Where were you when JFK was shot?

[ironflange]

Assuming you were born by then.

I was doing my gig on Romper Room. They did it live in those days, but that episode never hit the air. They just went ahead with the show to keep the kiddies occupied. I do remember that Miss Ann was acting kinda strange one day, and naturally all us little brats picked up on it and raised a little hell. I was only 5, and didn't know what was going on later on; I just knew my favorite TV shows weren't on for some reason.

[HEyHEY]

1. YOU WERE ON ROMPER ROOM!?

Ever been to the hostel in Downtown Toronto it'll remind you of romper room!

[ironflange]

44. Even the milk and cookies?

Not only that, I once won 80 bucks on Dialing For Dollars!

[bluestateguy]

2. 1/2 egg, 1/2 sperm cell

Not born yet.

But there were anecdotal reports of children in schools erupting into cheers when the news was heard here in Austin.

[Some Moran]

16. BULLSHIT!

Austin is a liberal city.

[rasputin1952]

18. I have heard of the shouting/cheering as well...

but not in my school. Everyone I knew, was mortified that this could happen.

I wonder how those kids that cheered felt about it as time went by. Most school kids would never really have political knowledge to get souped up over something like that, so it had to passed down from either parents or other adults.

So very sad, that some would take delight in the death of another...shows me we haven't gotten that far in the area of social evolution.

O8)

[lfairban]

29. I remember those reports.

It turned out that the kids were told they were going home early, but were not told why. It was a natural reaction.

I was walking home from school, it was a snowy day in Ohio, but it rained on Sunday.

[elperromagico]

37. At my college on 9/11

classes were dismissed for the afternoon, and someone in the dorm shouted, "Thank you, terrorists!"

I doubt, knowing the gravity of the situation in NYC and Washington, he would have done that.

[ComerPerro]

60. That is going to be the new question

Where were you on 9/11?

That day, I was in classes.

That night, I was at a concert getting very drunk (it is my birthday, and I had tickets to see Bela Fleck).

[Beaker]

43. I was 2 1/2, and don't remember.

I kinda remember RFK though, but I was still too young to understand it all.

[elperromagico]

34. Ugh

My father claims that he was among those cheering. That's just the height of coldness. Even if Bush were shot, I wouldn't cheer, because A. I don't wish physical death on the man (just political slaughter) and B. Cheney would become President.

Why anyone would cheer death is beyond me.

[REP]

48. That Happened in My Jr High When Reagan Was Shot

Kids ran into the hallways and cheered.

[demgrrrll]

3. Visiting my Aunt Lila. n/t.

.

[ScreamingMeemie]

4. A gleam in my Daddy's eye, and hope in my Mother's heart.

Not born yet, but my father was in the newsroom of the Milwaukee Journal where he was a copy boy.

[shamrock]

12. at work

I was working at an insurance company in L.A. I was about 19 yrs. old (or so). I remember that there was lots of shock and tears, it seemed so 'un-real'. I still remember that feeling.....so sad. The funeral was really sad too, little 'john-john' (if I remember right) was just a little tyke and stood there so brave at his fathers funeral and saluted, and Jackie kept her composure so well, which was admired. I also remember when JFK and Jackie came to my highschool when they were campaigning, 'course then I thought it was fun because we got out of classes to listen to the speech in the auditorium.

[nostamj]

5. i was in third grade

very small CT town.

my teacher began crying.

i can remember watching LHO getting shot on TV.

did I see it LIVE? dunno. should ask my mom.

it was too abstract for an 8yo.

by my college years, I was an ARDENT Kennedy CT advocate and even did some political theatre stuff.

but memories of that day. "our president is dead" and Mrs. Rossiter in tears... that's it.

[Catshrink]

65. I was in the 3rd grade too

in Seattle.

My teacher also cried and we kids were all in shock. We didn't know what to think. We got to go home early and my mom had the TV on. It stayed on for days.

I saw Jack Ruby show Oswald on TV. My dad shouted, "Ha! I knew someone would get that bastard!" I didn't quite understand all of that. I just remembered how sad everyone was.

My parents had voted for JFK and I remember feeling that he was "our" president. And then he was gone.

[BeyondLeftist]

115. I was in 3rd grade, too, lots of monkeys in here!

We lived right outside of DC, in Glen Burnie MD. My dad was in the Navy and he was sure there was going to be an attack of some sort. My little brother always said,'that's my President!' whenever President Kennedy was on tv. We were told by our teacher Mrs. Hargrove at the end of the day and everyone was afraid and crying as we walked home as fast as we could.My little child is the same age now as I was in '63, that was the first year of real memories for me. Jeez have we all been through the wringer or what? All of the ones that were for us have been murdered...I don't think anyone in my family has 'claimed' a President of this United States since then. Sad effin past 40 years-no working class heroes allowed to stand up for us, Kucinich is the only one that I can see, who has been consistently brave. I am raising my child to aspire to that level of humanity. Funny though, since he could talk he has always wanted to move to Idaho so he won't get drafted and have to fight in a war...weird, that would have been about '97 when my boy started getting so scared about fighting in a war.

