General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhen you see today's date on a calendar or printed or online
and you do not stop and pause for a moment, I just cannot understand.
If you are too young to remember, it would be good for you to learn why we remember. I was 14, I had already lost my father and grandfathers, so I knew what that meant to those children and to the country as well.
I do not mind admitting, that I cried while typing this.
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polmaven
(9,463 posts)I wil keep the memories of that day in my heart for life! 
elevator
(415 posts)I was in the ninth grade at a public high school, but I was Catholic and and JFK was revered in our family. He was certainly unpopular in the south. Many mourned, but many didn't.
ShazzieB
(22,396 posts)If he was revered in your family, why did you cheer? 
Caliman73
(11,767 posts)Punctuation is important and can change the meaning of a sentence.
Contextual cues from "in the South" would indicate that there was a different response from other people living in the South, on the news of Kennedy's assassination.
Hekate
(100,133 posts)There’s all the difference in the world between “Let’s eat grandma!” And “Let’s eat, Grandma!”
Likewise, I remember rumors of some school kids in the South cheering the assassination of JFK (clearly poisoned by their parents’ politics), but as a kid in Hawai’i I never experienced such a thing for myself. Your post indicates that you did experience it — so some further context would be helpful.
yellowdogintexas
(23,634 posts)I was totally appalled!
I could not imagine feeling that way.
I think I cried for a week
HAB911
(10,372 posts)I saw several fist fights in school that day for the most insensitive of remarks, not unlike these days
Blue_Adept
(6,499 posts)Barely any of the news shows mentioned it this morning.
Three "generations" have been born since then which makes up the bulk of the country with gen x, millennials, and gen z that have absolutely no real connection to it.
Such is the march forward of time as things simply become events and passages in history books.
TNNurse
(7,517 posts)I understand a lot of very significant things have happened since 1967 when I graduated from high school. How can they possibly decide what is to be included and what is just skimmed or ignored??
I had the benefit of family who included learning in travel and vacations. I was around people who had been deeply affected by the Depression and WWII, some even from WWI and they shared stories and the significance of what had been. It was not just words in history books. I suspect not enough of that happens these days. Of course, my family had the benefit of respecting education, not all of it formal.
OK, enough of this.
Blue_Adept
(6,499 posts)
wnylib
(25,393 posts)I wasn't feeling well that morning and stayed home from school. By noon I felt well enough to leave my room and lie down on the couch, watching TV while my mother did laundry in the basement.
So I watched as the news unfolded on TV, bit by bit. Stayed glued to the TV all weekend and the following Monday for the funeral.
Tommymac
(7,334 posts)Will be interesting to see what is written about the 2020's. Authoritarian racist view, or by Constitutionalists.
As far as 1963, I was just a toddler and remember the game shows being pre-empted for days, and wondering why until...
understanding after I saw the black & white grainy TV image of Jon-Jon saluting his father in the flag covered casket which will stay with me my entire life.
Act_of_Reparation
(9,116 posts)I mean, do you have the Viking raid on Lindisfarne marked on your calendar? No? WHAT WERE THEY TEACHING KIDS IN THE 1960s???
TNNurse
(7,517 posts)but I that do know how JFK's assassination did though.
Act_of_Reparation
(9,116 posts)Without the raids, you don't have the Danelaw. Without the Danelaw, you don't have the Norman invasion of England. Without that, there wouldn't have been a United States for John F. Kennedy to have been president of. So yeah, I'd argue it had a pretty profound effect on your life, whether or not you realize it.
NullTuples
(6,017 posts)Many point out that JFK was a womanizer who had a number of affairs - some of which are seen as having a power differential that could be termed predatory. He's quoted as saying, "If I don’t have a lay for three days I get a headache." In prior generations, being seen as such a "ladies man" may have been seen as a positive, but now it's looked on in a less celebratory light, one that considers things like sexual harassment and equality, as well as what his philandering meant for and did to, his wife.
Judith Exner
Inga Arvad
Anita Ekberg
Ellen Rometsch
Gene Tierney
Mimi Alford
Marlene Dietrich
Mary Pinchot Meyer
Priscilla Wear
Jill Cowen
Current textbooks also point out that he sent us much farther down certain paths in both the Cold War and Vietnam. He was a proponent of cutting taxes, which is viewed today as having a similar view to post-Reagan Republicans. And he was responsible for Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
He is also portrayed as being quite sincere in his drive to improve the lives of Native Americans & other racial minorities, culminating for him in the CRA of '64 (he'd announced it in June of '63). Likewise, he was responsible for the above-ground nuclear test ban treaty of 1963. If not for that, we'd have even more residual radiation today.
Most younger teachers and most students thus see him as another President, a mix of good and bad. Human. Politician.
trof
(54,274 posts)jeez
Oh, and you're WAY off about the Bay of Pigs.
