Where were you when you heard JFK was shot?

[Skinner]

I am too young -- only 32 years old -- so I don't have a story to share. But I am interested to hear some of your stories about the Kennedy assassination. Where were you? How did you find out? How did you feel? What did you do? What were the next few days like, with so much happening?

It was 40 years ago today. What's your story?

[bloom]

1. I was 4 - I remember seeing the funeral on TV - B/W.

I remember seeing John Jr. That is all.

[woofless]

2. I was ten years old and out of school ill.

Ma and I went downtown Wakefield, MA to do and errand for Grandpa and I heard it first on the car radio. I will never forget that.

[Red State Rebel]

3. 2nd Grade, Meramec Heights Elementary - Mrs. Ross' class

I remember her telling us what had happened, going home and seeing it the old Black & White TV for days.

[MuseRider]

4. I was in 5th grade

We were in class when our teacher told us and they brought in a TV. She asked us to sit quietly and draw pictures. This is a true story, I promise. We were sitting in groups of 2 and the kid across from me was Fred Phelps Jr. We all drew little pictures of stuff but he drew a great big picture of Kennedy with his brains blowing out. I never liked the kid, totally creeped me out, obviously 40 years later I can still feel the creepiness of the moment he presented his picture with pride.
I remember my mother sort of made us watch the funeral. I can remember wanting to go out to play instead. When I finally bitched so much she sent me out I did not want to be out there anymore, I wanted to watch the processional. Very confused I guess. Also very sad.

[Skinner]

6. Whoa! You mean *the* Fred Phelps, Jr.?

Of GodHatesFags.com? You're kidding!

[MuseRider]

8. I have known them

all of my life. The VERY one. Isn't that an accomplishment? Creepy. I have a few good stories.

[Skinner]

10. Oh... My... God.

One of these days, you should share those stories. I'm sure DUers would be interested in hearing them. Ewwww!

[hlthe2b]

51. Perhaps we could invite Muserider...

to write a special article for the lobby (front page), so we could all be sure and see it. I'd be interested for sure..


ANother poster here (GLoria) went to school with Peggy Noonan (the Reagan/Bush drooling sycophant). She did write an interesting article about that not too long ago. Perhaps we can start a trend....

[MuseRider]

59. Thanks, but

most of my stories are kids stuff since I learned early to avoid these people. Mostly stuff like my brother throwing up in his sisters hair. Fred bringing me gifts ( I still have them, couldn't stand him but how could any pre teen girl give up her Beatles card collection?). But I did go to school with Fred Jr. from K-12. There are a few things but not anything particularly interesting. Like I said, mostly kids stuff.

[hlthe2b]

61. Do you know anything about him or his family...

that would shed light on why he is the angry, hateful racist,homophobe that we've all come to know?

[MuseRider]

67. Actually, no

all I really know is what you can get in the newspaper. Like I said, we all kind of stayed away since Fred Sr. was always a problem. The kids were not really involved in the usual kid things, they were usually selling candy and stuff for the church so really, I doubt many outside of the church really knew them well. I am sure others do now that the kids have grown but it seems a pretty isolated community as you can imagine. It is such a shame because the kids seemed quite nice when we were young but no one that I know ever really was able to be close enough to them. It really would be a sad story if they were not so hateful and so harmful. A couple of the younger boys got away. They have had some articles in the paper but that has been a few years ago.

[Bronco69]

14. I would LOVE to hear those stories!

[illini]

22. Yes tell us more.

[Cornus]

5. First President I voted for

JFK was the first president I ever voted for. I had just started my first job and had to take some time off for a dentist appointment. I still remember sitting in the waiting room when the announcement came over the radio. Those next couple of days we were all glued to the TV...and lots of tears.

[RebelOne]

57. Me, too.

We must be in the same generation, age wise.

[leftchick]

7. I was in Kindergarten class....

At Our Lady of Lourdes School in Upstate NY. There was an announcement over the school speaker that the President had been shot.
The nuns and lay teachers were all trying to keep from crying. They let school out early and the rest of the day was spent glued to the TV to find out more. It was the first time I had ever heard the word "Assasinated". Everyone was absolutely shocked and so, so sad.
Watching the funeral on TV, I remember being mesmerized by the white horse with no rider. :(

[hlthe2b]

50. i was also in kindergarten...