[xray s]

6. walking back to school after lunch

I went to get my friend at his grandmother's house and she told us Kennedy had been shot.

[greatauntoftriplets]

7. I was 14.

I was a freshman in high school. We came back to homeroom at lunchtime. Another girl told me she had heard a rumor about JFK being shot. She said she didn't believe it. I felt a dark thud in my gut and knew it was true. Strangely, I never liked that girl afterwards for being in denial. There was a student lounge at the school with a television. We all crowded in there at lunchtime, then had to return to class, even though we knew JFK was dead. Sat in English class (with a really neat nun who encouraged us to talk about how we felt) and listened to the bell tolling from the closest Catholic church. Then we got sent home. What a horrible day. On the Sunday, I was babysitting in the morning. Watching the boob tube and saw Oswald get shot.

[RetroLounge]

8. Pooping in my Diaper...

probably. I was 2...

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. Living in Fairfax, VA

I was 4, dad worked for the Goverment and i remember crying cause i was all worried about John John. When my mom told me, we were riding in the car, i think on the way to pick up my father.

[11 Bravo]

28. I was in Fairfax County as well,

12 years old and in the 8th grade in Falls Church. I remember it like it was yesterday.

[spooky3]

108. it's great to see AGE diversity here! :-)

[Faygo Kid]

10. Seventh grade history class

Remember every detail like it was yesterday (actually posted this same question a couple of weeks ago). Where I was when Ruby shot Oswald (saw it live), the funeral, the reactions, the national shock. Anybody over, say, 8 years old at the time probably remembers it vividly. To the earlier poster who heard anecdotal stories about classroom cheers, yes, they happened around the country, but were certainly not representative (one classmate of mine actually cheered - the teacher, who cried, was not pleased, to say the least).

[brook]

11. On 81st Street...

between Madison and 3rd. I went back to our apartment; called my husband at ABC - and he told me JFK was dead. I rushed to my daughter's school to pick her up - the flag at Campbell's Funeral Parlor across the street was already at half-mast. God what an awful day that was.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

13. I was in my 7th grade class in St. Petersburg, Florida...

...our teacher left the room for a couple of minutes and when she returned she was crying. She told us that the principal would talk to us over the intercom in a few minutes.

When the principal got on the intercom he announced that John F. Kennedy had been shot and killed in Dallas during the motorcade. Almost instantaneously about 1/3 of the class began to cheer wildly an say things like "I'm glad he's dead!". I found out later that most of them were children of military families living in the area, and they had no love for JFK.

I was pretty sheltered in those days of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers westerns, and I didn't have a clue that anyone could hate JFK so much. But, I was old enough to understand that the kids doing the cheering were doing so because of what they'd heard at home. A couple of days later, I was watching the old black & white television in the breezeway of the house when Oswald was shot dead by Ruby in the garage of the Dallas police station.

I stopped being "sheltered" that weekend, and started a long personal pursuit of the facts and fictions surrounding the JFK assassination. Forty years later, quite a few books have been devoured in my quest to understand how such an event took place and how could it have been so carelessly handled. I'm still asking questions, but I have quite a few more answers than I did forty years ago.

[Faygo Kid]

20. Same age, same memories

Good to be 39 again, as Jack Benny would say. See my earlier post - I was in seventh grade, too.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

14. walking back to school after lunch & thought the flag was falling so i ran

to the flagpole that was surrounded by shrubs and ran smagdab into the crying janitor....he told me about JFK being shot in dallas...it was so surreal...i was 13

[Skittles]

15. Peterborough, England

I was 6 but I don't remember it.

[Indy65]

45. JFK

I was walking down the hallway toward my desk at the Trenton Times Newspaper. I walked past the pressroom and everything stopped,all the man in there are crying. My desk is in the lobby, people running in from the street asking if its true. When he died all the republicans stood up and cheered. That made me a Democrat for life. I campaign forhim, I was twenty-one. I also meet him. The book "For Days" was printed for the Times and I sold it,for them.The book is in my living-room. I have his campaign buttons banners and hat band in a frame on my kitchen wall. What an awful day!

[newyawker99]

46. Hi Indy65!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Gloria]

17. Heading into Mrs. Blakey's 8th grade Social Studies Class, around

2 pm ET if I recall.

Remember being glued to the TV for 4 days...seeing Oswald shot. When that happened, I think everyone went numb.

UP in the attic, still have the newspapers and a book called "Four Days"
that was put out by some news organization, I forget which.

You know, the whole thing still makes me sick to my stomach. Because then MLK and Bobby were shot (saw that, too) and America just went crazy.

[izzie]

30. It did seems like every one was being killed. Other set of.......

madness years.We had American terrorist, riot, war protecters, war dead dayly, mass killers,drugs in your face and people dead, subs sinking and all lost, school bombing and a general mess.The 60's were real madness. But great music helped as make it.How come it all went on in those years and never seemed to stop?

[dae]

19. At home playing hookey from 5th Grade. Saw my mother and father

crying. First time I ever remember seeing my Dad cry.

