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

[durangoscots]

I was in college and walking across campus at Eastern New Mexico, Portales, NM, when someone told us the news. I remember that a few students cheered but most were very upset and even those who had cheered became much more sober when they realized what had really happened. Like others, I spent much of the time glued to the TV. I also remember that most students suddenly found in necessary to talk to their parents. Lines at the phones were very long.

 

Susan

[TiogaCruiser]

I was 3 and remember my mom ironing with the TV on and crying. And I remember her explaining what "assassinate" meant and about the funeral and procession we were watching on our new black and white TV. (At that age I was wanting to watch Captain Kangaroo who was preempted.)

 

15 years ago at work we were all sharing these memories and a foreign born colleague who was studying american history for her citizenship (and asking us a lot of questions) looked confused when I related this. Her question was:" I know who Sargent Shriver was, but who was Captain Kangaroo?"

[Host Walt]

I was a Senior at the University of North Carolina and working on a float for the "Beat Dook" parade. The game was scheduled for the 23rd. It was postponed.

 

Word was passed along and anyone with a portable radio was mobbed. We spent most of the weekend glued to the TV.

[chrispb]

I was on my way home from Girl Guides and called at the local fish & chips to practise speaking Italian with the owners. They were very upset and told me that the President had been shot. The news came through while I was still there that he had sadly died.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I was in the third grade, and it was a Friday and I had brought Cup Cakes to share with the Class to Celebrate my birthday that would be over the weekend. My Teacher was Miss Duncan who we all feared one of those teachers that yanked the boys ears if they fell out of line. The women was all business all the time. She had told me we could pass out by birthday cupcakes when we returned from recess. It was a cloudy overcast day in Cedar Rapids Iowa. We got back into our class room from recess and the intercom beeped and she must have know that she needed to go to the front office which was just down the hall from our classroom. She left the room for a few minutes. I can still remember a few of the boys starting to joke around. Then she returned with a look on her face that none of us could imagine. As she tried to explain to a bunch of 8 and 9 year old children that President Kennedy had been shot she started to cry. It was the first and the last time I had seen a teach cry. She then tried to collect herself but having my birthday celebration and passing out cup cakes was very strange. The class room was extremely quiet. I am not so sure that many of the students truly understood. Just a few weeks prior my paternal Grandfather had died so there had been a funeral so I understood death but did not realize that magnitude that day held.

[Typhoon1]

Kindergarten.

[solocanadian]

I was at my workplace with thoughts of my wedding the next October going through my head. There were no radios at my office. Didn't find out until I got home. Spent the rest of the weekend glued to the TV.

[rwams]

I was 17 year old senior in biology class they announced it over the PA system. It was one of those events just like 911 that you know exactly where you were and what happened. So sad!

[sackman]

I was a twinkle in my parents' eyes.

[IRL_Joanie]

......so doggoned old knowing you were alive at that time and can remember the details of it all.........

 

It was my first day in a new school in Sacramento, California. I was in the 5th grade and had been out playing with my new classmates during recess. I know it was a Friday because my brothers and I were furious that our parents made us go to school and would not allow us to wait till Monday to start.....

 

Anyway we came in from recess and our teacher was crying horribly and the Principal was pushing this tall TV Utility type cart with a TV on it into our classroom.

 

He placed his hand on my teachers shoulder and I saw him giver her this gentle squeeze and then he looked at us as the tears fell from his eyes as he told us, "President Kennedy has been shot." He turned the TV on and we all watched in shock as Chet Huntley and David Brinkley reported live and via telephone with on the spot reporters...............

 

I remember he told us that our parents were being notified and we were being dismissed from school for the day (2 or 3 hours early).

 

I remember my 2 brothers and I walking the 1/2 mile home and seeing my mother crying and asking what we were going to do now (and she as well as my non biological father were Republicans.)

 

I remember the manhunt being reported on by the media, but not the time frame. I remember watching as Lee Harvey Oswald was being taken into the Police Station and watching in horror as Jack Ruby shot him....... I remember that 6 months from that date my grandfather who I loved would die and I would never forget that to the hour and exact moment, 6 months later, May 22 1964, I would be grieving the death of my grandfather.

 

Joanie

Edited November 22, 2013 by IRL_Joanie

[airgunnerusn]

On board the USS Kitty Hawk, CVA 63 about to enter port in Sasabo, Japan, when the announcement was made that President Kennedy had been assassinated.

[Esri]

At school, in the first grade. They let us out early. We lived on the Marine Corps base at Quantico - my Dad and all his friends were in the Presidential helicopter squadron. The teachers were crying. I ran all the way home (about 1/2 mile) because I wanted my mother to tell me it wasn't true.

