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DFW

(60,068 posts)

51. I was 11 as well

Sat Nov 22, 2014, 01:16 PM

Nov 2014

We were in Friday afternoon assembly at my school in Washington, D.C., and a teacher came in and quietly escorted Joe Kennedy III (in my class) and Bobby Jr. (a grade below me) out, but no one was told why. When we were done, I took a bus downtown to the National Press Building at 14th and F streets, and saw the screaming headlines "JFK SLAIN!" I had seen all the oddball tabloid exaggerations many times, and thought this one had gone too far. But when I got up to my dad's office on the 12th floor, he was looking very agitated and had two phones in his hands, one in each ear. I interrupted him just long enough to say, "don't tell me it's really true?" He nodded, and got back to talking to whomever it was he was talking to, and we listened, stunned, to the radio all the way back to the house in Virginia.

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November 22, 1963 [View all] hedgehog Nov 2014 OP

Oh wow. Who thought there'd ever be a day when you could turn on the TV on this day and not MADem Nov 2014 #1

You and me pal... Stellar Nov 2014 #8

It was my first thought when I saw the date on my computer. classof56 Nov 2014 #32

Thank you. Forgetting history is a big mistake. JDPriestly Nov 2014 #71

. awake Nov 2014 #2

....... Lugnut Nov 2014 #3

I had just turned 11 months old. Thor_MN Nov 2014 #4

Yes cwydro Nov 2014 #5

I was a little over 2 months. I to always heard as a kid that Kennedy was different from other Dustlawyer Nov 2014 #13

Me too. I was almost exactly a month old. kag Nov 2014 #49

Just over 2 years old for me. sdfernando Nov 2014 #68

... mountain grammy Nov 2014 #6

I was 20. Couldn't believe this could happen in magical, perfect America. Ninga Nov 2014 #7

I was 20 also. zeemike Nov 2014 #24

That's strange. I was 20 too. JDPriestly Nov 2014 #72

Many people remember hearing of it from Walter Cronkite, not me. HereSince1628 Nov 2014 #9

I heard it on Spanish television--they broke in to announce it. MADem Nov 2014 #75

Wow. murielm99 Nov 2014 #76

I was 7 years old sorefeet Nov 2014 #10

I was 7 too. redwitch Nov 2014 #27

We haven't been the same country since. ancianita Nov 2014 #11

I was 13, and our Catholic grade school immediately went to church and prayed..... a kennedy Nov 2014 #12

i too was 11 months, my family was living abroad. mackerel Nov 2014 #14

Reincarnate President Kennedy, please. Dont call me Shirley Nov 2014 #15

I was 18 and a new freshman at a California state college. MineralMan Nov 2014 #16

That reminds me of a story a SO of mine told me. zeemike Nov 2014 #29

You know, I find that very hard to believe, actually. MineralMan Nov 2014 #31

Well I don't doubt her words... zeemike Nov 2014 #52

Believe it ashling Nov 2014 #60

I was in school in SC, and yes there were some cheers... Sancho Nov 2014 #39

Well I do suspect that not all of them hated him that much. zeemike Nov 2014 #53

You did not have to be in the south to experience that. My brother Paul was in industrial arts class jwirr Nov 2014 #42

Good for them. zeemike Nov 2014 #55

I was in the ninth grade, Orlando, FL The Blue Flower Nov 2014 #48

I came home from school (7th grade)--where it had been announced over the loudspeaker-- mnhtnbb Nov 2014 #79

... ColesCountyDem Nov 2014 #17

Growing up in the era of TV shows Ineeda Nov 2014 #18

First Grade @ Parkwood Elementary. irisblue Nov 2014 #19

The date of my 5th birthday. Inspired Nov 2014 #20

It was the day after my fifth birthday. pamela Nov 2014 #56

I was 11 years old ashling Nov 2014 #21

I was also 11 ginnyinWI Nov 2014 #25

I was 11 too... pipi_k Nov 2014 #40

you know what else-- ginnyinWI Nov 2014 #26

I was 11 as well DFW Nov 2014 #51

I think you mean Joe Kennedy II. Joe Kennedy III was born in 1980. kwassa Nov 2014 #73

That's it. DFW Nov 2014 #78

I was not born until '71, but I remember '81 attempt on Reagan... Moostache Nov 2014 #22

Don't know what you mean by "discovered" YarnAddict Nov 2014 #28

I was 14 and in Latin class TNNurse Nov 2014 #23

A dark day. JFK was the last FDR Dem ever elected to lead our country. nt Zorra Nov 2014 #30

Uh, No. ashling Nov 2014 #62

Yes, November 22 PatrickforO Nov 2014 #33

I was on leave after a tour in Japan. 20. Tierra_y_Libertad Nov 2014 #34

The sad part of the Story is,,, Cryptoad Nov 2014 #35

8th grade - principal made the announcment on LiberalElite Nov 2014 #36

North Carolina Basic LA Nov 2014 #37

I was ten years old.. N_E_1 for Tennis Nov 2014 #38

It Was My Ccarmona Nov 2014 #41

'Twas my late father's hero CountAllVotes Nov 2014 #43

So much hope and promise was lost MissDeeds Nov 2014 #44

. Tuesday Afternoon Nov 2014 #45

Days of infamy saidsimplesimon Nov 2014 #46

. Historic NY Nov 2014 #47

Would the passage of the 26th amendment saidsimplesimon Nov 2014 #50

IIRC, it was a question of sending off 18 year olds to Vietnam - hedgehog Nov 2014 #64

Sad day Gothmog Nov 2014 #54

I was in class--the announcement came over the loudspeaker, and I thought "why would the niyad Nov 2014 #57

. pinboy3niner Nov 2014 #58

Every year when November rolls around, I feel gloomy anticipation for this calendar date. John1956PA Nov 2014 #59

k&r uppityperson Nov 2014 #61

It was 9:00 am, I was headed to Chemistry class at high school.... Hekate Nov 2014 #63

. robertpaulsen Nov 2014 #65

Was In The Third Grade... Walked Home For Lunch Only To Find My Mom Sobbing Uncontrollably... WillyT Nov 2014 #66

Everyone did. That is why I saw Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald on live TV. kwassa Nov 2014 #74

I was the only one in my family--all Republicans--who watched all of it on TV. mnhtnbb Nov 2014 #80

One of my earliest memories.. Cadfael Nov 2014 #67

My experience was very unique: RoverSuswade Nov 2014 #69

In Latin class when the announcement came over the PA eridani Nov 2014 #70

I was in elementary school. Manifestor_of_Light Nov 2014 #77