That was an Eisenhower 'leftover'.
wnylib
(25,393 posts)of your points.
Yes, he was definitely a womanizer, long before he had the power of the presidency. That does not equate with sexual harrassment. I have known married men who were womanizers but not harrassers.
Vietnam - Eisenhower sent the first "advisors" to Vietnam. Kennedy increased their number, with troops to back them up. But he strongly opposed fighting another country's civil war for them. There was too little support among the South Vietnamese army and people for propping up the SV dictatorship. Kennedy began looking for ways to pull back US troops. It was Johnson who was more willing to go along with the US military brass by greatly escalating US troop presence.
Bay of Pigs - This was an Eisenhower plan, in cooperation with the CIA and Joint Chiefs. They expected that Nixon would win in 1960 and follow through on it. The CIA and Joint Chiefs proposed it to Kennedy and he opposed it because he perceived that it would become a US war, not one that the Cuban people would back. They assurred him that there were Cuban rebels ready to fight, who had many recruits with them, and the solid support of the people. Kennedy gave conditional approval for the plan only IF the initial action demonstrated the existence of sufficient fighters AND the Cuban public's support. He warned that if the mission was not successful in arousing the general rebellion that they anticipated, he would halt the entire operation.
The CIA and Joints Chiefs knew that the number of fighters and Cuban public support did not exist. They wanted to get a foot in with the idea that Kennedy would have to back them once they got there for the US (not Cuban) overthrow that the brass wanted. The mission was a distrous failure and Kennedy lived up to his warning. He took responsibility for it because he had given them the go ahead, but he never trusted them
again. Kennedy was wrong to approve the mission in the first place, but he did the right thing in pulling out of it.
Those same military hawks later pushed Kennedy to invade Cuba as the first solution to the Missile Crisis. They were willing to gamble that the Soviets would do nothing in response. They tried to sabotage Kennedy's handling of the crisis to get the war they wanted. If you have not seen it, I recommend watching the film 13 Days. It is quite accurate. My brother was in the Navy then and was part of the blockade.
I will always believe that the power struggle between Kennedy and the CIA and military over Vietnam and Cuba cost Kennedy his life.
NullTuples
(6,017 posts)(except the womanizing being an admirable trait part)
I'm saying we had to browse through a half dozen current US History textbooks to choose which one our oldest child was going to use & they ranged from "Texas Approved" to some that would get burnt in a bonfire if they every crossed the border into Texas.
Kids aren't being taught the nuances you presented.
wnylib
(25,393 posts)where I said that womanizing was an admirable trait. This is DU, not a RW site where I would expect to see such distortions. I said that being a womanizer does not equate to being a sexual harrasser. Men can have many affairs and not sexually harrass women. I am presuming that you know the difference between a man being unfaithful to his wife many times versus a man who harrasses women sexually with intimidation, pressure, threats, sexualization of a workplace, groping and inappropriate touching, etc.
I have been sexually harrassed, as have most women at some time in our lives. I know what it feels like. I would never consider it an admirable trait. I have been married - twice - so I also do not consider infidelity an admirable trait. I would not tolerate it. But Jackie did, although she did consider divorce at one point.
I did not present "nuances." I told what happened. Kennedy's power struggles with the CIA, Joint Chiefs, and the military industrial complex over civilian control of the government are a matter of public and historical record. Schools should be teaching about it, in civics classes if not in history classes, as an example of Constitutional powers.
electric_blue68
(26,560 posts)wow. Your brother being part of the blockade. I was 9.
As to your last thoughts... wouldn't surprise me. 😔
wnylib
(25,393 posts)career of the Navy. I was just 13 at the time of the missile crisis, but, as you can imagine, all of my family followed it closely.
I remember taking my transistor radio to school with me so I could keep up to date with developments. We were not allowed to have them in class, so I hid it under my clothing and ran the cord of the ear bud up through my clothes and under my shoulder length hair. To keep the cord from being visible, I had to tilt my head a little to one side.
I did not hear my American history teacher call on me because I was tuned in to a UN meeting where the US ambassador was about to speak. The teacher got suspicious about my inattention and tilted head so he asked outright if I was listening to a radio. I admitted it and told him what I was listening to. He asked me to remove the ear bud and turn up the volume so we could all listen.
My grandparents on one side had been immigrants who had relatives behind the Iron Curtain. Some of our neighbors had been partisans in WWII who immigrated to the US after the war. I grew up around people who discussed politics and current events, so I followed and understood some events more than some kids my age.
electric_blue68
(26,560 posts)you and your family!
Ha! I love you sneaking in the transistor radio to school!
Love it even more that your teacher let the whole class hear it once he found you out.
