Where Were You on 11/22/1963 ?

[cj's dad]

50 Years ago this coming Friday!

JFK assassinated!

I believe that everyone alive and at a cognizant age knows where they were when the news first broke.

I was in 10th grade Geometry class when the principal broke in to make an announcement that the President had been shot. This was around 2:00PM. We adjourned to the Gymnasium for a prayer service (this was a private catholic school) after which we were dismissed for the day. I remember that my dad, a hard assed bricklayer and union official cried when he heard the news that the Pres was dead.

What a day !!

[wiffleball whizz]

This will be a good thread....looking to hear different versions of this bad day in history

My father told me him and his best friend cut school and were playing pinball at Artie's in Edison nj for 15 cents a game and selling the credits

He painted the picture very clear.....when this happened the place came to a standstill and everubody had on the news radio


This was def one of those events you remembered where you were

[Ocala Mike]

I was in my last semester at Queens College in NYC. Went to my morning class, then decided to cut the rest of my classes and bused over to the Big A with my bookbag. Played the double and maybe the 3rd race, then an announcement came over the loudspeaker (it was Fred Cappossella, and I'll never forget it) that JFK was shot and killed. The remainder of the day's races were cancelled, and I don't think they raced again for a week.

I went home and went to my job at the Boys' Club of Queens in Astoria that night (I was the librarian), and the kids and I gathered around the tv set until closing time at the club. I can remember it like yesterday (yet I can't remember yesterday!).

[PaceAdvantage]

I remember where I was when I heard Elvis had died, and John Lennon had been shot...but I don't remember this...it happened years before I was born...

[HUSKER55]

Mom was listening to the radio, ya know. the one about the size of a piano.

She started to cry and kept saying...what will we do now?

I can still remember her standing by the ironing board and dropping the iron when she heard the news.


Mom was a staunch republican but she said that god sent the right people at the right time and JFK was it.

[horses4courses]

Palatine, IL

I was 5 years old.... can remember bits and pieces of TV coverage.
Soon after it happened, my mother and I went over to a neighbor's house.

Recall the feeling of shock and sadness, and the day of the funeral.
Some of my earliest memories.

[BlueShoe]

Working in a Zody's Department Store in Burbank, California.

[chrisl]

I was a little over a month old. Just started reading the pp's, getting my pace figs on :)

[Rookies]

I was in Grade 8 and the Principal ( a Nun) came in to make the announcement to the one kid that was American. She was, of course, devastated and left for home immediately.

Do recall the next day watching TV live at home, when Oswald got his.

P.s. Perhaps in 1961, JFK and Jackie visited Ottawa (where I lived at the time) He visited the RCMP HQ, which was adjacent to my Catholic Grade School. As testimony to the times, we were asked to provide a school audience and the two of them passed in front of me in an open horse drawn carriage, from about 5 feet away.

Still have the pic, I believe.

[Overlay]

I was in fourth grade in Cincinnati. We started to hear rumors circulating in school during the day, and the story was all over the news by the time I got home. I remember being glued to the TV until the funeral on Monday, and being off from school because of it. My clearest memory was the continual roll of muffled drums and the playing of dirges during the processions between the White House, the Capitol, Saint Matthew's Cathedral, and Arlington National Cemetery.

[NJ Stinks]

I was an 8th grader too. Our principal, Mother Raymond, came into the classroom and told us the news. I remember a bunch of kids started to cry. Shortly after that we were sent home.

I can't say I was glued to the TV afterwards but my parents and older brother were. Really, I didn't follow politics at the time and only read the sports pages. I guess you could say I was oblivious at 13. I mean - I knew who Kennedy was but I had no sense of how much he was loved. I found out pretty quick.

[Johnny V]

I was in grammar school and the Mother Superior came to the door of the classroom and after a short conversation our nun announced to the class that "President Kennedy was shot in the head and Vice President Johnson was shot in the arm". Of course that report about Johnson was untrue it was Connolly that was in the car with JFK. The reaction of the class was one of shock. Without a doubt Kennedy was very popular among us with him being the first Catholic president and all that.
They canceled classes for the day and sent us home. When I got home and my mother came to the door she was crying and I knew then JFK was dead. It was the first time I had ever seen my mother cry. We were all virtually glued to the TV from then right on through Oswald getting killed and the JFK funeral. I will never forget that day.

[magwell]

I remember thinking that his death was the most significant thing that had ever happened. Until time moved on, the country moved on and started marking time since it all happened, his wife and kids moved on, so it turned out it was just significant for him, because for him everything was over....very sad

[lamboguy]

i think that everyone on EST time was in school. the school i was in was the same town as the birthplace of JFK, Brookline, Ma. we had televisions in every room of the school and we all watched what was going on. i was in Latin class and i remember the teacher and other classmates in tears. the town was completely devastated, business's didn't open for weeks. and they kept our school closed for 3 days after the shooting.

[jballscalls]

I was negative 17 years old when it happened, but I did ask my mom about this last week and she was saying similar to many others, she was in grammar school and the teacher got called out of the room by the principal, came back and in and delivered the news. They also were dismissed for the day shortly afterwards.