Miller Park Elementary, Lee's Summit,MO ...

I remember so clearly being told by the teacher what had happened and not long after, we were sent out to recess (while the teachers huddled in shock). We "wee ones" of course gathered around to try to understand what we'd been told. Of course, being such young children, we immediately looked around to see "who must have done it" and ultimately decided upon the new janitor (the only stranger, we knew)... In retrospect this naive little assessment, is not so terribly different from the extent of knowledge many feel they have to this day... Conspiracy of not, there are questions that have not been answered for the American people. They should be....

(Among these is a question for GHW Bush: how is it, so many of us can remember clearly where we were on this fateful day, when we were mere children of five years and Bush Senior, CAN NOT?)

[Nay]

9. Found out in 8th grade geography class.

Evdryone was sent home. We sat around the TV, crying. Two days later I was watching live TV when Ruby shot Oswald. Total freakout time. It was pretty surreal.

[BiggJawn]

11. I was in first grade. We were brought to the cafeteria where the TV was

I didn't know our school even HAD a TV (yes, this was before Channel One)
Then they called the busses and dismissed class.

I didn't understand it. they didn't introduce us to the political process in first grade.

We went to visit relatives in Chicago for Thanksgiving, stayed a few days, saw the funeral on TV.

[DianeK]

12. i was in 3rd grade..

the principal of that school very dramatically stepped inside our classroom and said 'boys and girls, the president of the united states is dead'...pretty dramatic for a 9 year old kid...they proceeded to dismiss us from school and the days following were spent in front of the one black and white tv we owned watching the entire display of all events...hard to believe that anything could be more shocking than all of that, but the live murder of oswald on tv as i was watching was probably one of the most disturbing events i have ever witnessed on live tv

[Cheswick2.0]

13. I was in first grade

I remember we were watching a film strip or something because the room was dark. I remember the door to the room opening, I can still see that slash of light from the hallway spilling into our darkened room. Another teacher walked in and asked my teacher to come into the hallway. My teacher turned on the lights and asked me to "keep an eye on the class" (even then I was a dictatorial pain in the butt). A minute later she came back in crying and told us the President had been shot and that he was dead.

We were dismissed early and I remember watching TV for the next few days. Nothing is as clear a memory to me as those few minutes in the classroom.
I too saw Oswald killed. I was so young I really had no idea what to make of all of it. I remember looking at the Look Or Life magazine when it came out and seeing all those images that are so ingrained in our minds... the picture or the first Lady in the black veil, John saluting his father's casket.

The fact that Bush the greater "can't remember" where he was proves to me beyond a doubt that he was involved or knows something he is not telling. I was 6 years old and I can remember. I know it sounds a like a leap to judgement, but I don't know anyone else over the age of five at the time who doesn't have vivid memories of where they were when they heard.

[Skinner]

16. Bush Sr. says he can't remember the Kennedy assasination?

Creepy. That proves to me beyond a doubt that the man has no soul.

[Cheswick2.0]

18. yes, he has said he does not remember where he was

He was however in Tx at the time according to some sources.

[Capn Sunshine]

81. Beyond that, JE Hoover's notes of that day

referred to being briefed by a "Mr. Bush of the CIA..."

[Booberdawg]

34. Very revealing - Bush Sr "doesn't remember"??

:freak:

[MrBenchley]

37. It popped up in a TV interview

by somebody lobbing softball questions ("Where di you meet Mrs. Bush") and it was VERY awkward...

A "Texas businessman named George Bush" also pops up as a suspect in the Warren Commission Report (and is quickly dismissed)....and the official story is that it is some other "Texas businessman named George Bush" and not that corrupt piece of shit...

The amazing thing about the Bush Crime Family is that nothing about their past stands up to the slightest scrutiny....and so it is almost never subjected to any in the "liberal" media.

[underpants]

15. My mother was a school teacher 2 years out of college

I wasn't alive so I'll share this.