My dad was 1st gen Ukrainian American. (You can imagine my consternation w drumph [of course, amongst many other things] dealing with The Ukraine) Only child so didn't have much contact except with some other may other fellow 1st gen Ukies who's parent's helped each other to get to the USA.
Big Greek family on my mom's side. One of her brothers was in a union. Politics often came up at our family gatherings.
And my dad had me by either 12, or 13 slipping notices about our local political races under the apt doors in our apt building.
wnylib
(25,393 posts)took advantage of teachable moments.
I had that same teacher the following year for civics. When classes resumed the day after JFK's funeral, he let us spend the whole class period talking about the assassination, Oswald's murder on TV, and the funeral because he knew that kids would not be able to focus on much else. The next day, he skipped ahead to the unit that covered the line of presidential succession.
The year before that, Life Magazine had devoted an entire issue to the discovery of DNA, RNA, genes and what we knew then (very little, compared to now) about how they work. Our science class that year was human biology from cells, tissue, and organs to each system of the body. Our science teacher bought up several issues of the magazine and we used them as texts in place of the unit we were supposed to be covering in our textbooks.
In 7th grade, our earth and space science curriculum had included a section on radiation, which covered atomic bombs, fallout, etc. It was the Cold War years when the possibility of nuclear war was often brought up. Later that year, I read On the Beach, about the last survivors of a nuclear holocaust.
So, between my brother's Navy service, my awareness of nuclear radiation and DNA vulnerability, plus the fiction book on a nuclear war, the Cuban Missile Crisis was pretty damned intense stuff for a 13 year old to cope with. Then there was the assassination the following year. Those things left their mark on Boomers. But then, every generation has its issues to deal with.
Rebl2
(17,578 posts)seen any news shows mention it. I know someone who would remember and talk about it if he was still on msnbc.
electric_blue68
(26,560 posts)living thing. You wade in streams and eddie's of those times, the people, the events. You are then guided to see how those flowing waters carry, or not carry people, emotions, changed outcomes, altered ideas, things that remained the same down to the present day.
You feel what people thought and experienced.
Kid Berwyn
(23,841 posts)And things seem to get worse.
I was 6 and I, too, remember.
Thank you for sharing, TNNurse.
Blue_Adept
(6,499 posts)This year only saw more of it than the last few because of it being the 20th anniversary combined with the Afghanistan withdrawal.
electric_blue68
(26,560 posts)of NJ, Con remeber the most (and those who's friends, or family from further away who were there that day).
spicysista
(1,731 posts)Had I not called my mother this morning today's significance would have gone over my head, too. Since the kids are out of school today and to honor his memory, I am going to show them the " Peace Speech". I thought you might enjoy seeing it, too.
May he rest in power!
BlackSkimmer
(51,308 posts)HUAJIAO
(2,730 posts)
Wah_Guy
(39 posts)I'll never forget the date. Eight years ago, my wife of nearly 25 years and I commemorated the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination. Later that night, my darling Stephanie died of a massive heart attack.
No, I'll never forget.
TNNurse
(7,517 posts)Please accept my condolences, I know the memories are particularly hard for you.
LittleGirl
(8,988 posts)I’m very sorry for your loss. Peace.
KatK
(231 posts)electric_blue68
(26,560 posts)Raine
(31,133 posts)Big hug for you 
... for Stephanie 
vlyons
(10,252 posts)I was a high school soph and skipped school to see Kennedy.
My Dad was a Dallas cop, Lt Detective Burglary and Theft. His office was in city hall downtown, which also had courtrooms and a jail on the 6th floor. After the shooting, the Chief of Police held press conference. My Dad noticed that Jack Ruby was there and asked his Captain why Jack Ruby was let in? He wasn't a reporter. Jack Ruby had a stripper night club and was often in city hall paying bail for his strippers who got busted for prostitution. Ruby was well known to the cops at city hall. But no one told Ruby to leave. Later on, of course, Ruby shot Oswald.
TNNurse
(7,517 posts)I remember walking into the kitchen where my mother was and telling her. She took the time to talk with me, she understood that I had seen someone killed on live TV and that the memory would stay with me for life.
LittleGirl
(8,988 posts)I was 3 years old.
wnylib
(25,393 posts)Our local newspaper had printed a schedule of events for the weekend, which I had read carefully.
We had just got home from church and I turned on the TV immediately. My father objected, said we needed to give it a rest. I said that we'd get to see Oswald when they transferred him to another jail. So we all paused in the living room to get a look at him. We all shouted versions of "OMG! Somebody shot him!" at the same time.
It was one of those moments when you don't believe that you saw what you just saw.
yardwork
(69,136 posts)He was watching a video of cartoons and when the tape ended, the TV came on with the breaking news and footage. He was alone in the living room, the first person in our family to learn the news. He saw the firefighters carrying the bodies of babies. I wish so much that he'd never seen that.
