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

[croydonCruiser]

I wasn't born, but my Mum has told us that she and her brother were woken in the middle of the night by my grandfather to tell them the news. They stayed up all night watching the TV and listening to the radio to get the latest news. It was a huge shock here in Australia too.

[JamesEM]

I was in high school at the time and remember my mother was an emotional wreck for days.

[Plantcrone]

I think all of us who were adults and who realized what was going on, no matter what political leaning we had, were in a state of shock that weekend. My family were staunch conservatives and my dad (who was sure I'd become a communist by voting democrat and working for Kennedy) was as emotionally wrecked as I was. After working that day, college classes were cancelled for the night so I went home to my folks house where we all sat and watched TV for 3 straight days. I think Walter Cronkite became the voice of the country during that time.

 

I had a 5 month old baby who was fussy all weekend and I just wasn't interested in being a mom right then...my husband kept wanting me to come home and I told him to come over to moms..I just couldn't leave.

 

It is so hard to believe it was 50 years ago tomorrow, isn't it

[OlsSalt]

On campus UC Berkeley heading into an Abnormal Psychology class which broke up immediately at the news. We then all hovered in tight clusters around those who had tiny little portable radios trying to get the details.

[t60]

I was in a local cinema with my boyfriend when the film was stopped and a hand written caption was projected on the screen announcing the news, there was an audible gasp in the cinema

 

Sandy in Spain

[dmcfad2]

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.

 

This sounds EXACTLY like my story, down to the specific details! 8th grade, teacher telling us, dismissed, came home to my mom watching tv and crying. I remember it like it was yesterday. Horrible!

[monina01]

I was not into existence then....My parents had not even met yet :D

Edited November 22, 2013 by monina01

[sail7seas]

We lived then and now in Boston and today's Boston Globe newspaper printed the front page exactly as it was published Saturday, November 23, 1963. When I brought it in this morning and saw that font and knew it was a copy of 'that day', it took my breath away. The memories freshly washed over both DH and me.

 

[jbhcw]

I was a 17 year old senior in high school in southern california…I can remember our school librarian who I looked up to and respected going to pieces and saying our country was doomed…then going home that day the TV stayed on for days and days…I can remember waking up in the am hearing the drum cadence….must have been from the funeral…I still cannot bear to hear that sound…brings it all back.

 

And over the years I have read all I could get my hands on about the Kennedy's…my mother was from near Boston…so she knew and told me some about Joe Kennedy….I read William Manchester's Death of a President when it first came out…the year my first child was born….and have continued to read about the family thru the years.

[COLLEYBERRY]

I was in class and the teacher was out of the room...a girl returning from the washroom reported two girls there said President Kennedy had been shot.

Needless to say when the teacher returned the classroom was in turmoil.

When he admonished us for our noise...I put up my hand.." Sir two girls in the washroom said President Kennedy has been shot."

To this day I can remember the look on his face...alarm and disbelief.

He quickly telephoned the office....I remember his quiet tones when speaking and his shoulders slumping when our news was confirmed.

He then began speaking to us very calmly about the gravity of the situation....as an adult I now appreciate his grace and kindness handling a roomful of upset school girls.

While he was speaking ..the announcement came over the PA system...the President was dead.

Edited November 22, 2013 by COLLEYBERRY

[andilynnwright]

I wasn't born yet but your thread made me wonder what the biggest event was, so far, in my lifetime besides 9/11. What came to mind was Christa McAuliffe and the Space Ship Challenger disaster. So then I Googled "biggest events in 1970's" and an about.com list of 20th Century History came up with a timeline by decade. A really interesting walk down memory lane. As I was reading it I kept thinking to myself...oh yeah, I remember that. Thanks for the thread!

[kakalina]

I was in 8th grade math class in Neptune, N.J. I had to go to the girls room which was down in the basement. The janitor had a transistor radio on and I heard the news. I ran back up to class and told Mr. McNeil. He told me not to make up such a terrible story.

 

Not two minutes later the news came over the loudspeaker and we were all sent home early. I remember the older kids on the bus crying and the younger ones starting to cry in sympathy without knowing why.