[Faygo Kid]

22. So many remember Ruby shooting Oswald

I was struck by the number of posters here (me, too) who mention seeing the live shooting of Oswald by Ruby. What a time; one shock after another. Difficult for those who weren't alive then to understand the impact it had on us individually and as a nation. The rest that followed in the '60s seemed like one rabbit punch after another.

[dae]

36. Amen. My 24 year old daughter says she could have never made it in the

60s.

[brook]

42. What really shook me...

is that I recognized Jack Ruby. His club was a popular place to play after-hours poker...and, alas, in my misspent youth, I did go there once in awhile.

[fujiyama]

107. Do you believe

in any kinda conspiracy? I saw the end of the film "Ruby" and read about him, and it's difficult to say whether he was just plain crazy or if he wanted to keep something from coming out...

God, if I lived in the '60s I'd have done even worse in college, than I am doing now. I woulda been too damn distracted by the events of the day to ever do my HW.

[izzie]

21. Home in Conn.

n/t

[Rowdyboy]

23. Second grade class

Heard the news from a crossing guard who was thrilled...asked my mom if we should be happy or sad and she said "sad, very, very sad".

[wicket]

24. I was born in 1978

So I wasn't around yet ;)

[Another Bill C.]

25. I was working

as a window clerk in the Post Office. We didn't have any radios. A customer came in and said he'd just heard the President was shot. I went home for lunch and turned on the TV. It was just about the time they were announcing Kennedy was dead. The Post Office closed that afternoon and I stayed in my apartment, watching television, until after the funeral. I had just read "The Manchurian Candidate" and was almost as paranoid as I was sad.

For the short time of Kennedy's presidency we had a departure from greed-driven government. The only political sunshine we've had since was Paul Wellstone's brief stay among us.

[LuCifer]

26. wasn't born yet, but axe me 'bout Lennon & 9/11!

I remember John Lennon's murder (by Raygun people, no doubt) and I was just under 5 years...and I don't think I've cried so much since. 9/11...I was out cold until my sister got off work early and wook me up (bitch! knock next time! i could be naked!) and I was like "DAMN IT! CAN I TAKE A WIZZ FIRST BEFORE YOU TELL ME THE WORLD IS ENDING???" Of course not...

Both ever f'ed up days. Both that could have been prevented...no thanks to right wing assholes.

Lu Cifer

[LiviaOlivia]

27. I was Lunch Watch(kinda like hall monitor)

It was my scheduled week for 'Lunch Watch' in Mrs. Webb's 3rd grade class. We could only go to the cafeteria after the classroom to the north filed out completely and queued at the principal's fish tank. A couple of teachers came running down the hall crying with their handkerchiefs covering their faces.

I thought a war had come at first, then another teacher told be about the President. I went back into my classroom and told my teacher.

She didn't believe me.

Everyone was crying I remember. Salt Lake City Eastwood Elementary

[Sean Reynolds]

114. You till in SLC?

If so, HELLO to another Salt Laker! ;-)

My mother was at St. Anne's Catholic School when the news broke out.

[Pastiche423]

31. Sitting at my desk

in Mrs. McCorkle's 4th grade class. As the old PA system cackled on, we could hear our principal clear his throat, then brusquely say, our president has been shot, we are closing down the school, go directly to your buses. On the ride home, several of the older kids were crying. I was terrified.

I believe many of us did see Oswald shot live, as we were all glued to our black and whites. My father told my siblings and me to pay attention, this was history. I paid attention and kept asking the same question. I wanted to know how the same bullet hit President Kennedy and Connelly, like they said it did.

Dad din't have an answer, so I've been asking that question and many more since.

[AlabamaYankee]

32. Mrs. Wise's 9th Grade Pennsylvania History class

The announcement came over the intercom that the President had been shot, the class dent absolutely quiet and a couple of the girls, who were infatuated with him started crying.

An indelible memory

[soupkitchen]

55. I was in 9th grade Pennsylvania History Class too, though not Mrs Wise's

[Papillon]

33. I was in my 2nd period typing class when the principal

announced over the loudspeaker that JFK had been shot. I can still still see the typewriter in front of me and the girl who was sitting next to me. When we got to 3rd period he announce that JFK was dead.

I remember that most of the kids in school were shocked and upset. A bunch of us went to the office to ask if we could be excused from school so we could go to church to say prayers for him.

I spent the next 4 days in front of the TV, saw Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvy Oswald and watch the entire funeral.

This whole experience change me. I never felt the same about this government and for years followed all of the JFK conspiracy theories.

[Bake]

35. 3rd Grade, Highland Park Elem. School

Mrs. Hilliard was my teacher. An announcement summoned all the teachers to the office. Mrs. Hilliard came back a few minutes later, crying, "They've shot the President, they've shot the President!"

Somehow, I knew that the world had changed. Third grade, but I remember it like it was yesterday.

And I cried.

Bake

[Catshrink]

68. That's exactly what happened in our school

at Brighton Elementary School in Seattle... the teachers all went to the office for the news. So sad.

[Loco_moco]

38. 7th grade art class...