The principle came to the door and asked her to step out in the hall. He told her and told her that school (in Ohio) would be letting the kids go home soon. When Oswald got shot she didnt' believe it she thought it was a pro wrestling stunt.

[SiobhanClancy]

17. 6th Grade,St. Dominic's

I remember it very clearly,as if it was yesterday. The nun came in and announced that President Kennedy had been shot. We were all herded into the chapel to pray for him. A short time later we heard that he had died,and the world stood still. It was an unimaginable thing. Kennedy was one of us,my Irish Catholic parents had always told me..and now one of us was no more. It felt very personal,and very frightening. It was the first time in my life that I realized that horrible things happened,and that the adults couldn't always protect you. We had nonstop news coverage for the next few days(on our 3 television channels),and no one did anything else but watch. We saw Oswald shot,the funeral, and every painful moment was burned into memories forever. If I live to be 80 years old,it will be there,just as clearly as it is today.

[BJ]

19. I was in the eighth grade.....

and I was between classes when an older friend of mine told me Kennedy'd been shot. I didn't believe, saying that even in those days of convertable presidential limousines the Secret Service wouldn't let anybody close enough to get away with it. I remember it was some time after lunch.

I didn't hear any television or radio reports until the last period of the school day, around 2 p.m., in Mr. Russel's shop class. Mr. Russel had a big Thrities-style radio and it was on with the news of Kennedy's assassination. It stunned us all. Imagine a roomful of eighth garde boys with absolutely nothing to say.

Anyway, after letting it sink in for a moment, Mr. Russel turned off the radio and lectured us about "punks wearing thin white belts and pointed-toed shoes" until the final bell of the day rang.

I never understood the point of his lecture.

[elfin]

20. I was in Ann Arbor

on my way to a history exam. Stopped in Ulrich's bookstore on South University to buy a bluebook. They had the radio plying through the speaker system.

Went to the exam - about halfway through, the proctor came in and announced he was dead and said "You may take fifteen exra minutes to finish the exam, if you need them.

Spent the next few days in our apartment with about 5 other people glued to the TV and getting drunk. Saw the Oswald shooting,if not live, then immediately after. Things were getting a bit blurry at that point.

JFK came to Ann Arbor during his campaign - a first - not too many candidates cared about the college vote at that time since most under 21 - but he saw that our generation was the one that needed inspiration. Always regret I didn't go see him visit.

[HawkerHurricane]

21. I was walking in my living room.

I was 8 months old. My parents said they got the news the same day I learned how to walk.

[Booberdawg]

23. I was in 2nd grade

It was announced over the loud speaker at school. What I recall most was days of TV coverage about it and the funeral. The following days were grave.

[BarbaRosa]

24. I was 12

going to Moly Mine school, a 2 room school house between Questa and Red River NM. At the time I had the duty of raising and lowering the flag. I remember raising the flag to the top of the mast, lowering to half staff in the morning and then raising the flag to top mast, then lowering it fully, removing and folding it. I was pretty remarkable to this Canadian 12 year old.

on edit: spelling

[greatauntoftriplets]

25. I was a freshman in high school.

Had gone to my homeroom to drop off books to go to lunch. A girl told me that she had heard JFK had been shot, but didn't believe the rumors. I got this sick feeling and immediately knew that it was the truth and that he would die. Ran down to the packed student lounge and watched in horror with the others until it was time to go to English class. I was there long enough to hear that he had died. We sat in class in silence, crying and listening to the bells tolling from a nearby church. Finally, they sent us home.

That Sunday morning, I was babysitting for someone and saw Ruby shoot Oswald live on TV.

[enough]

26. Sitting on the windowsill

in my dorm room on the third floor front of Parrish Hall at Swarthmore College, "trying to study" as usual.

It was large and numbing. There was no context for it. It's hard to remember back to before the other assassinations that followed.

Skepticism was a specialty of that student body, and there were plenty of theories. But I would say the assassination was not as earth-shaking on that campus at as the Cuban Misslie Crisis was earlier. Maybe because everyone went home for Thanksgiving. I was glad to be getting home to my parents, for one last crawl back into the womb.

