Where Were You on November 22...50 years ago

[mamaofami]

I know I was in a beauty parlor with my 2 year old daughter. We were stationed on a Marine Air Base at Cherry Point North Carolina.

 

Was anyone on a cruise ship?

[TracieABD]

I was exactly 10 months old. My mom says she was glued to the TV. I was glued to my mom.

[sail7seas]

I was in school and remember coming home to find my father in tears. He was home recuperating from an illness and had been watching the news reports. I remember like it was yesterday.

 

[luvteaching]

I was in 5th grade and heard the news as we were being dismissed. I was born and raised in B.C., Canada, and the assassination made a big impression on us as well. I can remember watching all the news programs, the funeral, etc. To this day I find the events surrounding the assassination very interesting and have read many books on the subject, on JFK's presidency, etc. Coincidentally, 22 years later, my niece was born. I have no problem remembering her birthday! Nor my other niece - she was born on Valentines Day!

 

Karen

[ger_77]

I was in grade 5 -we were playing volleyball at lunch time in the gymnasium at school when someone ran in with the news. The rest of the afternoon we sat in the classroom listening to the radio.

 

I had no idea what a cruise ship even was!

 

Smooth Sailing! :):) :) :)

[Mtn2Sea]

I was in the 7th grade when the principal made the announcement over the intercom. A very memorable day.

[Shmoo here]

I was a Sophomore in high school. As our class was ending, we found out he had been shot. By the time I reached my next class, it was being reported he was dead.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Shmoo here

[startwin]

I remember it well. I lived in the UK then - I was in the living room talking to my dad, quite late in the evening, when our neighbour came running in to tell us. We had no phone in those days, and only 2 TV channels.... the BBC channel ran non-stop news about it.

[Cindy]

I was 3, and I don't remember JFK or the assassination at all. I imagine, though, that it was very much like other major events in my lifetime...you always remember where you were and what you were doing when you first heard the news.

[Mar56]

I was in Grade 3 playing hop scotch at recess when I overheard it on the playground. When I went home my mom was crying while she watched TV.

[SkystheLimit]

I was in the third grade in Lubbock, Texas. We always walked to school. But, that day all of our mothers showed up early to take us home. I remember watching the shooting of Jack Ruby live on television--the stress for me even as a 7 year old was telling. I developed a high fever and would not leave my mother's side.

 

My husband was at US Naval Academy. He was from the state of Massachusetts and had been appointed by JFK. He was part of an honor guard(he remembers that a certain height was important) selected to go to Washington for the funeral. One of his duties led to attending John John at the Capital. JJ was enjoying being a child in the rotunda of the Capital and got a little loud. My husband said a senior officer pulled him aside and told him to take JJ down the hall to a children's play area. The reality of the loss didn't hit him until he returned to Annapolis. He was so busy until then.

[Woobstr112G]

I was 5 years old. I was sitting on the floor of our apartment on Compton Ave (now called Marine Ave) in the unincorporated area of Gardena Ca (Los Angeles County). This may sound funny, but I have vivid recollections of when the news reports came over the television and my mother began to cry.

Bob

Edited November 22, 2013 by Woobstr112G

[Vict0riann]

We were in Miami, on Dade Boulevard, in a little store that sold fresh-squeezed orange juice. I was expecting our first child, and we were on our way to visit my parents in Nassau - so not on a cruise, but in the general vicinity of cruises.

[Cruising-along]

I was in the 6th grade and staying home from school because I was sick. I remember hearing the news on the radio, and thinking it couldn't be happening, it just seemed so surreal.

[carri cruiser]

I lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and had gone into downtown to do some

Christmas shopping, when I heard the news, there were a lot of reporters

out on the streets, asking people what they thought when they heard the news?? All I could think was " I've got to get home!!" ( some of the answers here, makes me feel VERY OLD!!)

[Plantcrone]

I was working at my first job-all of 20 years old, I went to college and worked part time at the AAA (auto club) dispatch, sending tow trucks out to stuck people.

I was on the phone talking to a nice lady whose car wouldn't start when she told me what was going on.

We hauled the TV from the break room into the dispatch center and watched-in shock. No one was calling for road service it was like Los Angeles had come to a standstill.

I had worked in the Democratic party stuffing envelopes and generally getting out the vote-it was the first election I was really aware of as a young adult.

 

I remain shocked about the murder of our president to this day and have stayed active in politics - partially I think because of the whole situation around Kennedy.

 

I listen to audio books and have been listening to Jackie's book-you can hear her quavery voice when she speaks of the day--the tapes were recorded less than a year after JFK's death and she was still shaky of course.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Plantcrone

[NMLady]

I was teaching fourth grade in southern CAlifornia and was just about to dismiss the class for lunch when the principal came in to announce that the president had been killed. We were all stunned.

[Marigold252]

I was a Freshman at UC Berkeley listening to a tape in the French language lab. The controller cut off the tapes and replaced them with a news station. It was only a few minutes after JFK was shot. When I eventually heard he was dead I didn't believe it. We kept the TV on all weekend and on Sunday morning I was walking past it when they brought Oswald out in the corridor and Ruby shot him. The whole thing was unreal and I remember just feeling in a daze for at least a week.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

[Plantcrone]

I lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and had gone into downtown to do some

Christmas shopping, when I heard the news, there were a lot of reporters

out on the streets, asking people what they thought when they heard the news?? All I could think was " I've got to get home!!" ( some of the answers here, makes me feel VERY OLD!!)

 

I'm on the same 'old' boat as you carry..the kids in elementary school...and I was in college and working!

[beachbum6264]

I was in 3rd grade. I remember the whole school gathering in the auditorium and all the teachers crying. We were sent home early.

[nana51]

I was in 8th grade and remember so vividly when the teacher came in and told us he was shot, she had been called to the office and came back and told us. We were all stunned. Soon after they came over the loudspeaker telling us he was dead. We were dismissed. When I got home my mom was watching t.v. and crying. Sunday was bizarre with Oswald being shot live. What a week-end. America changed that day, and not for good.

[Yokeko]

I was in eighth grade and our principal burst into our classroom (his office had a door to the back of the room). Looking white as a ghost, he said "the president has been shot." We all sat stunned for the rest of the school day and that night, my family watched Walter Cronkite choke out the news. For the next several days, we were glued to our tv and its 2 channels- CBS and CBC. I watched Jack Ruby kill Lee Harvey Oswold on live tv. It all seemed surreal to a country girl from rural Washington state.

[julia]

2 1/2 months into kindergarten, came home to (1) Mom in tears and (2) TV on during the day, both VERY out of the ordinary. I knew something bad had happened, but my mom wouldn't tell me. I sat on the floor next to her and a few minutes later, Walter came on the screen, and removed his glasses. I can still hear her sobs. :(

[JudeeJim]

I was 23 years old and was working foe General Telephone as a telephone operator. The company was on strike and not knowing much I was a scab. I was seating at the switchboard and all of a sudden the whole board lit up. People were saying all trunks were busy and they couldn't make calls. I said "due to the work stoppage I'm sorry you can't make a call". The person said to me "no the president has been shot and has died". When JFK was laying in state in tne Capitol my 2 1/2 year son said"look at all the Popeyes". I will never this tragedy.

 

Judee

[Scrapnana]

I was in the 8th grade. I had a doctor's appointment that morning and we stopped at the Jordan Marsh at Colonial Plaza in Orlando on the way home. That is where we heard the news. I remember watching Oswald getting shot on live TV. I remember that time as if everything was in slow motion - the weekend seemed to drag on and on. I can't remember if we went back to school on Monday or not - it just seemed like the world had stopped.