...they rang the fire alarm and got us all out into the main square to make the announcement... yes, there were a few sporadic cheers but they were pretty much drowned out by the collective gasp of anguish of the entire student body... we went back to class in total shock and after about 30 minutes they sent us home... it was a sad walk home, no one talking, everyone's head hanging... it seemed as if even the birds had stopped singing....

walking along my block to our house, i could hear the televisions on and people crying all the way home...

yes... i will never forget...

[agingdem]

39. 3rd period PE...

I was 15 years old and I remember when the announcement came over the PA system a particularly disgusting girl (whose father was very active in the Republican Party) squeal "Good...now if someone would kill Justice Warren!" To this day, I can't look at her or her parents without utter revulsion.

[robsul82]

40. Alas, I am but 19...

...I do remember where I was for the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11, well. For the latter right across the damn river, but anyway. I can't imagine going through a day where the President gets killed. Even this fraud.

Later.

RJS

[fortyfeetunder]

41. Washington DC

I was in first grade. But I think that day we had either part or the whole day off. I was watching my brothers in the backyard from the back porch window, but I looked behind me down the hall behind me to see my mom on her knees in her bedroom (I thought she was watching TV), because about the time of the assassination, she was watching a soap opera...and I think she was kneeling to pray.

Very surreal. Saw tapes of the LHO shooting. No school the day of the funeral. My teacher's husband was part of the honor guard. And in January of the following year, our class had a field trip to Arlington National Cemetery to see the tomb.

That was my second experience with death that year and I was really confused...if Jesus left the tomb after 3 days, what about the President?

My parents wouldn't explain much, especially the LHO shooting -- but since I was already reading newspapers at that age, I'd go in the newspaper pile and read the articles for myself.

[Carolina]

98. I was in Washington too

but I was in 5th grade; and you're right, DC schools had a half day on that Friday. So I had gone to my grandparents' house since both my parents worked. The first news flash informed us of the shooting and we were riveted. Then came the sad news that our beloved JFK was gone. I remember our family driving down to the White House that evening and seeing the black bunting drape over the door of the north portico. Much of the rest of the weekend was spent in front of the television but on Sunday, after dinner, we ventured out to the Capitol hoping to get in the rotunda. It was bitterly cold and crisp and the lines were so long. Lincoln Park which seemed so small to me later on was vast that night as we walked around it wending our way toward the Hill. I watched the funeral on TV on Monday but my mother and a neighbor went downtown to St. Matthew's Cathedral to view the funeral procession firsthand.

I remember it as if it were yesterday. Watching the various commemorative shows thus far this week, especially those that show the procession from the White House to St. Matthew's (the drum roll, the funeral dirge) still brings tears to my eyes. At ten losing JFK felt as though I'd lost a member of our family. Later and certainly now, I realize we lost so much more.

[REP]

47. In An Ovary

Loved One was 13 months old and doesn't remember it at all.

[ima_sinnic]

49. sitting in the principal's office

I was a senior at a podunk high school. I don't remember why I had been called to the principal's office (I was pretty much a dorky nerd type) but I was waiting on a bench in there when the announcement came over the PA, including that school was cancelled for the rest of the day. Everything got all confused and I never did find out why I'd been called in. On the bus on the way home all I could think was how I'd thought assassinations only happened to people in the 1800s. It didn't seem real at all. I watched the news reports about it for days on our old b&w.

[RebelOne]

50. Miami, Fla., at home watching television

My uncle who was passing by, stopped and told me what happened. I don't know why it wasn't on TV at that time. I guess in those years they didn't get breaking news as quickly as today.

[incapsulated]

51. A few days old

In my mothers arms in front of the TV!

[kyrasdad]

52. wetting myself

in a diaper in the back seat of my Mom's car. I was 5 months old.

[trof]

53. Winning my wings

at Vance AFB, Enid, OK.

[Catfish]

54. I remember

I was in the 5th grade at Holy Rosary School in New Orleans, I saw someone go into the classroom across the hall and tell something to the teacher. She screamed and started crying. Our teacher, a nun, calmly told us and asked us to pray for the President. The whole school was taken to the Church to pray and then we were sent home. I remember seeing Ruby shoot Oswald (I think I do) and I didn't really understand it.

I also remember JFK being shot and MLK, Jr. being shot. Political assasination seemed almost normal by the time I finished high school. I remember the Chicago Dem. Convention and the protests. Then there were the Vietnam protests and then Watergate. It was quite a period in our country's history and in my coming of age (in many ways), 1963 - 1974. I suppose we all remember that time in our lives and what was happening in the world and in our country.

[Individualist]

56. At work

in a hospital in western NC. The medical records librarian had been to lunch, and on returning told us about Kennedy. The memories of that day and following days are vivid, and when I see old news footage of the funeral cortege going to Arlington with the accompanying drumbeat, it brings it all back.

There were a couple of ironies about 11/22/63. One of my closest friends, who still lived in my hometown in TN, was getting married that evening. There wasn't enough time to change plans, so the small wedding went on as planned. As I was driving into my hometown, I saw that PT 109 was showing at the local drive-in movie.