[chimpymustgo]

27. Second grade.

A classmate had had a doctor's appointment and came to school late. She burst into the classroom with the news.

There was confusion, then chaos, as school was dismissed. Days around the tv followed.

[DemOverseas]

28. Maine Medical Center

School of nursing in Portland, Maine was where I was. One of the patients had a radio and was sharing with the student nurses information of the shooting of JFK. I left the school and eloped with my sailor boyfriend 4 days later. BIG MISTAKE!

[zbird]

29. I was almost 3 years old at the time.

I do not remember the assassination, but I do remember seeing the funeral coverage on TV. The image I remember is that of a train traveling very, very slowly for what seemed to be a very long time.

[JitterbugPerfume]

33. I was at home withmy two babies

Robin and Melanie It was my 23rd birthday. My friend Rosemary called me crying "Midge, turn on your TV The President has been shot" I cried some bitter tears that day One thing for sure, I will never forget the day I turned 23

[FlaGranny]

47. Happy birthday Jitterbug,

You are a few months younger than me.

[hlthe2b]

60. A train procession was used to return RFK's remains...

I don't recall (only five at the time)then nor now, seeing a train in the JFK funeral or with transporting remains? Is that correct, or are you thinking or RFK's assassination?

[cally]

30. I was in Kindergarten

and they announced it on the loudspeaker. I remember that I just didn't understand what it meant. We were dismissed and I ran home to find my mother sitting in a dark room crying and watching TV. It was the first time she couldn't explain something to me. I have fleeting images of the remaining days, but watching my mother cry is what I remember most.

[cosmicdot]

31. 8th grade Science class

[GabysPoppy]

32. I was at work at my first job

I was still in college at the time (evening) but working during the day. I never went back to work that day once the news hit. I don't remember how or when I got home but do remember walking around that day just in shock.

I had a small TV in my room and just spent the rest of the weekend glued to it. I watched the coverage of the people viewing JFK's casket in the Rotunda, the Oswald killing by Ruby, the funeral procession. I ate my meals in my room afraid to miss a thing. It was the day my innocence died.

When Martin and Bobby were killed a few years later I realized that there are forces in this world that refuse to allow peace to reign. Murder and every crime is viewed as an acceptable means to reach an end.

Peace is not limited to war and aggression. It includes rights to the "pursuit of happiness". When the founding fathers wrote of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" I wonder where their insight came from. Life and liberty are easy to figure out but pursuit of happiness was and is an incredible concept.

People may champion any cause they wish but to ignore the ying to the yang of their cause is to desecrate their own belief.

I apologize for the rant, but my fingers kept on typing. I will stop now to not hijack this important thread.

[bikebloke]

35. Third Grade

As we alighted from the school bus after school, some little kid was yelling to us, "Kennedy was shot! Kennedy was shot..." A few days later. while playing outside, someone said Oswald was shot. At the time there was a kiddie show on the telly with a character named Oswald the Rabbit. So it didn't quite click until later.

[nuxvomica]

39. I was in third grade

Mrs. Lynch announced first that the President had been shot. She later announced that he had died. One girl in class laughed and stopped abruptly because nobody else did. I knew this was pretty serious because I heard that Sister Perpetuus was crying and everyone was worried about her. I didn't think nuns could feel things. She was Boston Irish and loved the Kennedys.
The next day we had no school.
I was alone watching the TV when Oswald was shot. I thought the guy had punched him in the stomach. I called my mom in from the kitchen and was surprised how concerned she was considering that he was the guy that killed Kennedy.

[MrBenchley]

36. Seventh grade, St. Ambrose Catholic School

The teachers were called to the office, and then the announcement was made by the principal over the loduspeaker...

I can remember that my teacher worried aloud that it was the first strike in a coming war between us and the Godless Communists....

That night I got into a street football game with some friends and caught an elbow in the adams apple running full-tilt out to catcch a pass...I had a lot of trouble breathing, so Saturday was kind of a blur.

Masses was packed on Sunday morning and all of them were formal masses.. The altar boys were told to join the congregation, and the parish priests served the function...