 

That night was my regularly scheduled roller skating class. I talked my folks into letting me go. I recall those who worked there skating around the floor with tears rolling down their cheeks. Both my parents worked hard for his election and they were devastated. It was the first time I had seen my father cry.

 

Our TV was also on constantly for days which was not at all usual. I do recall sitting through the funeral and feeling such a loss of innocence. I think it was the day our country lost her innocence.

Edited November 22, 2013 by kakalina

[sparky-elpaso]

My senior year in high school - American Government class when they put the radio broadcast over the PA system. They didn't dismiss us early - we only had one more class before school was out. My boyfriend (who was in college part time and working part time) picked me up after school - I don't think either of us said much on the way to my house except "I'll come over later". My mom was home that day because she had a cold so she was in the living room watching TV when I got there. I don't remember if my dad got off early.

[aliaschief]

In a choir at an all state music festival practicing for the main show that evening. Was singing Climb Every Mountain ford every stream......

[Lkcossmfr]

I was in chemistry class, half way through someone came in to talk to our teacher and then they both left. He didn't come back so when the bell rang we all moved on to the next class. I went to gym where all the teachers were crying, soon we got the announcement that JFK had been assassinated and school was letting out.

It was a very sad time, thanksgiving that year was subdued too.

[Randyk47]

I was a sophomore in high school in Tacoma, Washington. I was in chemistry class when the principal came on the PA system and said there was breaking news of extreme importance and if the teacher wanted the class to hear it they should pull the chain on the bottom of the speaker. Our teacher was wrapping up a lecture/lab experiment and said we'd find out whatever it was after class so he didn't pull the chain. Lunch break was next and that's when I found out what had happened.

[Rowsby]

I was a freshman at OSU....we were sitting in class waiting for our professor who was never late...one of the students ran in and told us what happened....shocked and stunned....I walked home as fast as I could to call my parents....we watched every minute of it on tv......even 50 years later...it is still one of the saddest days ever.....

[LaCat3]

I was a 6th grader in junior high in Houston. The PA annoucement of the shooting was made while I was in P.E. so we didn't hear it. Switching classes, my "boyfriend" met me and said the president had been shot. I slapped him (to this day the only time I have ever done that) and told him that was a horrible thing to lie about. By the time I got to my nexr class, the announcemnt of his death was made. School was dismissed as soon as the buses could get there.

 

My father had actually seen the President the day before in Houston.

 

I remember it as though it was yesterday.

[NextOne]

To this day, I can't hear the Navy Hymn without flashing back to that weekend and the funeral that followed.

[hal lover]

I was almost 2 years old and still in diaper's! :eek:

 

I have always read anything that I could about that day. Sad day.

[peaches from georgia]

We were living in Nashville, TN, my 1 year old had just gone down for his afternoon nap, and I was vacuuming the living room before my favorite soap opera came on. I looked up at the tv, couldn't hear the sound with the vacuum running, but there was Walter Cronkite on the screen with tears in his eyes. The rest is history. Didn't finish the vacuuming for days. I remember it like it happened yesterday.

[jtl513]

Working at my first full-time job at an insurance company in Hartford CT. Shortly after the announcement that JFK had died the company closed, as did most (if not all) of the insurance companies there. Driving home there was unusually heavy traffic, because ordinarily the insurance companies staggered their closing times to spread out traffic. At each stop light I looked around to see the sad, stunned looks on faces of others as we all listened intently to our radios.

Edited November 22, 2013 by jtl513

[cruz chic]

I was just coming up to my 3rd birthday. Can't remember a thing.

[1ANGELCAT]

I was in 5th grade. I remember meeting my mother after school, We were going to buy a pair of shoes as it was my birthday. I was 10 years old.

[hpeabody]

I was 9 years old and sitting in Mrs Orr's 4th grade classroom. The Principal came in interrupting class and spoke to her. Mrs Orr started crying and announced to the class that the President had been shot. When I arrived home from school my Mom was all teary and asked if I had heard. I remember Lee Harvey Oswald being killed and President Kennedy's funeral and all the TV coverage.