[HFishbine]

57. In my crib

But probably wondering why Romper Room wasn't on. Do you still have your Romper Stompers?

[ComerPerro]

58. sippin a 40

Sorry, it just looked funny. Hard to say if you meant "my crib" as in, "I was an infant"; or if you meant "in my crib", as in, "just chillin with my bitches".

Oh well...

[HFishbine]

70. Har

Yeah, sippin' a 40 DD teat.

[warrior1]

59. I was

sitting in Mrs. Audrey's 2nd grade class in Northcrest elementary class outside John Connley (sp) Air Force Base, which is near Waco, TX.

I think it was a Thursday.

[July]

61. Some of these reports startle me

I'm taken aback at how many people here report the happiness and cheering of (Republican?) neighbors, acquaintances, etc. As much as I loathed Reagan, all I felt was shock when he was shot. I'm hoping karma gets Bush, but I don't wish him physical harm. I believe your reports because we're still hearing violent rhetoric from the right, but it's so sad and discouraging.

I didn't hear any happy comments when JFK died because I was in 4th grade in a Catholic school in an Irish Catholic neighborhood (JFK was revered, of course). The principal came into my classroom and told us that the president had been shot and asked us to pray for him. My parents were very upset. Watched TV for days, but I can't remember if I saw LHO shot live or not, strangely. I remember going through it all again for MLK and RFK. Terrible, violent times.

[latebloomer]

62. It was my day to ring the school bell

by pressing a button in the principal's office. I was eleven and in 7th grade. Old Mr. Chandler, the principal, was sitting listening to his old radio, head bowed, looking despondent. The radio broadcaster was intoning, "Earlier this year Mrs. Kennedy lost her son. Today she has lost her husband." "Which Mrs. Kennedy?" I wondered to myself.

I returned to the classroom and my teacher was called out of the room. She returned with a BIG SHIT-EATING GRIN on her face. She didn't say a word, dismissed us and we went home.

[Garage Queen]

63. According to my mom, I was being breastfed at the time

I was one month old.

Edited to note the irony of getting post 63 ...

[BonjourUSA]

64. Many of you only was a little licentious light in your father's eye

and me, I don't remember where I was and what I was doing.

[zatoichi]

66. Military Duty

I was on duty at Camp Lejeune. I happened to be listening to AM radio and heard the announcement that the President had been shot. Even then, immediate duscussions popped up that LBJ might be complicit in some way.

[Mari333]

67. 6th grade. English class

They announced it on the loudspeakers. Everyone sat stunned. I wrote the most godawful poem to Jackie Kennedy because I was just a kid and felt bad for her. I remember the whole poem, it was silly but I was sad for her and only a kid at the time. The White House sent me a thank you letter.

[Hogarth]

69. Hey! I was on Romper Room, too!

I got stage fright when asked on camera about the fishing in our area. How embarrassing! And how odd that you mention it--I don't think I've recycled that memory in over forty years ... likely for good reason.

Oh, man! Now all of my stage-fright memories are surfacing. Damn you for jogging my recollection!

[Catshrink]

72. I was on "Golden Rule School"

a local version of Romper Room. I was overly inquisitive and had to go to the end of the table. When the teacher was describing the parts of a flower, I got in trouble again. She said piss-tle! No way could I let that one go.

[KansDem]

71. I was in the orthodontist's chair...

I remember I was waiting for my turn when the receptionist's phone rang. She answered and quickly gasped an "Oh, no!" The call was short and she came directly back to the work area and told the orthodontist that Kennedy had been shot. When I returned to school (5th grade), and entered my classroom (class was in session. I had been excused for my appointment), the teacher asked me if I had heard the news. I told her I did. The rest of the day was uncomfortably quiet.

[SteveG]

73. I was in a doctor's office

I was in 8th grade (13 years old)in Wilmington DE., and I had gotten into a locker room fist fight with the class bully, (I was the new kid in school) and I shattered my right hand hitting him. By about 11 O'clock, the swelling and pain caused me to visit the school nurse, when asked how it happened, I lied and said I slipped and fell. When my Mom came and picked me up, I did admit the truth to her. She took me to get my hand x-rayed, and of course we got to the office while everyone was out to lunch. By this time my hand was really hurting, but we waited for the staff to return at 1pm. Of course the staff came back from lunch and turned on the office radio as mom was filling out forms, and that's when the announcement came over that Kennedy had been shot. Well of course, the teenager, with the maybe broken hand, was forgotten for the next hour and a half... everyone in the office, doctors, nurses etc.,even Mom were riveted to the radio, meanwhile my hand just got worse. I donno, but about 2:30 someone noticed me - and I finally got my xray. I had broken 7 bones in my right hand, and I would be wearing a cast for the next 6 weeks.

I remember the rest of that weekend as well. I did watch Oswald being shot by Ruby live on TV. The images were burned into my brain, and I can see them in my minds eye today very clearly still.

[LWolf]

74. I don't remember.

I was 3. Somewhere in Kansas City.

[gate of the sun]

75. I was kindergarten

came home and my mother was ironing and crying. I assume she explained what happened. I don't really remember much else.