I was at the doctor's getting treated for my throat when we heard that Ruby had shot Oswald...and the second the news broke my dad and the doctor began saying that it was a conspiracy and a cover-up. I don't think I've ever met an adult who thinks Oswald acted on his own...

What is not much mentioned much to this day is that on the morning of November 22, 1963 newspaper readers in Dallas were treated to full-page ads accusing Kennedy of treason, paid for by oil billionnaire and right wing nutcase H. L. Hunt, who was often heard to say JFK "should be shot"...as far as I know the Warren Commission never even bothered to call him.

The other thing about this anniversary is that some years ago, an interviewer lobbing softball questions at Poppa Bush asked him where he was on this day in 1963...and Pop said he couldn't remember. His name crops up in the Warren Commission Report...

Over the next few years, comedian Mort Sahl would read excerpts of the Warren Commission's testimony and interviews aloud on stage, and get laughs with it...

[RC]

38. When I heard about it, I was standing on a pier in San Diego.

My ship was used to haul canon fodder to Viet Nam. Mostly kids my age then. Some knew they were not coming back, you could tell just by looking.

The same group of rich people are still killing now. When will the killing stop?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

40. Eighth grade math class

My school had two lunch shifts, and I had first lunch with math right afterwards.

We were in the midst of a lesson on probability when the geography teacher from down the hall burst into the classroom. He had second lunch and had been listening to the radio in the teachers' lounge. He told us that Kennedy and Johnson had been shot.

We just sat there stunned for a while, and then the radio came on over the intercom. Nobody spoke as we listened to the reports and rumors. When the announcement came that Kennedy had died, several kids burst into tears. I didn't, because my family was Republican-leaning and anti-Catholic, although no one had wished him any harm.

Shortly after that, the principal came on the intercom and announced that school would be closing, and the buses were on their way. I lived only two blocks from school, so I walked home.

My mother didn't usually watch TV during the day, so as I came in the door, I announced that Kennedy had been killed. She already knew, because one of my brothers had been home with the flu and had been watching TV in the den when the announcement came out.

Since my father was a Lutheran pastor, we went off to church on Sunday morning, so only the brother who had the flu saw Oswald being shot.

On Monday, we both watched the funeral on TV and held a memorial service at the church. Even though my father leaned Republican, he had respect for the office of the presidency and realized that many members of the congregation were grieving, so he performed a memorial service for a large crowd.

I don't remember which came first, the memorial service at our church or the one on TV, but I remember three things in particular:

1) The procession down Pennsylvania Avenue with a skittish riderless horse being led in front of the coffin.

2) The fact that Cardinal Cusing(?), who celebrated the Requiem Mass, sounded like W.C. Fields.

3) The presence of heads of state and famous politicians from all over the world: Charles DeGaulle, Hailie Selassie, whoever the Prime Minister of Great Britain was then, even the Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union. I was impressed that they had assembled so quickly.

[Punkingal]

41. I was in junior high....

I was in basketball practice in the gym when I found out President Kennedy had been shot. We just continued to practice, because we had a big game coming up on Monday. (It was cancelled.) And it was too much to absorb, anyway. Then someone came back in the gym and said he had died. Our gym was separate from the school building, so after we dressed and walked out to go to the next class, someone was lowering the flag to half staff, and that made it so real. It was devastating, like being hit with a ton of bricks. Forty years later, I can still see the faces of my friends as we walked up that sidewalk. And the principal, a most unemotional man, came on the intercom and officially told us, and his voice broke. Sad, sad, sad. I remember it was raining that night, and that seemed so appropriate, like the skies were weeping. The whole week-end was sad, and I have a montage of pictures in my head to this day. And I am one of those people who feel that nothing has ever been the same in America since that awful day.

And I don't care that his reputation has been sullied over the years. He is still my ideal politician, because he asked us for our best, and made us believe we could achieve it.

[MissMillie]

42. True story

My folks tell me that this is the day I (along w/ my twin sister)was "made". They said that after 7 or 8 hours of the assassination coverage on TV, they got bored and went to bed.

So, JFK was shot once, and my mom was shot twice. As far as my mom's case is concerned: we know there was a lone gunman, and a grassy knoll was not involved.

