads in silence.
Among those attending was Ed Suslovic, who grew up in Massachusetts and told The Dallas Morning News (bit.ly/UOi3TM4) his family worshipped Kennedy and had a picture of the president in their living room along with a photo of the Pope.
The 53-year-old Suslovic says as a kid, Kennedy was larger than life to him. But he says Thursday's unofficial event felt disjointed to him, part carnival, part conspiracy theory and part reverence.