[9215]

76. You could get a thousand people or more who were

15 or older at the time of the assasination and they would all be able to tell you where they were unless one of those people was Poppy Bush. He claims he does not remember where he was on that day.


I was in school.

[Suziq]

77. I Was In . . . .

7th grade music class in Brooklyn. I remember that day so clearly . .

:(

[leftofthedial]

78. behind the fence on the grassy knoll

n/t

[chromotone]

81. No way!!!

The Warren Commission said you weren't there!

Stop "Bushing" us!

[blindpig]

79. our lady of fatima , 3rd grade

sister karen's class. nun's & teachers weeping, confused childern sent home. I was home watching tv (day of mourning?) and saw Oswald eliminated.

[donsu]

80. I was in the Library of Congress doing research

and on the drive home everything seemed so normal as if our president hadn't just been murdered (by the murderous bushgang). Couldn't believe how uncaring most people were.

[Waistdeep]

82. I was in high school

going to my choir class when I found out. We were putting on a performance at the nearby junior high that afternoon. Although everyone knew at the beginning that Kennedy had been shot, in the middle of the performance we were interrupted for an announcement that he was dead. We finished the performance with a gentle hymn. Most of the choir members had tears in their eyes or running down their cheeks. It was both beautiful and immensely sad.

[NoPasaran]

83. Second grade classroom

In Security, Colorado. They put the news reports on the PA. School was let out early. No school Monday, day of the funeral.

I remember having watched JFK earlier (must have been summer 1963) when he came to Colorado to dedicate the Air Force Academy.

The first of so many assassinations that I grew up with . . .

[UrbScotty]

84. Wasn't born until 15 years later

JFK was my mom's hero.

[MissMarple]

85. 9th grade English class, it was cold, dark and raining outside.

It was surreal, like the twin towers were to many of you younger DUers. How could such a thing have happened? Well, kids, we aren't in Pleasantville, anymore.

[David Zephyr]

86. Sixth Grade Class in Texas.

My best friend, Gregory, had just shaken the President's hand at Houston's Hobby Airport ust days earlier. Our friend, Kay, came up to us in the caffeteria and said she'd heard that the President had been shot. Greg became furious at her and told her not to joke about such things.

Not much longer in our classroom, our teacher broke down as he informed us that President Kennedy was dead. I will never forget the voice of this one boy shouting in jubilation, "The nigger-lover is dead!" The teacher admonished him and dismissed the class.

Alone, I walked across the school playground and down two long blocks to my home where I found my mom and sister sitting in front of our Raytheon "black and white TV".

During and after the 1960 election, I had kept a black and white poster of John Kennedy on the wall above my bed. The poster had been a gift from my friend Greg, whose father was active in local Democratic politics. I kept that poster of JFK up on my wall until I left home at 17.

[Marymarg]

87. High school typing class

The principal came by our classroom in my tiny West Texas school and told us that the President had been shot and "may not survive." One (stupid) boy in my class clapped and cheered. The principal chastised him alluding to the boy's stupidity. The rest of us were in shock and disbelief.:cry:

[doc03]

88. High School Sophomore

They announced that he had been shot over the intercom while I was
in 6th period Biology class. Then they announced that he had died
in 7th period Geometry class just a few minutes before we dismissed.
You could here a pin drop in the halls and on the bus ride home. I
did here a couple remarks from the kids from Republican famlies that
he deserved it. JFK was hated by the Republicans probably more that Clinton was.

[cmd]

89. In collage, returning to my dorm

The day was gray and dreary, fitting weather for the end. JFK's death still tears at my heart.

[JohnKleeb]

90. Nowhere

I wasnt even in production :(.

[sleepyhead]

91. third grade

We were in the lunchroom and the pricipal , Miss Meyn, came in and rang the bell for attention. She told us in a very calm voice that the president had been shot. Shortly afterward, she started crying and announced that he was dead. We got sent home and I remember that all the teachers were crying. Our next door neighbors, the Coopers, were laughing and calling JFK a "nigger-lover" which I didn't understand at the time. We watched tv pretty much straight through the next few days. The full impact didn't hit me until years later.

[DemoTex]

92. Mrs. Shepherd's algebra-2 class.

Griffin High School, Griffin, Ga. I was 15.

[VOX]

93. 14 years old, sitting in French class...

A messenger brought in one mimeo bulletin stating that the president had been shot, and the teacher (Mrs. Peevish, I kid you not), read it with a crack in her voice. Some of the kids giggled nervously, some of them cried. About 10 minutes later, the same messember blew in with another mimeo, which stated that the president was dead. The teacher -- a grey-haired, mature woman -- broke down and sobbed. We were all adrift -- there were no lessons on how to act when you get this kind of news.

I walked around during my lunch period in an absolute daze. Other kids were weeping, calling parents, leaving the campus.

In Algebra class after lunch, we simply talked about the events. Then, we were sent home early.

I got home around 2:00 - 2:30 in the afternoon -- my mom hadn't even heard! She hadn't been listening to any radio or TV, and none of her friends happened to call, so I had to break it to her!