[GabysPoppy]

45. I believe you are right about the "lone gunmen"

you might want to check out the "grassy knoll" issue. Baby making in the park is still kinda romantic.

[MissMillie]

55. Not in New England in November lol (n/t)

.

[Corgigal]

43. I remember the funeral the best

I was only 5 years old. On the day I went in my backyard to swing on my swingset and even then I remember how quiet it was. No one outside, no cars driving up the street. Even then I thought it was spooky.

[FlaGranny]

44. I was in Grant's Department Store.

Does anyone remember Grants? I had my two kids with me and I saw a lot of commotion around the TV sets and walked over to see what was happening. I watched for a few minutes and went home. I put the TV on and in the commotion, I "lost" my 3-year-old. Had the whole neighborhood looking for him. Finally found him curled up, sleeping, UNDER his bed.

How did I feel? Like I'd been punched in the stomach, and then numb, and then very, very sad. The next few days were spent glued to the TV set up to and including the funeral. Everything else was forgotten.

[shanti]

77. i remember grants!

:-)

[many a good man]

46. My Earliest Childhood Memory

It was my second birthday and we were driving to my Grandma's house for my birthday party when the news came over the radio. All cars on the road stopped dead in their tracks. People got out of their cars, most of them crying. AM radios blaring the news in the background.

Needless to say my party was cancelled. Noone paid much attention to me that day and I remember feeling quite resentful. Now every year my birth day is always associated with the events of that tragic event.

:cry:

[FlaGranny]

48. Happy birthday Torches.

..

[many a good man]

66. I have another odd connection

Thanks, Granny. That's very nice.

I have another odd connection to the Kennedy family. The Kennedy baby died shortly before I was born. I was diagnosed with the same heart condition and was not expected to survive so I was named after him.

Luckily, his death brought a lot of attention in the medical community to this condition so I was screened for it and had surgery at six weeks. I survived. I guess I owe the Kennedy's my gratitude.

Kennedy must have really had some effect on the people of this country. When I was in high school I had a job with an antiques dealer. They would go to estate sales where for a flat fee you could buy everything left in someone's home.

I was amazed at how many people kept scrap books containing photographs and clippings of the assassination. People from all walks of life from very rich to very poor. The store owner kept hundreds of these albums in a room and it was really something to see. I know my grandmother made three scrap books but I thought she was the only one. Has anyone else heard of people doing such a thing?

[mrbill]

49. high school spanish class........

Fellow student, Ernest Beck, came running into the building from his car in the parking lot where he had been relaxing after lunch smoking a marlboro and listening to the radio (KLIF).

He was freaked out and bouncing down the halls yelling, "They shot Kennedy in Dallas."

Principal Jolly Jim Cambell, who didn't have his radio and/or tv on yet, quickly confronted Ernest and escorted him to the office saying all the way "Ernest, I've told you not to pull this disruptive crap in my school."

By now the students were all curious and midly agitated, was Ernest Beck bullshitting? We got the news about five minutes later over the school intercom. There was an incident in Dallas, Kennedy had been shot, stay in your seats, more details to come.

Thirty minutes later school was dismissed early for the day. I went to the golf course and got in 18-holes before dark.

Was asleep Sunday morning when Ruby shot Oswald on live tv. Was awake for the first instant replay. That's where i realized that something funny was going on and became a junior woodchuck conspiracy nut.

[JohnKleeb]

52. The future child of a 12 and 4 year old

:)

[bobthedrummer]

53. John Muir Junior High School-Milwaukee, WI.

I was waiting on the playground to return to school after lunchbreak.
A black friend arrived, crying. I asked him why he was crying and he told me President Kennedy had been shot dead in Dallas.

It was a cold and rainy afternoon and we all listened to reports on the school PA system. I felt terrible and also cried.

My birthday is 11-23, it was the worst birthday ever.

When Ruby shot Oswald I knew there was more to it then a lone nut.

When The Warren Report came out my mom and I read it all and just said it was a cover-up, a position that remains unchanged 40 years later for both of us.