Our country is too violent.
Kid Berwyn
(23,841 posts)…at that press conference who had asked about Oswald being a member of the “Free Cuba Committee” and Ruby interjected, “Fair Play for Cuba Committee.”
How would a mobbed-up bar owner know that?
PS: Thank you for sharing, vylons. What else did your father say about the assassination of President Kennedy?
vlyons
(10,252 posts)Daddy was rearranging furniture in his office. He pulled a file cabinet away from the wall and a copy of Kennedy's autopsy report that had been stuck behind the cabinet fell out.. Don't know what happened to it. Daddy probably sent it to the coroner's office. Kennedy was not well-loved in Dallas. The John Birch Society was going strong back then. My own parents were Eisenhower Republicans.
Ligyron
(8,006 posts)I remember the one about the rifle slug in pristine condition being found on the stretcher with JFK’s body.
I also remember being sent home from my 4th grade class along with the rest of my Elementary School. The announcement came over that newly installed technological wonder … an intercom system which told us to head for home, that something bad had happened and our parents would explain.
This was before mandatory busing when we all lived within walking distance.
Kid Berwyn
(23,841 posts)For some reason, original JFK autopsy report was burned. The second version is what historians have to work with.
Should you ever find that report, please contact a person with integrity expert in the case. I’d recommend James Douglass, who wrote “JFK and the Unspeakable” or another author with a track record for truthfulness.
Below are a quote and link to info from USN Corpsman Paul K. O'Connor, who assisted at the autopsi at Bethesda Naval Hospital:
Law: Now, in talking to some of the other fellows who were with you, some of your colleagues, I'm struck with the fact that all of you know bits and pieces. It's like you're all on different frequencies. You all noticed different things. Did you all get together at one point and shared any kind of information? I mean early on, not years later. I'm talking about within that week, within a few days?
O'Connor: No. What happened was - that took place on a Friday, of course, he was buried on the Monday and on Tuesday of that next week we were called into Captain Stover's office - who was one of the commanders of the Naval Medical School - where we were instructed and told that we were going to sign orders of silence under the penalty of general court martial, and other dreadful things like going to prison, if we talked to anybody about anything that happened that night. Period.
Law: So you were threatened basically with being thrown in jail?
O'Connor: In prison.
Law: In prison if you talked about this to anybody?
O'Connor: To anybody. Now that was the worst experience of my life. The Kennedy assassination autopsy was bad. But that scared me to death because I was a good loyal navy hospital corpsman, had done nothing wrong and was thrown into a situation that I couldn't control. And all of a sudden I was told that if I was to say something to anybody, anybody - and they left that wide open anybody-that, if found out, we'd go to prison and be dishonorably discharged from the navy.
Source: https://spartacus-educational.com/JFKoconnorPK.htm
I cannot now find an interview with the late Mr. O’Connor, but I remember he reported that USAF General Curtis LeMay attended the autopsy of President Kennedy on 11/22/63. LeMay lit a cigar and was told to put it out by a lower ranking officer. A number of researchers believe LeMay may have been involved in the assassination.
yardwork
(69,136 posts)I always wondered why he was allowed to get so close.
Solomon
(12,640 posts)not yet born.
PatrickforB
(15,391 posts)I've been to Arlington and seen the imperishable flame.
Harker
(17,625 posts)My mom said, "no, no, Harker, it was President Lincoln who was shot!"
catbyte
(38,918 posts)It's one of those things that even if I develop Alzheimer's, that is one memory that I'm sure will stay with me. Awful, awful day. And I saw my first murder on live TV a few days later, ugh. Makes you grow up real fast.
electric_blue68
(26,560 posts)I didn't understand the bigger picture yet, but my reaction was you just don't do such a heinious thing.
If you were any kind of non super racist, non liberals are pinkos city the pall was intense.
TheRickles
(3,262 posts)The news spread like wild-fire down the corridors. "Going viral", pre-Internet. Will never forget it.
Poiuyt
(18,272 posts)Almost 30 years ago and I still miss him.
soldierant
(9,305 posts)I know the same day Kennedy was shot two other men died, either of who would likely have been front page news if it hadn't happened that day. Aldous Huxley and C. S. Lewis. I learned of both deaths years later (and not at the same time.) But I shed for JFK all the tears I had in me at the time. Knowing of the other two at that time couldn't have squeezed any more out of me.
Pobeka
(5,000 posts)I still remember her watching the funeral on TV, with the coffin drawn by horses. I knew it was important, but was far to young to know why.
Bev54
(13,365 posts)school that day because of the death of President Kennedy. I am sure I knew who he was (just not positive) before hand but I remember crying my eyes out for a couple of weeks watching it on TV. We only got 1-2 channels then, in a very small BC town on Northern Vancouver Island.
