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57 years ago today. Do you remember?

At 12:30 this afternoon, it will be 57 years since one of the most charismatic Presidents that we ever had was gunned down in Dallas Texas. Do you remember where you were?

I was sitting in science class. A staff member came in and whispered a few phrases to our teacher, Mr Biggers and then left. You could tell from the expression on Mr Bigger’s face that something was very wrong. He announced to the class that the President had just been shot. He left the classroom and came back with a radio. We all listened to the news reports for several minutes and then the announcement came that our President was dead. School was adjourned early that day. I walked the short distance to my house in the gray overcast chill. The weather today is much like it was that day.

The next three days were a blur. There was news coverage on all three channels of the life and death of John Fitzgerald Kennedy from sign on to sign off. School was out on Monday all across the country. We all watched the procession on TV. We all watched the caisson carrying his casket as it traveled to Arlington National Cemetery. We watched John Junior step to the curb and salute his father as he passed. He was three years old.

Each year on this anniversary, I feel sadness. Even now I have tears running down my face. I was 11 years old at the time. Too young to understand the significance of what had happened. Today, I realize that we changed forever on that day. Nothing would be the same. Each year a President is elected, I find myself wondering, is he the next one? Will this be the next President to be killed in office. I pray we never go through that again.
 
I wasn’t born until 1969 but my mom’s Irish Catholic family (my grandparents and great aunts) were huge Kennedy fans. Collector plates on the wall, scrap books of news clippings, etc. AND we are not even American (Canadian). They never forgot to talk about JFK on this day well into the 1990’s when many of them passed.

It still amazes me at how relevant his assassination still is today... books, movies, conspiracy theories, etc.
 
I was 12. We were in the library during English class. As I approached the desk to check out the English teacher and the librarian were talking in hushed voices. I could tell something was wrong. I sometimes think that I felt that the President had been shot. I’ll never know for sure. But when we got back to class she told us he had been shot. Very shortly afterwards we were sent home
 
I was only eight at the time. We lived in Augsburg, in Bavaria. Because of the time difference, we heard the news on the radio late at night. I remember watching him on TV prior to that, and to my parents (both Catholics) he was a personification of "America". Young, handsome, with that beautiful flag that he wore as a pin in his lapel. My mom said "what is this world coming to", and she cried. Little did she know that it's only going to get worse in the future.
 
The receptionist came back to the darkroom, which was something she never did because she had trouble getting thru the light trap. She said that my wife had called and to turn on the radio the president had been shot. I quickly walked around the shop making that announcement . . .
 
A tragic day for our nation. I have been to Dallas and visited the School Book Depository which is a museum now. It is very well done and informative. We walked the grassy knoll. The trains still go by on the overpass that his limo drove under. We drove the very same route that Kennedy took. Tall buildings on your right looking down on his convertible, the Depository straight ahead as you approach. Then the left turn that is more than a left turn - you have to really slow down since the road turns way left. You look all around you and there is just so much wrong about it, so much. What were they thinking?
 
I was 2 years old, living in Garland Texas (a suburb of Dallas Texas). Too young to understand why mom stopped her sewing machine and was so upset. At least I have a very foggy recollection but it may be general childhood recollections reinforced by stories told over the years.
 
I was born in '64. Was never a big deal to me growing up. Wasn't until I took an interest in history that I started to understand it's significance. This was the first political murder that was (literally) brought into everyone's home.
 
The receptionist came back to the darkroom, which was something she never did because she had trouble getting thru the light trap. She said that my wife had called and to turn on the radio the president had been shot. I quickly walked around the shop making that announcement . . .
I was in middle school eating lunch, but my dad was in the darkroom at a lab near Fourt Rosecrans national cemetery on Point Loma.
 

never-stop-learning

Demoted To Moderator
Staff member
I was ill and home from school that day. My Mom and Nona (God Rest Their Souls) were both Italian Catholics. A Catholic President was a huge thing back in the 1960s.

My Mom cried and started praying when the news was announced on the T.V..

I'll never forget that day.
 

Billski

Here I am, 1st again.
I remember that day. I was driving on Spring Grove Ave. when I heard about it on my car radio. Later I heard that a small part of his head was picked up and held by his wife. And then later on I learned that the killer wasn’t even a sharpshooter. That is amazing!!
 
I am Canadian and I was only 2 but I have memories of being around 5 and my aunts and uncles still talking about it. when I asked them years later about it they said they were devastated.
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
Curious trivia ... the first-ever episode of Doctor Who had to be rebroadcast a week later because when it first aired, everyone was busy watching the news from Dallas!

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Even in England, this event was tremendously important.
 

Owen Bawn

Garden party cupcake scented
I was in 1st grade. I vaguely recall being told in school that he had been shot, but my first vivid memory was a few minutes later as they marched us out of school early. As we made our way up the street to the crosswalk I watched a USPS employee appear on the roof of the 3 storey building the post office shared with a moving and cold storage company across the street from the school. I had never seen anyone on that roof before. I watched as he went over to the flagpole and lowered the flag to half staff. That's always stayed with me.

That weekend and beyond I remember most vividly the b&w TV images. I had never heard the word 'caisson' before, and I can still see the horse without a rider and I can hear the tattoo of the muffled drums as clearly as if it was this morning.

Finally from a selfish perspective I remember that the assassination caused the Boston College vs Boston University football game on Saturday the 23rd to be cancelled, as were all sporting events save the NFL, who chose to play. Ironically, BC and BU would never meet again in football.

BC vs BU 1963.jpgBC vs BU 1963 back.jpg
 
I was driving on the Northbound side of the West Side Highway in NYC and, for once, had the radio turned off. I was up at the portion of the road that has grass on one side and, without any warning, all the traffic in front of me came to a dead stop and people started getting out of their cars and milling around. I had no idea what was going on - got out and asked the person nearest to my car about what was happening and he said "Kennedy got shot". I remember it like it was yesterday.
 
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