[Rowdyboy]

54. 3rd grade...I was told by a crossing guard after school

She was delighted (Mississippi). I went home and my mother was crying. I asked her if we should be happy or sad and she said very, very sad. I remember my grandfather took me to the barbershop the next day and no one was talking, just listening to the radio. That was very odd because the guys in there NEVER shut up. We watched television a lot and I remember being scared but not really sure why.
That's about all I remember.

[RebelOne]

56. At home, watching TV.

But it didn't come on TV at once. My uncle was passing by my house and heard it on the radio and stopped and told me.

[devilgrrl]

58. I was still in my mothers womb...

and was born two weeks later. :-)

[DemExpat]

62. Sitting in 6th grade Home Room in Houston.......

I remember the mixture of fear, horror and sadness at what had happened, but the Cuban Missile Crisis with the Bomb drills was scarier.......

:-( :-( :-(

DemEx

[maveric]

63. 2nd grade, Miss Plummers class in Salem NH.

At aprox 1:30 PM she was called out to the hall by a secretary. After a few minutes of students taking advantage of the lack of supervision, she came back in crying and told the class the news. We were dismissed from school soon after. When I got home my mother was crying watching TV. She and my father were big JFK supporters. They campaigned for him and met him several times.
I remember that dark and confusing weekend watching the funeral and the assasination of Oswald. I may have only been 8 years old but I remember that event vividly.

[CO Liberal]

64. I Started a Similar Thread Earlier This Week

It's already been archived. Here's a link to more stories, including mine:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=421157

[SEAburb]

65. I was in the gym at Capt. Gray Elementary School in Pasco, WA

My fourth grade class was lining up to leave the gym, to go back to our classroom. Just as we were about to walk out a girl came into the gym and said "the president has been shot". I thought to myself, that can't be true nobody would shot the president.

As our class walked out into the hallway two female teachers were coming down the hall in a fast walk. They were both in tears and as they passed my teacher they said to her, "President Kennedy has been shot".

After hearing the teachers say he had been shot and their reactions, I had to believe it was true. Which left me stunned and confused.

[FarLeftRage]

68. I was 5 at the time

and was at a friend's house, his mother was crying and he was too.
I went home and found my own mother crying and saying:

"They killed the President!"

At that moment, I knew some real bad had happened...

[Scott Lee]

69. 3 years old - but it's still clear as a bell

I was sitting on the floor of the living room watching the TV when my cartoons got interrupted. My mom came running in with curlers in her hair, the next thing I knew she had her hand over her mouth and her eyes filled with tears. I was looking off and on at the TV set, I was seeing newsmen and an occassional picture of Kennedy. mom got on the phone and in the next half hour our living room was full of her friends all watching this thing on TV. Lots of sobbing and disbelief.

Days later I recall seeing still photos of a rifle over and over again on TV; I assume this was the rifle they rcovered from the book depository building. I was really little, but old enough to detect the bizarre, charged atmosphere that told you something majorly important had just happened. I had little idea that the world changed that day.

[myomy]

70. In the Miami airport

waiting to fly to Columbia to spray bananas in helicopters for Petroleum Helicopters, Lafayette, La. I returned about 8 months later to go back in the Army and to discover Vietnam. This also happens to be my motherÕs 96 birthday and sheÕll never forget this day.

[The Zanti Regent]

71. I was in the 3rd grade

Mrs. Lyman's class at the Fourth Ward Elementary School in Ambridge PA. The second grade teacher, Mrs. Begley literally ran into the classroom, tears running down her eyes and she was so choaked. The whole class went into shock and we went home at 130 PM. As we left, Frank the Custodian moved the flag to half mast.

I walked home from school and passed the tavern owned by the GOP committeeman. He had a sign in the window saying Drinks were on the house, I remember the door was open and a bunch of Nazi Republicans were partying like there was no tomorrow, they were glad Kennedy was dead...