PlanetBev
(4,403 posts)And now at the age of 71, eight of my closest friends have died. I am reminded that every year, there are fewer and fewer of us that remember that dark day in November.
Silent3
(15,909 posts)...so I was alive when it happened, but have no conscious memory of the event.
Stuart G
(38,726 posts).......This fellow was screaming in the hall of the school, "JFK was just shot"..."JFK was just shot".........
.............When I heard that, I knew he was telling the truth...this time...awful..as word got around...awful!!
........(strange...until I read this thread...I didn't remember today's the day) 
jmbar2
(7,847 posts)The "Evangelical christian" kids were smiling when the news blasted through the school halls.
Later, I asked my mom why they were happy about it, and she explained the that some Protestants didn't like Catholics. At first, I thought Protestant meant "prostitutes".
I don't remember why I knew about prostitutes before I knew what a Protestant was. But I never forgot the smug smiles of all the prostitutes at school that day.
louis-t
(24,584 posts)
I never knew there were kids in the South celebrating JFK's death. How very Christian of them (meaning their parents). The 5 minutes in second grade before the principal came on the pa and announced his death are seared in my memory. A rumor from a kid who had walked up to the teacher, a buzz going around the room, the girl next to me saying "I hope it's not true", me saying "I hope what's not true?". Mrs. Kaler always blew into the mic before making an announcement. "Your attention boys and girls for a very important announcement. Our president is dead. He was shot with a gun...." Nope, still can't do it without getting choked up. jmbar2
(7,847 posts)I was in rural Oklahoma. The Christian churches at that time were all hellfire and brimstone. we had only one black kid in the whole school. I felt very sorry for him, but never spoke to him. Don't know why.
The "prostitute" kids had a problem with a Catholic president. Or rather, their parents did. I never knew about political hate until that moment.
louis-t
(24,584 posts)I can't imagine anyone that evil, especially a kid, smiling and happy at the death of a president and calling themselves Christian. We grew up Catholic and my very Republican aunts on my Dad's side would often side with Evangelicals over politics. I would delight in reminding them that their 'friends' in 1960 were screaming "Kennedy? You can't elect him! He's a Catholic, fer God's sake!"
jmbar2
(7,847 posts)I don't think there were many Catholics where I lived, so I guess it's easy to demonize folks when you don't have many around.
Fla Dem
(27,510 posts)Someone came in and told our Director. He in turn told us. There was a shocked reaction from everyone. Some crying, others just frozen in disbelief. After a spell the director asked us to play the Navy hymn "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" in honor of President Kennedy. It was difficult to get through but we did. It was a Friday and the following Thursday, Thanksgiving, we played it at halftime, the stands were hushed.
It's a day etched in my memory as it is with millions.
I post the Hymn here in JFK's Memory.
jmbar2
(7,847 posts)Fla Dem
(27,510 posts)(The Navy Hymn)
Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace,
O hear us when we cry to thee
For those in peril on the sea!
O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at thy word,
Who walkedst on the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep,
O hear us when we cry to thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace,
O hear us when we cry to thee
For those in peril on the sea!
Eternal Father, grant, we pray,
To all Marines, both night and day,
The courage, honor, strength, and skill
Their land to serve, thy law fulfill;
Be thou the shield forevermore
From every peril to the Corps.
Lord, guard and guide the ones who fly
Through the great spaces in the sky.
Be with them always in the air,
In darkening storms or sunlight fair.
jmbar2
(7,847 posts)wnylib
(25,393 posts)so I was familiar with it before it was associated with JFK.
Rabrrrrrr
(58,374 posts)Was anyone making a big deal of the anniversary of McKinley's assassination in the early 1960s? Did you stop and pause for a moment on Sept. 14, 1963? Or 1962? Or 1959. which was the 58th anniversary then?
If you didn't, did you have folks from that era shame you for not learning history properly?
grantcart
(53,061 posts)To begin with JFK was the first American politician who was able to connect through TV in a way only movie stars, singers and bands had. Added to that was experiencing JFK's heroism by watching the movie PT 109.
The assassination was something everyone experienced first hand with round the clock coverage. This was intensified when you were home from school because of the assassination and then watched the assassin get shot on live TV while you were watching.
McKinley's assassination was of someone few had seen beyond still photos and mostly covered by slow moving print media.
It was traumatic to experience but I wouldn't expect the next generation to have the same visceral reaction to the date.
jmbar2
(7,847 posts)Made it more relatable to other kids.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)I remember being shook up a little when Nixon resigned. I was 12. I remember waiting to see RFK at the airport (do not remember seeing him, just remember waiting). I was six. Do not remember hearing that he had been killed, or about the death of MLK.