[BeachBuckeye]

94. I was in my room at a rooming house at Ohio State

I was studying and my Republican roommate threw open the door and announced, very happily: "They just shot your buddy." He knew I had worked hard in the Kennedy campaign and had met President Kennedy. When I found out that he was telling the truth I became enraged and put his head thru the wall in several places and then threw him thru the window (first floor). I couldn't fathom that someone could be so insensitive as to make such a statement and I just lost it for a while. He pressed charges against me but they were dropped when the judge heard the whole story and admonished HIM not me. These 40 years later I STILL cannot watch the films of JFK being shot.

When he was elected it was as if a fresh spring air was blowing over our country after being stagnant for Ike's 8 years. It was a magical time and no amount of Kennedy bashing will ever change that for me.

[Carolina]

100. It was a magical time ...

I feel the same. No amount of Kennedy bashing will ever change the hope, the promise, the inspiration I felt then. JFK was unique and special and no matter what is said, written or presented on the history channel now, my feelings will never change.

[Vadem]

113. Dear Guy....

Thank you for beating the sh*t out of that jerk!!!

[FloridaJudy]

95. I was in the Principal's Office

Being chewed out for "acting like a Beatnik" again (I think it was for picketing Woolworth's that time, or maybe just for writing nihilistic poetry during Latin class). I spent a LOT of time in the Principal's Office in High School...

I heard it on his secretary's radio on my way out. I went to the cafeteria and announced "The President has been shot". Half the class thought I meant the Senior Class President, and all of them thought it was some sort of weird beatnik joke.

PS, the class president took me to the Senior Prom. That was HIS act of rebellion!

[Individualist]

96. At work

in the medical records dept. of a hospital in northwestern NC. The medical records librarian had returned from a late lunch and told us that Kennedy had been shot. We went to a TV and heard the report that JFK had died. That evening one of my closest friends was to be married in my hometown in TN, and the small wedding proceeded as planned since it was too late to change plans. As I drove into my hometown, I saw that PT 109 was showing at a local drive-in.

In 1961 I got to see JFK. The senior class at my high school took a class trip to Washington and New York in May. We were to have left Washington early Wednesday morning, but when teachers learned that JFK was to be in a parade, they delayed our departure so we could see the President. I remember thinking his hair looked redder in person than in newsreels and photos.

[PURRCY]

97. I was in my third grade classroom

Our teacher abruptly ended class and told us that the President had been assassinated (and explained what that meaned). Then she let us go home. I walked home from school, crying the whole way. I loved President Kennedy, even though I was only 8 years old. I had a picture of him that I had taken from one of our Weekly Readers. I taped it up in my bedroom.

Everything is still so vivid...his funeral procession with the horse-drawn carriage...the drum cadence...John-John saluting his Daddy's passing coffin...Jackie conducting herself with such grace and dignity.

[Lindsay]

99. In study hall in the auditorium.

Sixth period, I think. It was my senior year in high school.

A teacher came in and went up on stage to make the announcement.

The next period I had an English test. I couldn't concentrate at all. I don't remember how I did on the test (it couldn't have been very well), but I remember the day so clearly....

[Lydia Leftcoast]

101. Mr. Skow's eighth grade math class

My school had two lunch periods, and I had first lunch, but evidently, the geography teacher, Mr. Nygaard, had second lunch, because he was listening to the radio in the teachers'

He came right into our classroom without knocking and announced, "Kennedy and Johnson have been shot in Dallas."

We were all shocked, of course, and just sat there silently. Suddenly, the radio came on over the school intercom, the coverage from CBS News on WCCO-AM, which was THE radio station in Minnesota in those days.

The usually squirelly class sat silently as the reports filtered in. When the announcement that JFK was dead came on, several of the students burst into tears. I didn't, because my parents were (sad to say) Nixon fans (although they wised up later), so I had never been a huge Kennedy fan, although I didn't dislike him.

Shortly after CBS News announced JFK's death, the principal's voice came on over the intercom and told us that the school buses would be showing up soon to take us home.

We had four days of no regular TV programming. I didn't see Oswald getting shot, because I was in church, but one of my brothers, who was home sick, did see it, and at first none of us believed him when he told us, because he did have a tendency to play practical jokes.

On Monday, which I believe was the day of the funeral, my father (a Lutheran pastor) held a memorial service, which was well-attended. Even though he was not fond of Kennedy, he did have respect for the office of the presidency and realized that this was a national tragedy.

I can't remember whether our service was before or after the televised service, but I did watch JFK's funeral on TV.

I especially remember the skittish riderless horse who was led in front of the coffin, the fact that dozens of world leaders, such as Charles De Gaulle and Hailie Selassie, attended (even the Soviets sent their Foreign Minister), and the fact that the cardinal who officiated at the service sounded like W.C. Fields.

TV news also showed footage of the funeral of Officer Tippett, who was killed pursuing Oswald (or someone else).

By the way, November 22, 1963, also saw the deaths of two other famous people: Alduous Huxley and C.S. Lewis. On a normal day, either death would have made the news, but these two well-known authors were completely overshadowed by Kennedy's assassination.

