Americans Somber Over Kennedy News

.c The Associated Press

By ARLENE LEVINSON

On a steamy summer weekend, as word spread that John F. Kennedy Jr.'s plane was missing, Americans wondered if another throat-tightening Kennedy tragedy was in the making.

Wherever people knew him or admired his renowned family, a somber mood fell Saturday.

Retired astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, took a moment to offer his sentiments at an Apollo 11 anniversary celebration at Kennedy Space Center, named after JFK Jr.'s father, who insisted the American space program go forward.

``Our hearts go out to the family who has started so much, achieved so much, suffered and sacrificed so much and now has even further uncertainty,'' Aldrin said.

Kennedy; his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy; and her sister, Lauren, were missing aboard a plane that left New Jersey on Friday evening, bound for a family wedding Saturday in Hyannisport, Mass.

Singer Michael Jackson, among the invited guests, sent a message of sympathy. In Chicago, the Sun-Times published an ``Extra Edition'' of its Sunday paper on Saturday afternoon: ``JFK JR.'S PLANE MISSING.'' St. Peter's Catholic Church in Montgomery, Ala., organized a mass for anyone wanting to pray for the Kennedys.

At New York's Yankee Stadium, before an afternoon game against the Atlanta Braves, Yankees announcer Bob Sheppard invoked a moment of silent prayer.