Remember hearing the news of John Lennon's death, but do not remember what the date was, although I can tell you it was a Monday, because I heard it reported by Howard Cosell. Remember seeing the news of Reagan being shot but also heard that he was okay at the same time. Could not tell you the date, or even the year 1981, 1982. (yes, goog can tell me). President Ford almost got shot, if not for a defective gun.
Curious. Would we be remembering those dates if either of those two had been killed?
If Kennedy was President today would there be internet "conspiracies" calling him a sexual predator?
usaf-vet
(7,779 posts)demigoddess
(6,675 posts)Most kids burst out crying. Teachers joined in for a bit then took control of the class and got back to order to calm everyone.
OldYog
(9 posts)having secured a three-day pass from my squadron at Sheppard AFB to visit friends in the area. All US Military personnel were placed on red alert, all leaves and passes were canceled, and the nation mourned, with the exception of the Haters, who thought it a step in the right direction. Between the killing of JFK, the civil rights battles, and the following 2 1/2 years serving in Vietnam showed me all I needed to know about the level of hatred in the souls of so many Americans. Fear and hatred flourishes ever more strongly in this nation as time passes. Sadly, Apostles of Hatred still rule in the US.
llmart
(17,481 posts)It was the first time I ever saw my father and mother weep.
BlueIdaho
(13,582 posts)Greatness was stolen from us.
I was in 5th grade and the girl in front of me had smuggled a transistor radio into her desk and was listening to the local radio station. Suddenly she burst out crying. The world was never the same.
ShazzieB
(22,396 posts)Then I looked at the calendar and went, "OH."
I was in 13 and in 8th grade. When the news came through that the president had been shot, they started playing the news over the p.a. system. I remember sitting in study hall after lunch, listening to the news, and wondering whether he was going to die or not. (Of course, he was already dead, but it was a while before they announced that he had passed.)
After study hall, I went to my home ec class, where we girls worked on our sewing projects while continuing to listen to the radio. (The boys were in shop class at that time.) That's where I was when they finally announced that he was dead, and I remember what a huge shock it was. My memories are hazy after that, but I know they must have canceled school for the rest of the day, and sent us home. I also know we didn't have school for a few days after that, probably for the rest of that week.
I don't remember any of the kids in my class saying anything mean, but I remember my sister (age 8/3rd grade) crying because of a smart remark one of her friends made.
The next thing I remember clearly is watching the funeral procession on TV a few days later. I was absolutely spellbound watching that solemn procession with the riderless horse and little John John saluting. The main thing I remember is feeling so sorry for those two poor little kids who had lost their daddy.
The Kennedy assassination and the Cuban Missile Crisis the year before are two of my most vivid memories from junior high, both deeply etched in my memory, even though a lot of the details have faded over the years.
murielm99
(32,862 posts)I was in typing class. The clackety-clack of those old manual typewriters made it impossible to hear the intercom. Finally, a kid in the front row noticed. We got quiet. The principal told us what had happened. Then, he put the radio on all the intercoms so the whole school could hear. The kids who were at lunch commandeered the TV in the teachers' lounge. The teachers helped.
We listened to the whole thing, from the beginning of the program through the announcement of his death. There were a lot of crying kids and teachers. The meanest boy in the entire school sat in front of me. He put his head down on his desk and cried.
When the bell rang, I went to geometry class. Our school was a big, overcrowded place full of baby boomers. The hallways were always full of laughing, loud voices and slamming lockers. That day, it was so quiet you could hear peoples' footsteps. I don't remember hearing a single voice.
By the time we were all seated in math class, the principal was back on the intercom. He sent us home. The rest is history. I wish it was not.
Siwsan
(27,830 posts)I can remember the school intercom snapping on without the usual rhythmic tap that the principal always did before any announcement. We had TVs in every classroom and the teacher immediately turned it on. One detail that always stuck was hearing something about a woman in a polka dot dress.
School was dismissed early and my parents were in the parking lot to pick us up - very unusual since we walked to and from school. We headed to my grandmother's home.
I have equally vivid memories of the day of the funeral, and the day Oswald was shot.
PortTack
(35,816 posts)Laughingly, my siblings if they forget my bday, get a reminder when they hear it remembered on the news.
Fritz67
(368 posts)Many years she'd relate at how bad her seventeenth birthday was because of the assassination.
She'd have been seventy-five today if she hadn't crossed to the other side five years ago.
So it's a double bittersweet day today.
PortTack
(35,816 posts)Upthevibe
(10,142 posts)I was six years old and in the first grade. One of my classmates told me while we were walking home. I shouted to her, "I don't believe you!" I ran home and my mom had the T.V. on. She was crying.....
spike jones
(2,006 posts)zaj
(3,433 posts)
BadgerMom
(3,397 posts)I’m right there with you. I’m embarrassed to admit that watching the awful footage, replayed on tv, the LBJ swearing-in, the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald on live television—I thought it HAD to be a conspiracy. I know it’s perhaps irrelevant now, but I still do. Jack Ruby just felt badly for the First Lady? The simple answers never rang true to my young soul.