[Zan_of_Texas]

102. In class. near D.C.

I was in elementary school when JFK ran. I took JFK signs to school, in a Republican county. The kids tore them up, and that was probably my first lesson that politics is not always fair. I gave a speech to the school in a debate about whether JFK or Nixon would be a better president. I still have it somewhere -- even then, I knew that Democrats were stuck with a label of not being strong on defense, and I said JFK was tough, as evidenced by his PT-109 military heroism, and he certainly would stand up to Castro.

As as aside, I recall that there was public debate about whether a Catholic could be elected President.

My parents took us to see him in a motorcade during the campaign. We waited an hour or so to see a glimpse of the black car in the motorcade, and the streets were lined with people several deep on both sides (this was Columbus Ohio). Then, when he was president, we went to see him speak one brisk morning at the Amphitheater at Arlington Cemetary. I thought it was a good speech. I was thrilled to have seen him in person.

When we used to visit Arlington Cemetary and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (by now we lived near there and it was a popular place to bring out-of-town visitors), there was a particular place I found, off the beaten track, behind the Custis mansion, a nice hill with grass, that had a great view of Washington across the Potomac river. I would dodge the mansion marms and go stand there by myself, looking out. That exact place is the place where JFK came to be buried.

When he was shot, I was in junior high. The announcement came over the loud speaker that "The president has been shot." There were no details -- at first, it wasn't known whether he was shot and injured, or shot and killed. Everyone was in a hubbub, but there was no getting more information -- rumors flew, of course. We were sent home for the day.

That weekend, there was a school carnival with all kinds of fun games and junk. The family went, and I remember being in a daze. Sure, I had had grandparents die. But, this was different. I was completely stunned. A big part of the world had changed that day. The rug had been pulled out. It was unthinkable. Hope had been high, with a young, handsome, eloquent president. He seemed to have a lot of vitality, and he had a wonderful wry sense of humor. Jackie was arguaby the most popular First Lady of the second half of the century, just on charm points. The scene of John-John saluting at the funeral is one that is widely remembered; I remember thinking it was so unfair that he would never really know his father. Now he is gone too.

Since then, we've found out JFK was in pain and had many secret physical problems. We've found out he was a womanizer. We've found out he was preparing to rein in the CIA in a big way, just before his death. And, 40 years later, the debate rages on as who and why he was killed, and who killed all the people who might have a piece of the answer.

Some date the beginning of the rotten state we're in now to that day in history. I wonder. I wonder if November 22, 1963 was the most important turning point in American politics in the period 1950-2000.

[CSUWaz]

103. Only 2

I was only 2 so I don't recall - probably still pooping my pants - lol.

I can remember when Martin Luther King was assasinated. They closed all of the schools in Oakland for fear of rioting (which didn't happen). The rumor mill was that the Black Panthers had also escaped from jail on the same day (what does that mean to a 7 year old?) -- If we only knew the real enemy was Nixon and his band of goons.

[Upfront]

104. At Work

in the lunch room on break. Our Staunchly Republican boss came in and told us and he was almost crying. Every one just set there stunned, not talking. Just sick at heart. President JFK was very loved by most of the American people. Our boss was a good republican. Once there were some.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

105. More Importantly: Where Was George H.W. Bush?

I was on my Junior High lunch-time playground when I first heard about it.

[arewethereyet]

106. trying to enjoy my birthday, didn't happen

nice way to screw up a little kid's day, getting the president's head blown off and all. not terribly festive...

[kskiska]

109. Home in Connecticut watching "As the World Turns"

that Friday after noon when a reporter broke into the programming. Back in those days, "Breaking News" was really something earth-shattering – not junk news like today. I'll never forget that weekend. But once Monday came, regular programming resumed. There wasn't any 24/7 news channels, so news was confined to regular news broadcasts and papers. I've still got some of those papers.

[Beam Me Up]

110. 15 years old: Melbourne Beach Florida

Melbourne High School was on double sessions and all my classes were in the morning. So, although it was a Friday, I was home from school. My parents had family friends visiting from out of town. I was first to hear the news on my transistor radio (which was almost permanently glued to the side of my head). All the adults around me were devastated. Although I was only a kid, I had been a strong Kennedy supporter. Before the election, I used to get into fights with the kid next door whose family had supported Nixon. I felt then that this event marked "the end of the world"--little did I know how right I was.

The JFK assassination was a HUGE media event. I believe it was about that time that politicians began to get a clue about what power Television held.

[Vadem]

111. I was at home in Maryland, caring for my 29 day old son...

I was 21 years old. The black and white TV was on when the announcement came on that JFK had been shot in Dallas. I called my husband at his job at the Library of Congress, crying, to report that our beloved President had been shot. I have pictures of my son lying on the sofa, screaming, with his little fists up by his head, with the Washington Post next to him and the headlines screaming JFK assassinated. My son just celebrated his 40th birthday. Of course, we were glued to the TV and saw Ruby kill Oswald and all the aftermath of that. Dear Lord, what a time in our history.

[mourningdove92]

112. Mrs. Parkers Class, 5th grade

Lubbock, Texas.