[Piperay]

72. I was in school in the 4th grade

the Principal came in and told the class. I was going to a private school full of a bunch of spoiled rich little repugs who had the gall to start to cheer, the Principal immediately stop them (thank goodness). I was sick and remained in a state of shock for days, I had just lost my beloved aunt about a year before and so Kennedy's death touched a real nerve. :cry:

[ChemEng]

73. I was in the second grade...

at Holy Name elementary school in Ft. Worth, TX. I remember a nun coming into the clasroom to tell us that JFK had been shot. We all said a few prayers for JFK, and for LBJ as well. At eight years of age, I don't know how much I really understood what had happened other than he had been killed. It was difficult to relate the assasination to my everyday life. Of course, later on, as I grew older, I understood the tragedy more clearly.

[Crewleader]

74. I was 9 years old and my heart ached!

In my house, President John F. Kennedy was everything to my family. And it was the first time seeing my parents cry for we all loved him and how this still saddens me he isn't here. Being from Massachusetts, living on Cape Cod...Hyannis wasn't too far from us and being Irish Catholic made us proud having
John F. Kennedy for President!

He gave us hope for everyone...and how the world would be different today if he did not died instead of facing the lies from the next two who followed, Johnson & Nixon.

We miss you President John F. Kennedy!

[shanti]

75. i was living in a quonset hut

on an air force base in japan, yokota. it had to be a weekend, cos my father was home. i saw it on a black and white teevee. it was the first time i'd ever seen my father cry. i can see it vividly in my memory. i was 8 years old and in the third grade.

[Fovea]

76. 3rd Grade

westridge elementary, Ballwin Mo.

They combined two classrooms and brought the TV in for coverage.
I remember the day vividly.

[Capn Sunshine]

78. I was in 7th grade coming back from a break

the palpable wave of something being awfully wrong was sweeping the schools as all the students were returning to classes. Girls were in the hallway crying, it was 10 something, and our English teacher, usually jovial and cool, was somber and morose at his desk.

he waited for the bell , then announced to the class: you may have heard rumors sweeping school. I am confirming to you the President has been shot. This is all we know. Your parents have been notified and school will dismiss early. "When?" I asked , meaning school. I was with the flag and bugle corps and we played while the flag was lowered over the PA every day, so I needed to get over to the band room. "about an hour ago" he answered distractedly. His eyes glistened with despair. I had never seen adults like this in whitebread suburbia,where everything was pretty rigidly controlled.

On my way to the band room to get my horn, I passed the principals office. I heard wracking sobs. It was the first time I realized any of these folks were human. I don't know what I thought before that, but in those few moments, the entire country slid through some sort of weirdness barrier that skewed everything around.

I'm still waiting for it to go bsck to normal.

[Mixxster]

79. 5th grade at St. Joseph's Grade School

My teacher was Sr. Maurita, one of the few nice nuns I encountered in my schooling. I will never forget the combined look of shock/horror/sorrow on her face when the announcement came over the intercom that President Kennedy had been shot. I don't remember what we did after that. I kind of remember the second announcement when we were told he had died. We got out early, of course, and spent the next few days in front of the TV. I remember the horse drawn, flag-draped coffin, Jackie behind the black veil, Caroline at her father's casket, JFK Jr. saluting and seeing Lee Harvey Oswald shot, live before my eyes by Jack Ruby.

[Bossy Monkey]

80. In the high chair, at 18 months of age

Somehow I don't have a lot in the way of memories about it.

[RobinA]

82. First Grade

at Cole Manor Elementary School. They didn't tell us what was going on, they just dismissed us early. Some kid on the bus started talking about it, so I knew what happened by the time I got home. I didn't mention it to my parents, because I knew they didn't like Kennedy and I was afraid they would be glad he had died (they weren't).

I mostly remember the funeral on TV, it was all very bizarre to me. I remember being fascinated by the word "rotunda." It sounded so serious. I was obsessed with Caroline and John Jr., because Caroline is three months older than me and I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have my father be killed. I scrutinized every Life magazine picture of them to try to figure out what they were feeling and how they were doing. They were probably the first children I was aware of who were in public life, because you didn't see celebrity kids much in those days. I've always kept track of what they (now she) are doing because it still floors me to think what they went through.

I've never been a huge Jackie fan, but I give her all the credit in the world for bringing those two children up to be relatively normal human beings.