Paladin
(32,354 posts)JFK was going to give a speech at a banquet in Austin, that evening. Some of my friends' parents were planning on attending that event; I've seen their invitations. Awful, awful day.
MyMission
(2,010 posts)I was only 2 when JFK was assassinated. I don't have a memory of that event.
But less than 5 years later, in 1968 before I turned 7 I remember 2 assassinations.
MLK and RFK we're killed 2 months apart. I understood that bad people were killing good people who wanted to help change our world and make it better. And RFK assassination was revisited at that time so I remember learning about it and being affected by it too.
Growing up in the 1960s was memorable for too many reasons. I remember the nightly news reporting body counts every day during the Vietnam war. I remember the reports of the Mei Lai massacre in 1968, and 2 assassinations, and war protests. The world seemed to be in chaos.
And (as a young kid) I remember liking Nixon because he went to China and wanted to make friends, and I remember learning about acupuncture at that time, which has helped me over the years.
It's interesting to me that the dates for these shootings are simple to remember.
Mr.Bill
(24,906 posts)it says a lot about the Catholic church that they practically bestowed sainthood on JFK when he was elected, and now we have bishops who want to refuse to give Biden communion.
oasis
(53,468 posts)announced that Kennedy was shot. Unbelievable. Our English teacher chuckled as the rest of the class sat there in shock.
One kid started to make jokes about presidential assassinations.
Minutes later, the period bell rang, the class ended and students began to fill the hallway. I could hear an eerie murmur of voices as I walked to my next class. The majority of students were walking in a zombie-like trance.
That day in my high school is burned into my memory like it happened yesterday.
catchnrelease
(2,145 posts)My strongest memorie of that moment was after the announcement was made by our teacher. The boy sitting in front of me, John Levy, was so upset but kept trying to reassure everyone--'He'll be ok, he'll be ok'. Of course they had us all praying.
And at home, this is so off the wall, I remember that my dad had bought a color tv which was delivered for that weekend. We were so excited to be able to see color on television, but all of the programming over those days was pertaining to the shooting, Oswald's death etc, and it all was in black and white.
Sympthsical
(10,910 posts)I know what day it is today, but I can't say I'd have thought about it if it weren't for news and social media posts. It doesn't resonate any more than April 15th (Lincoln).
For my generation, it's 9/11. I can't think of any other date my age cohort thinks commonly about.
If you lived through something, the emotions linger and are sounded by reminders. If not, it's just another historical note in a string of them.
IzzaNuDay
(1,267 posts)Won’t say exactly how young I was, but I remember this day distinctly. The event, followed by the deaths of MLK and RFK certainly colored my views on politics. It was a sad day because I couldn’t process what it meant to die.
And my parents were the “children should be seen and not heard” type. And they were annoyed at me asking questions. I distinctly remember seeing the TV when Oswald was shot and I asked my mother what happened and was told to be quiet.
What my parents could not do is stop me from reading. I read everything, especially the newspaper. And today, I still read about what happened this day.
FakeNoose
(40,985 posts)I was in Catholic school at the time, and needless to say the nuns and teachers all loved President Kennedy. To us kids we couldn't imagine anything more horrifying than the way Kennedy was assassinated. However I remember my Grandpa telling me that he recalled another awful day - it was the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. In my Grandpa's mind those were the 2 worst days of his life.
Texaswitchy
(2,962 posts)I do have clear memory.
The thing is someone would have.to be around 8 or so to have a clear memory.
So many of us have a child's memory of this day.
How many people are around still around who were adults back then.
I was home that not at school, watching TV.
A game show was on, I was watching CBS.
My memory would be different then the kids at school.
Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)TNNurse
(7,517 posts)But I do know some of the history and implications. I do know he was shot on the 14th and died on the 15th, but I do not have memories of all the events from watching them on TV.
Withywindle
(9,989 posts)I know the history and what happened and how lasting the shock wave was, but I don't feel it as viscerally as someone who was there.
Nictuku
(4,610 posts)I learned later what it all meant. And yes, I've been teary all day today. Feeling very depressed and sad, and fearful of the future of our Nation.
OldDem1
(10 posts)I remember being sent to my home room from gym class and seeing all the teachers both women and men crying. I still cry on this date
FailureToCommunicate
(14,587 posts)and Jackie, in her black veil, touched his shoulder...I cried and cried and cried.
Political awareness dawned on me that day, and has been there every day since.
RIP President John Kennedy.
James48
(5,144 posts)I was three years and three months old that day.
