Thousands kindle Kennedy's Words, Fire 117, Like Thompson, who flew here from Key Dutton placed 46 roses at Kennedy's grave, By Mary Jordan 411,.Iiiox1150 l'orvi Writcr West, Fla., for ceremonies marking the 25th one for each year the president lived. anniversary of Kennedy's assassination in Dal- John Kelly brought flowers too, a continual They began arriving in the predawn dark- las, thousands of others took time yesterday to stream of floral arrangements his Arlington ness, more than three hours before the cem- relive, if only for a few moments, the early florist shop was asked to deliver to the cem- etery gates opened, drawn to the flame of a 1960s when a young president with bold ideas etery. "Some of them are from famous people, man and a time now 25 years past. lit the flame of idealism not just in this country and some are from people who just loved him," By yesterday evening, more than 20,000 but around the world. Kelly said. had made the pilgrimage to Arlington National "He is a symbol of the last time the country As thousands filed past the grave—some Cemetery to stand silently at John F. Ken- felt young, buoyant," said Frederick G. Dutton, praying, others reading or reciting aloud his nedy's grave and watch the orange flames of a Kennedy aide and former assistant secretary most famous phrases-1,500 people showed the eternal torch reach upward. of state. The Kennedy years, he said, "were up for a 1 p.m. commemorative service at St. "It's memories," said Col. Floyd James before Vietnam completely blew up, before Matthew's Cathedral, where Kennedy's funer- Thompson, a prisoner of war in Vietnam for Watergate, before Nixon. It was before a long al mass was held on Nov. 25, 1963. nine years. can't expain why I came. It's period of difficulty . . . . We go back to the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and her two memories. It's emotions, so much emotion." Kennedys for rejuvenation." See KENNEDY, A8, Col. 1 Thousands Recall Kennedy's Challenge

Corps adviser and president emer- nedy "inspired you to change the KENNEDY, From Al itus of Notre Dame University, told world. It sounds corny today, but children, Caroline and John Jr., at- the hundreds of former Peace that's what he did." tended a private mass yesterday in Corps volunteers who had gath- Journalist Bill Moyers, a former 'New York City. ered: "I think if [Kennedy] were deputy director of the Peace Corps, The slain president's youngest standing here today, his hair prob- recalled the 1960s in his tribute to and only surviving brother, Sen. ably white like mine, he would say, Kennedy: "I hear the sounds of Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), 'You are the people that took the crowds cheering and cities burning, placed a single white rose at a me- best message that I gave to the of laughing children and weeping morial to the president at Runny- world . . . You understood what it widows, of nightriders, nightmares mede, England, where the Magna meant to serve.' " and napalm, of falling barriers and Carta was signed. John Coyne understood. Coyne, new beginnings and animosities as Kennedy's mother, Rose Fitzger- who spoke at yesterday's service, old as Cain and Abel . . . ald Kennedy, 98, spent yesterday at was at the University of Michigan "But something survived those the family compound in Hyannis- in 1959 and heard Kennedy talk years which bullets could not stop. port, Mass. about his idea of winning the hearts An idea survived, embodied in the All around the globe, people re- and minds of people in other coun- Peace Corps . . . . Out there, John membered. tries through American volunteers. F. Kennedy might say, is the new Coyne signed up for the first The mayor of West Berlin, where frontier." class and went to Ethiopia. Before Kennedy delivered an impassioned Above all, according to Aline St. Coyne left, Kennedy called his speech at the Berlin Wall in June Denis, a Dominican nun born in group to the White House. "He 1963, said yesterday that the pres- 1917, the same year as JFK, Ken- asked us to write and tell him how it ident's words were "unforgettable" nedy motivated people and made was going. Then he grinned and and had "helped cement the self- added, 'No postcards.' " them feel young. "He took the best confidence of Berliners." With this flashback to the light- out of you," she said. "He inspired Vatican Radio recalled the assas- hearted, charming Kennedy way, each person to be better than they sination as a "tragic event that several in the church began weep- thought they could be." shook the world and that hit at the ing. Ted Fields, a 39-year-old envi- heart of the American dream." "He changed my life," said Cyn- ronmental engineer who was vis- Although no official ceremonies thia Reeser, a project manager for iting family in Alexandria, said that were held in Dallas, about 2,500 an international health and nutrition as he stood at Kennedy's grave yes- people came to Dealey Plaza, where program_ "He told us to use our terday, the president's words came Kennedy was shot while riding in an gifts in the best way, doing what rushing back. open limousine. A bouquet of flow- was best for the world." "You know, a lot of us took jobs ers placed at the site bore the note: Kris Balderston, a lobbysist for and told ourselves we were doing "We still miss you—Nov. 22." the State of Massachusetts who good, but we really weren't," Fields At St. Matthew's, the Rev. The- wore a 1960 Kennedy campaign said. "I'm thinking about going in odore M. Hesburgh, a former Peace button to the cathedral, said Ken- the Peace Corps."