Obama to honour visit Kennedy grave site

Washington: US President Barack Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton will visit the grave site of John F Kennedy next week, to mark the 50th anniversary of his assassination.

The three Democratic Party champions, along with First Lady Michelle Obama, will lay a wreath close to the eternal flame that marks the resting place of the 35th US president at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington. The poignant moment of remembrance will come two days before the November 22 half century anniversary of Kennedy being gunned down in an open top limousine in Dallas, in a crime which traumatised the world. The White House said Obama would also give a speech on Wednesday evening honouring Kennedy`s legacy of service at a dinner honoring awardees of the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. The annual award of the medals was initiated by Kennedy, and earlier on Wednesday Obama will present this year`s honorees at a White House ceremony. Former president Clinton, former Washington Post editor and Kennedy confidant Ben Bradlee and talk show host Oprah Winfrey are among those getting medals this year.