Exactly 60 years ago today the nation buried President John F. Kennedy and a Mexico native was there to see it.

Even though it was six decades ago, Navy Veteran Gary Songer still remembers the day he and his buddies tried to get as close as they could to the funeral of the fallen leader of our country. Songer had just arrived at Andrews Airforce Base after boot camp when the news of Kennedy’s assassination arrived. He was working on the tarmac when the news hit.

“As soon as they killed him the base was locked down tight,” Songer said. “We couldn’t go anywhere and we couldn’t do anything.”

Kennedy is the last President to be assassinated. He was buried Nov. 25, 1963. There have been three other Presidents assassinated in our country’s history starting with Abraham Lincoln in 1865, President James Garfield in 1881, and President William McKinley in 1901. The last attempt was on President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and there have been several others including Presidents Andrew Jackson, Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, and Gerald Ford.

Songer said activity at the base stopped for a couple of days but things got busy once the day of the funeral arrived. Kennedy’s body was brought back to Andrews Air Force Base but the runway was used for the Air Force side.

“We saw the plane coming in,” Songer said. “We couldn’t see it real well because we were probably half a mile across there.”

Songer said a steady stream of dignitaries also arrived at the base. The day of the funeral service members were allowed to leave the base for the event. Songer said they tried to get as close as they could but as anyone could imagine it wasn’t easy and they had to watch from afar.

It was me and a bunch of buddies and we marched all the way from the White House to the cemetery behind the Hurst; we were way behind them,” Songer said. “You’d never think you would be doing anything like that.”

Songer said there wasn’t anyone on the base who was going to miss the event if they could leave.

“It’s what you had to do, you had to go,” Songer said. “It was an honor to be there and I’m glad I was there. It’s just too bad I had to see him that way.”

Among the highlights of his life attending, or at least trying to attend, JFK’s funeral is up there right behind getting married and joining the Navy.

“If I was a civilian still in high school I probably would have shrugged it off,” Songer said. “When you’re top dog gets killed and you’re right there. It was an honor and it’s still an honor I got to be there.”