Where were you 50 yrs ago today.

[dkjretired]

Thought it might be appropriate and educational for those of us who were around 50 yrs ago, Nov. 22, 1963 to express their thoughts on President Kennedy.

 

I was a High School Junior in Latin class when we were told. Our teacher sent one of the students to his locker to get a Transistor radio and when he came back the announcement was made that the President was dead. There were lots of rumors going around that day such as the Russians were invading and President Johnson had a heart attack.

[Ems2]

I remember that awful day very well. It was the day after my 14th birthday and we heard the unfolding events on the evening news and saw those shocking pictures. It was such a dreadful tragedy, not only for the USA but for the world.

[MVPinBoynton]

I was at Love Field and saw JFK and Jackie as they walked along the fence. They were such beautiful people. I was a junior in HS. It was the only day I ever skipped school. When I got home the TV was on with the horrible news. It was a surreal day. So glad I skipped school.

Edited November 22, 2013 by MVPinBoynton

[lightning bolt]

I was working in New York City and it was lunch time. Somebody came in and told us the president had been shot. When word came that he had died they told us all go go home. Walking in the city it was very erie. Everyone looked like they were in a trance. A day no one can forget.

[cruisefreaks]

I was in 3rd grade. Teacher left the room, came back in crying then the announcement came over the PA and we were all sent home.

 

Parents and all adults crying all weekend, then Oswald was shot, it was a lot to take in for a little kid.

[dkjretired]

I was in 3rd grade. Teacher left the room, came back in crying then the announcement came over the PA and we were all sent home.

 

Parents and all adults crying all weekend, then Oswald was shot, it was a lot to take in for a little kid.

 

That's right about Oswald because his shooting I believe was the first time we ever saw a murder live on TV.

[yarlenna]

I was at College - in a town called Dallas - Pa. At first, I head it on the radio and I thought somebody local had been shot. Then I got back to the dorm and they had on TV.

[attilamom1217]

I was in 6th grade in Brooklyn, NY. I remember the Principal announcing on the PA that the President had been shot and asked that the teachers turn on the radio in the classrooms. We heard the President had died.

 

They dismissed us and we went home. My Mom was crying.

 

My parents had the TV on for constantly until after the burial. I was sent out to play for a while. I had just come in to the apartment and was talking to my Mom when Oswald was shot. Previous poster is right - it was alot for an almost 11 year old to take in - first the President, then watching Oswald get shot live on TV.

[CathyCruises]

I was in 6th grade too, at Riverside Elementary just outside of Los Angeles. We all went out to the yard and one boy very haltingly played taps. I was a news junky even then and was glued to the TV all weekend. I was watching as they brought Lee Harvey Oswald out of the police station, and in my memory, clear as a bell, I can hear the reporter say, "He's been shot! He's been shot! Lee Oswald has been shot!"

 

I just saw them replay that on TV, and I was amazed to hear those exact words spoken exactly the way I have remembered them for fifty years. It had a great impact on a 10 year old girl. It still does. . .

[GiannaD]

I was teaching grade three in an elementary school in a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland. The music teacher knocked on the classroom door and called me into the hall just after 1:38 pm. She said President Kennedy had been shot and school was going to be dismissed early. The children were told to go straight home and ask their parents what had happened.

 

Driving home to my apartment I heard radio reports of the events in Dallas and all the music became very solemn.

 

It was an intensely emotional and frightening time for the whole country.

[suzzek]

I was in 4th grade and the patrol girl was leading our class out for recess. The phone rang in the office so she went to answer it. When she came back, she told us the president had been shot, but I misunderstood and thought she said "shocked". Mother was always telling us not to put our finger in the electrical outlets, so I thought "well that was dumb". When we came back in from recess, the principal came over the PA system and led us in prayer. Afterwards, she came to each classroom and talked to us. All the nuns and priests in our school were very upset, and of course by the time we went home it was very somber and the tv was on constantly, until after the funeral. So sad.

[rwr235]

I was just 7 and in school...and we were also sent home for the day...and although I don't remember a lot more about that day in particular...The day and events of the funeral have always stuck with me and are still vividly clear in my memory.

 

When you think back...that was one of the first times a large part of the American public was really exposed to such a violent and tragic act in such detail...sure there has always been war reporting and crime reports etc...but never to the degree that unfolded that day. Compare that to today, when violence is witnessed on the news almost as it happens; on TV; depicted in movies; in video games; it has become an almost daily occurrence.

 

I am reminded right now of a quote:

 

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.

Maya Angelou

 

Have a Peaceful Day my friends.

 

Woody

Edited November 22, 2013 by rwr235

[steveweese]

I was at elementary school playing football at recess. Someone came out and gave the news. The game ended. Don't remember if school was closed or not.

[slk230red]

I was 12 years old in 8th grade and we were having marching band practice in the park across the street from our school. Someone from the school came over and told our band teacher the Kennedy had been shot.

I'll never forget that day.

[jackdiamond]

I was in my law office when a client arrived and advised that the President had been shot. We immediately turned on the radio. I was located in the D.C. area; hence, the entire area was essentially shut down for about four days.

[CruisingChick]

I was 5 years old and in kindergarten. I remember the subsequent news coverage and funeral more than the day he was shot.

[Joe19fan]

I was in Kindergarten and was at home for lunch. I'll never forget seeing Walter Cronkite cry on TV.

[Bestbubba]

I was 14 and we had just cleared up from dinner (London, UK). I was in my room playing music and my mum came in and said turn the music off, President Kennedy has just been shot. We sat round the TV all evening.

Sue

[Cindy]

I was 3 -- I don't remember JFK or the assassination. I think if a person is old enough to remember this it's like other events/tragedies in more recent times. You will always remember where you were and what you were doing when it happened.

[jking325y]

I was born 50 years ago today and am leaving in a couple of hours to catch a plane to head down to Miami and board the Reflection tomorrow to celebrate. My mother said I was the only baby born that day who wasn't named John or Jacqueline.

Edited November 22, 2013 by jking325y

[We're The Groupnors]

I wasn't even a thought in my parent's heads at the time, but my older sister was in 2nd grade. I remember her telling me years later that her school sent all the students home and closed for the rest of the day in mourning...and this was in Canada. Borders become irrelevent when such tragedy strikes.

[TMLAalum]

I was in class at a Catholic girls' high school in Queens NYC when the principal came over the PA and said..

 

"We will now say a decade of the rosary for the repose of the soul of President Kennedy."

 

She didn't preface her announcement and when we heard the name of whom we were to pray for it was surreal. Nobody could believe he was gone and the principal provided no further details.

[ClaudiaB]

In my 4th grade class here in Baton Rouge. My teacher came in after lunch and told us. We had early dismissal and I remember going home and my mom and our maid were sitting together on the couch, watching the one little tv we had in the house. Mom had always offered to eat lunch with our maid (mom always called her our 'cleaning lady') and talk as a friend, but she wouldn't ever do it, a sad sign of the times. But on that day, they sat there together and even I, as a young girl, knew it was a moment in time that I wouldn't soon see again. We went out to dinner that night at a seafood place (we still go there) and you could hear a pin drop. I remember it very well, it made a big impression on me.

[booklady26]

I was in 9th grade English class when someone came in and asked to speak with the teacher outside. The teacher came back in very grim faced and closed the door and told us that our president had been shot.

 

Shortly thereafter, we were asked to return to our homeroom and then the announcement was made that he had died.

 

I remember it like it was yesterday.

[miched]

If you were alive you were somewhere, but there is one place none of us were and that was on a Celebrity cruise.

 

 

.🎄🎅