And I remember exactly where I was, at swimming lessons, when someone came running into the house to turn on the TV set, it was the President. I didn’t know who that was, but I knew he was important.
yellowdogintexas
(23,634 posts)chem class next door had a radio on and the teacher came in our room and told our teacher about the shooting. I remember my teacher saying before he told us the news: "If this is another of Crafton's sick jokes I will hit him with my crutches!" (polio victim) Mr Crafton was back in about 30 minutes with the news of the president's death.
We were sent home early, which involved a lot of school bus logistics.
I cried all weekend. The John John image of course is forever engraved in my memory; another image is that of the dignitaries, most of whom walked in the procession to Arlington. I was most moved by DeGaulle, Haile Selassi, King Hussein, Willy Brandt, Prince Phillip, all of whom were participants in WW 2, just like JFK I found this list on WIKI
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dignitaries_at_the_state_funeral_of_John_F._Kennedy
Thanksgiving Day I walked into my grandfather's house and my grandmother had draped their framed picture of JFK with a black silk scarf.
I_UndergroundPanther
(13,358 posts)Has put me there on that day. I was like 1 1/2 when it happened..
But I also noticed this:
When people die there isnt a reaction like that anymore.
People might make a note when someone meaninful dies,but there is no nationwide mourning anymore.
The shock of seeing someone die on tv
Causes no reflex of empathy.
We hear about kids gunned down in school
We hear about 911 and the reaction is subdued compaired to what all of you felt.
Its sad. What has happened to us?
Why is there such a weak reaction to such tragedy.
I actually felt stupid for crying after the shock of what I saw was happening on tv wore off.
Just seeing those towers going down and people leaping to thier deaths.the explosions the people trying to outrun the biggest dust cloud I have ever seen..
The pentagon torn.
And the images of what happened were on tv for weeks,months after that.
It tore my heart.
But seeing it over and over over time it disconnected me from my intial feelings of shock,sadness and fear of what if more buildings were going to be brought down.
This year for 911 shows on tv I actually got a little irritated they were rehashing it yet again.
What has happened to me?
calimary
(89,451 posts)MAN, so long ago…. So much has happened…
Hekate
(100,133 posts)… and optimism on that day.
I was 16 — and felt deeply wounded, but not that. I resisted conspiracy theories for many years. It took all the events of the 1960s to unfold to bury that much of my innocence. It took so many assassinations, and the Vietnam war.
How sad that some here have seen fit to dismiss, almost mock, our memories.
For those who don’t know, who were not there, let me say that Jack and Jackie did bring a sense of Camelot, of youth and glamor and optimism and renewal. They showed an appreciation of classical music and the arts in general. The great cellist Pablo Casals gave a concert at the White House. Jack and Jackie Kennedy brought in accomplished people, some of them as glamorous as themselves and others just incredibly bright. She was shy, but he was quick witted, witty, ready to spar without rancor with the press.
He founded the Peace Corps, and very many of us who were young sent away for the packet, a big envelope stuffed with information, that we held on to for years. When I was in college and ever since then I have met former PCVs, that is Peace Corps Volunteers.
But on this day, 58 years ago, I was a public high school kid on O’ahu making my way through the jammed hallways between home room and chemistry class, when a boy called out that the president had been shot. He must have had a transistor radio. Our school was typical for the time and place: there was no intercom, there were no televisions — but word spread out nonetheless, and by 9:30 our teacher told us that the president had been killed in Dallas. (I’m scratching my head trying to remember my chem teacher’s name, and all I can recall now is that he was Japanese American, served in the US Army in WWII and was sent to be part of the occupying force in Japan after the war ended.)
The shock was incredible. If there was anyone anywhere in the school who thought this murder was a good thing, they kept their mouths well shut. As I was reminded almost daily, most of the white kids in the school were military dependents (not me), and a fair number of those were from the South, strangers in a strange land.
School was not dismissed, but in midday a mass assembly was called in the big courtyard. Words were spoken, probably a prayer as well, and then the best trumpeter in our school band played Taps as the flag was lowered to half-staff.
And home to spend three days glued to the TV in the living room. Watching the funeral. Watching Jack Ruby kill Oswald on live TV, robbing us all of whatever questions Oswald might have answered.
And on with life, my country changed in ways I could not have foretold.
RIP Jack & Jackie Kennedy
Historic NY
(39,864 posts)I met him as a youngster in June of 1962, seems our school bus was slowing down his motorcade to West Point.
PJMcK
(24,935 posts)I was only 5 when President Kennedy was assassinated but it is a searing memory.
The world changed that weekend.
cate94
(3,074 posts)I was sick and home from school, and watching TV. Mom was in the kitchen. I saw him being murdered in black and white. I went and told my mom, but she thought I must be mistaken, and I wish I had been. As Irish Catholics, he was our hero.
I was babysitting when Bobby was killed. Again watched his murder on TV.