The day President Ronald Reagan was shot Frank Allnutt

March 30 is a well-remembered date in my life. On March 30, 1965, after graduating from the University of Denver, I left my family in Denver and set out for a job awaiting me at the Walt Disney Studio in Burbank, California. On March 30,1968, I was married at Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan survived being shot by John W. Hinckley, Jr.  It is of the latter date that I here write a tidbit of Presidential history that has never before been made public and was known only by a very few. On that fateful day I could scarcely believe what I was watching on TV news. Time after time I witnessed replays of the shooting of President Reagan. But there was more added to the shock of seeing the attempted assassination of the President of the United States. I'll explain: The wounding of President Reagan John Hinckley, Jr. JoAnn and Jack Hinckley First of all, the alleged would-be assassin was the youngest son of JoAnn and Jack Hinckley, a couple from my church in Denver. They had befriended me and my family from the time I joined the church staff a few months earlier. Second, my family had previously become acquainted with then California Governor Reagan and his family—at Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. You see, I was born with a hearing loss, so my family sat up front so I could hear better—usually in the second pew. The first pew was reserved for then Governor Reagan and his family who attended the Sunday worship services whenever they were in Los Angeles. For security reasons, their attendance was never publicized in advance. The worship services began after the Reagans were ushered to their usual seats in the front pew. Occasionally, however, it was occupied, so the Reagans joined my family in the second pew. Sometimes Mrs. Reagan sat next to me, and I was a kind of barrier between her family and my rambunctious young son, Garrett. Fast forward to March 30, 1981: President Reagan was shot by the son of my friends, the Hinckleys. The day after the shooting the Hinckleys asked me to draft a personal letter for them to send to President Reagan and the First Lady. They believed it was the right thing to do since both they and the Reagans were Christians. I advised them that their lawyer would probably not want them to mail it. But they politely insisted. So, I quickly drafted a letter, and the Hinckleys approved it, word-for-word. However, as I anticipated, the Hinckley’s lawyers advised them not to mail it. They complied. I never made a copy of the letter—not even for myself. So, for me, the date of March 30 every year is a day of reflections. Now, on this date of March 30, 2020, we find our country and the world beset by the global Coronavirus pandemic, the economic resession, and unprecedented left-leaning political resentment and hatred of our sitting President, Donald Trump. I pray we will get through this day without it becoming another notorious March 30th chapter in history.