 

President Kennedy was the first man I ever had a crush on -- though it was more that I wanted to be CAROLINE Kennedy! I was 6 years old. I used to sneak downstairs when he was speaking on TV and listen to him. My Dad would pick me up and carry me back upstairs when he'd finished -- they always knew I was there.

 

His death is the first fully formed memory I have of my life.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Esri

[lastlook]

My mother had taken me out of school for a dental appointment at the Army base where my father was stationed. I was watching TV in the waiting room area when the news was broadcast that the President had been shot. Later, we heard the terrible news that he had not survived.

 

I also remember watching the television coverage at home in the days that followed and seeing Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald as I watched on our old black and white TV. I was in 4th grade at the time.....

[Teris50]

Camp Springs MD, where Andrews Air Force base is located, 8th grade when someone who was sitting outside of the classroom came in to announce the president was shot! Such a sad time for all of us! We sat by the TV all weekend in shock. I did get to wave to him a few times when they flew over (before Nov 22) in the helicopters taking him from Air Force one to the White House! It was a great time to live there before his death!

[Padraic]

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.

 

I was also at MCAS, Cherry Point at that time. On that day I was in the barracks and someone had a radio on. I wasn't listening off and on and when I heard about the president being shot I though it was a re-enacting of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Finally it dawned on me they were talking about President Kennedy.

[lazey1]

I was hanging the wash in a very stiff breeze when my neighbor yelled over the fence to go inside and turn on tv, the president has just been shot. I worked the afternoon shift in a hospital, when I arrived at work the entire hospital staff and patients were subdued and shocked. This lasted all weekend with most elective surgerys being cancelled.

Jane

[mamaofami]

I was also at MCAS, Cherry Point at that time. On that day I was in the barracks and someone had a radio on. I wasn't listening off and on and when I heard about the president being shot I though it was a re-enacting of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Finally it dawned on me they were talking about President Kennedy.

 

. What a coincidence.DH was a dentist and we lived in housing right off base and close to the runway.

[Ineke]

I was at work - bank teller in downtown Vancouver - and all of a sudden there were newspaper vendors on the corners, actually shouting "Extra, Extra, President Shot", until that changed to "President Kennedy dead". Someone ran out to buy a copy of the paper and we all clustered around trying to get more information. The ride home on the bus that evening was absolutely silent, even though the bus was packed.

[MermaidWatcher]

I was in 8th grade, and still outside for after lunch recess, when word spread among the kids that the President had been shot. I don't remember if we got off early or not, but vividly remember seen Oswald get shot later on, and of course the indelible picture of John Jr and Caroline at the funeral.

Edited November 22, 2013 by MermaidWatcher

[cruisin'girl]

I so hope that those born after 1963 and those who were too young to remember will take the time to read this thread and all our memories of that day and the days after so that they might understand what it was like. No one's memories are vague; everyone remembers exactly where they were, what they were doing, and how this event was so personal and stunning. There hasn't been anything like it since.

[arewethereyet]

I was in a meterorology class at NAS Lakehurst when a marine gunnery sargent burst into the room and said "This is not a drill. The president has been shot". We all pretty much nervously chuckled because we were pretty sure that it was a drill of some sort. In any case, it's one of those moments in time that you don't forget.

[johnmik1]

I was between classes in the 6th grade and went back to my old school today and went to the exact spot I stood in 50 years ago!

[shugey]

A bizarre story - I was raised about 50 miles from Dallas and went to college about 65 miles from Dallas. I was a freshman, and had a couple of friends visiting. I decided I would cut classes after lunch and we would drive to Dallas Love Field to see the President, Jackie and Air Force One take off to return to DC.

 

We got to the outskirts of the city when we heard on the radio that shots had been fired into the motorcade. We drove a little further and they confirmed that JFK had been hit. After about 10 minutes, they broke in again to announce he had died.

 

There wasn't much left to do but turn around and drive back home. And THAT was a very quiet ride ...

[cruisin'girl]

I was between classes in the 6th grade and went

back to my old school today and went to the exact spot I stood in 50 years ago!

What a great thing to do. Very nice way to remember.

[rajkr74]

I had just turned 13 yrs. old 4 days before this date. I was in our 7th grade junior high school home room in Reno Nevada. We were standing in the back of the room where our lockers were located when someone came in and said Pres. Kennedy had been shot. It is still vivid today as it was 50 years ago.

Edited November 23, 2013 by RAJKR74