[schweitz]

Biology class--Arlington Heights High School--Fort Worth, Texas---never forget it---Oswald had attended my high school for a year many years before I was there

[Marshall Bennett]

Miss Kaiser's 4th grade class in Shreveport. Another teacher burst through the door shouting that Kennedy had been shot. Most of us kids gasped, but will never forget a couple little girls in the back clapping. What you say in front of your kids might surface anywhere, so be careful what you say. My folks were Goldwater supporters as much of the south was, but I'll always remember the sadness that overwhelmed me when I heard he'd died. At that age it's difficult to grasp the full nature of any disaster, but especially the shooting of your president.
Was probably the saddest day in American history regardless of your party affiliation or political views. Perhaps not for those closely connected to 911, but certainly for the rest of us.

[Tom]

7th grade Social Studies, Mr, Cullen's class.
First row on the right, third seat in, behind Joey Bell and in front of Jimmy Daniels. Mr. Cowen come in from across the hall and said he was in the teacher's lounge and he just heard the President has been shot.

About 5 minutes later, the principle came on the loud speakers and told us it was official, and that we should all go home immediately.

Never forget that day.
A year after have the crap scared out of us with the Cuban missile crisis, now we we afraid it was a Russian attack on the horizon.

[plainolebill]

Aboard the USS Comstock in San Diego getting ready to go ashore. The ship had just returned from an 8 month deployment to Westpack - the whole crew was in shock when we heard.

[JustRalph]

Aboard the USS Comstock in San Diego getting ready to go ashore. The ship had just returned from an 8 month deployment to Westpack - the whole crew was in shock when we heard.

Bill, did they cancel shore leave? Just wondering how they reacted........

[Robert Goren]

10th grade English class in Hebron, Ne. The superintendent can on the loud speaker and said President Kennedy had been shot. Then they played a radio news broadcast until they announced that he had died. Then they sent us home until after the funeral. At home, we were glued to the TV and was scared to death that this was the beginning of WWIII. I watched Ruby shoot Oswald as it happened on TV and remember thinking that Texas had to be one crazy place.
It is hard to describe how much different thing were then. Even though there probably weren't 50 people who had voted for JFK in that farm town of 2,000, everybody like him. Times were booming. The shooting mark an end of an era. 2 years later we talking about Vietnam and the draft in American Government class and our English teacher was playing Pete Seeger records in class.

[dylbert]

I was 2nd grader at Pauline South Elementary School near former Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas. Principal called all teachers to meeting over PA system. You could hear crying as they returned to their respective classrooms. School was dismissed early. We were not given any explanation.

Walked home from school and my mother delivered news to me as I came through door. I, too, watched as Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald on live TV. I remember this as sad, tragic time in United States.

[mostpost]

I was twenty two years old. I was a student at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. I had been in the library. It was raining when I left, lightly. I walked over to the student activities office to buy a ticket to an upcoming football game. When I walked up to the counter all the workers were gathered around one of the desks listening to a radio, but I could not hear what was being said. I had no idea what was going on. Finally I said, "Excuse me," because I wanted to get my tickets and get on my way. One of the ladies looked at me and said, "The President has been shot." I stood there for over a minute, unable to move. Then I turned and walked away. It was raining harder.

When I got back to my dorm, I turned on KXOK in St. Louis, the areas premiere rock station. At the time they did not know that Kennedy had died and were still holding out hope. One of the DJ's was talking about the events and expressing his hope the President would be all right. Then he paused a second and said. "We have just received word. President Kennedy is dead. He was pronounced dead at Parkland Hospital in Dallas at......" I don't recall the exact time he said and the quote isn't verbatim, but pretty close.

Then he was silent as if trying to gain his composure. At that time, someone in the control room thought it would be a good idea to resume normal programming. A popular song began to play. Immediately the DJ shouted in an emotional voice, "Turn that damn thing off." The song, obviously scheduled long before? The Tokens' "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" Outside, the rain had become a downpour.

[plainolebill]

Bill, did they cancel shore leave? Just wondering how they reacted........

Ralph, They didn't cancel liberty - I don't remember much in the way of details. I know I drove up to Los Angeles that afternoon.

[Grits]

Goodnight, gentlemen.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMMLlXFosU0

[Actor]

I was in my dormitory room. My roommate came in and said "Hey, they shot Kennedy." My roommate was a died in wool Republican and Kennedy basher, so I just waited for the next line, which did not come. Finally I said, "So what's the punch line?"

"No joke," he said, "they really shot Kennedy."

"Bullshit!" I said.

Then a shout came down the hall, "Hey, someone shot the President!"

I went downstairs to the TV room, which was packed. I could not get in and had to stand on my toes to see the screen. I got there just in time to hear Cronkite say "From Dallas, Texas, the flash, apparently official, President Kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. central standard time, 2:00 o'clock eastern standard time, some 38 minutes ago."

[Actor]

Then he was silent as if trying to gain his composure. At that time, someone in the control room thought it would be a good idea to resume normal programming. A popular song began to play. Immediately the DJ shouted in an emotional voice, "Turn that damn thing off." The song, obviously scheduled long before? The Tokens' "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" Outside, the rain had become a downpour.Poetic :(

[fast4522]

Having 1/2 an A&P root beer, because you did what you were told in those days.

[reckless]

I was a 4th grader at a Catholic grammar school in The Bronx. The principal, Sr. Mary Denise, came in and told us to put our heads down on the desk and pray for President Kennedy because he just got shot! There was a gasp in the class and we said our prayers.

Minutes went by when we started hearing the continuous loud slamming of doors. Suddenly another old nun stuck her head in the class and screamed: 'The president is dead'! And of course, she slammed the door.

They sent us home and my father told me they cancelled the races at Aqueduct. (This last line is a joke.)

[tucker6]

Classy response !
then I'll stay classy and simply say that I was six weeks from being born.