November 22, 1963 - President Kennedy Assassinated

[mikeyank]

As the date on the calendar is once again November 22, I feel the need to mention, as I do each year, how this very date sends a chill up and down my spine, as I remember where I was and how I felt on that Friday afternoon in junior high school, at age 13 when my wood shop teacher told us to clean up our areas early as he had something to tell us and we learned the shocking news that the President of the United States had been shot. We didn't know that he had died at that point, but school was dismissed early and we exited down the steps of the school onto the street and I was in a daze. It all seemed so surreal. This was not something that happened in our country at that time. Assassinations were something we read about in history books or saw on the news in emerging Latin American and African nations. It is a date that I will remember until my final day on this earth.

 

[betudidntknow]

What I find amazing (to me) is what age I was on this Date and Year yet,I have very vivid memories of what I saw on television. I remember also, how at that age, I was focused on the other little kid whom I saw during the funeral of JFK. It was because he was a kid my age or close. John Jr. I was only 3.

 

[johnny]

4 Day's in front of the TV. With my family. Never forget. Memories still clear.The end of innocence.The four day's the World Changed.

 

[peterh6308]

I just watched a documentary last weekend about the Kennedy's. I found out something that I never knew. John and Jackie had just lost their new born baby in August of 63. She was in a deep depression and her sister talked her into going on a cruise with her and her then boyfriend Ari Onassis. John thought it was good idea so she did. He phoned her and asked her to come back home as he wanted her to go with him to Dallas as he was campaigning in a state where he was deeply disliked. She agreed and well the rest is history!!

 

[another1]

'the president was shot' and with that the principal piped a radio broadcast over the pa system. the announcer said, 'president kennedy is dead!'
the day was special. we, student leaders had managed to get all the high schools to send someone to a conference. the plan was create a united body of students. our school agreed to a half day school day. almost noon and school would be out. then the conference would begin. this was going to be my day! then the world changed! what started as a day of hope became a day of great sadness. they killed the president is the thought that kept running through my head! I will never forget this date.

 

[Ambivalent]

Hey guys ~

Thank you for all the thoughtful memoirs of this terrible occasion. It was, of course, a real human tragedy (as all such acts of wanton violence, are): but beyond that was (I think) particularly unfortunate as, it seems to me John F. Kennedy was really beginning to grow in stature, judgement, and wisdom, as his term in office progressed.

"A" XOXOXOXOXOXO

 

[juanjo]

I remember the day as well. The principal ran from classroom to classroom as we were in one of those old schools built back in the late 1800s with no PA system. The majority of the kids in my school were blue collar, Irish Catholics and they strongly identified with the president. The entire school simply shut down and they told us to go home. I remember walking towards home in a cold drizzle that day. I was about halfway there when my father drove by and picked me up which was just as shocking as he was supposed to be working on a construction project downtown. Everyone simply stopped what they were doing and went home to huddle around the television.

It was one of those days that no matter what you cannot forget where you were and what you were doing when you heard the news.

May He who makes peace in the high heavens grant us his peace here on earth.

 

[tampa24]

May He who makes peace in the high heavens grant us his peace here on earth.

Amen.

 

[gardenboy]

I was in my first year of college and in one of those dreadful required courses - Introduction to Art. We had a visiting professor from Oxford and I will never forget his truly British eloquence. He simply said " I think you young people do not fully appreciate what you have lost!" And with that he dismissed class. We all went back to dorms and crowded around tvs in commons areas!

 

[louis33705]

I was a senior at Jesuit High School. The entire student body was told to go to the gym for an assembly. There our principal made the announcement followed by a prayer service. We were then dismissed. The football game with our rival Bishop Barry HS was cancelled. When I got home my Father was already there as the school where he taught had also closed. My Father was standing in his bedroom crying which was the first time I had ever seen him cry. More significant was the fact the President had visited Tampa the week before and our school had closed early so we could go see him.

Peter mentioned they had lost their baby that summer. The baby's name was Patrick.

That night a couple of my friends and I headed out to the beach. We sat on the sand. No one was talking and we just passed a 5th of bourbon around until the bottle was empty. We then drove home in total silence.

Definitely a day to remember.

 

[mikeyank]

I'm glad I brought the subject up yesterday on the fifty-second anniversary of the tragic event. It's interesting to read how it affected different people around the country, all of us at different ages, but the memories are permanently etched into our brains and we can close our eyes and rememebr exactly where we were and how we felt. Thanks to all for your personal stories and memories. I enjoyed reading them very much.

 

[Spartans987]

Although I was not alive when this happened, I would be born 10 years later and it amazes me to read the effect this day had on so many lives in 1963 - thanks for sharing your posts and educating me

 

[Buckeye1]

Few dates in one's life are so seared in one's brain, that when heard much later in life, brings back a flood of memories of what happened on that date, and exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news of what had just taken place. In my lifetime there are three such dates, excluding the dates when I lost my parents and my first wife.

The first and perhaps the most traumatic, was November 22, 1963, when our president was assassinated. Traumatic, perhaps, because of my youth and was the first time I had ever experienced such a catastrophic event with worldwide implications. The senseless murder left the world in total grief.

I was a sophomore in high school, and had just started French class, my last class of the day, when the principal announced over the intercom that President Kennedy had been shot and was being rushed to a hospital. I spent most of my time in that class, staring out the window, praying for him, and assuring myself that everything would be fine. People get shot all of the time, I thought, and he would probably have his arm in a cast for awhile, but he would recover. That seemed to be the longest hour of my young life up to that point.

After the bell rang to end that class, everyone filed out into the hall, all ready to go home. I noticed some of the girls crying and someone told me the president had died. I didn't believe it. It just couldn't be true, as my mind was still seeing him with a cast on his arm. I didn't believe it UNTIL I got home and found my mother sitting in front of the TV, her eyes red and swollen from crying. From Friday afternoon through the following Monday, we sat mostly in front of our black and white TV, numb with grief, watching the events happening live honoring the memory of our young president.

The second date etched in my memory is November 14, 1970, when the plane carrying our Marshall University football team, coaches, and prominent fans, crashed in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, just short of the runway to Tri-State Airport, killing all 75 souls aboard. Unimaginable grief hung over this area for quite some time.

And, of course, the third date is September 11, 2001, when our country was attacked by terrorists, killing nearly 3,000 innocent people in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

On first date, November 22, 1963, only one man lost his life, but our country and the entire world lost a great leader.

 

[johnny]

Beautiful Robb. Brought a tear to my eyes. xoxo

 

[peterh6308]

Although I was not alive when this happened, I would be born 10 years later and it amazes me to read the effect this day had on so many lives in 1963 - thanks for sharing your posts and educating me

I was just a 8 month old baby, but my mom has told us numerous times what she was doing that day.

 

[tampa24]

I was just a 8 month old baby, but my mom has told us numerous times what she was doing that day.

I was just over a year old. So I have no memories either.

 

[mikeyank]

I saw this on facebook. Thank you Stowe.

 

[mikeyank]

And each year when I see the date November 22 on the calendar, it brings me right back to that sad day in 1963. As hard as it is for me to believe, today in 2017 it is now 54 years later.

 

[Buckeye1]

Few dates in one's life are so seared in one's brain, that when heard much later in life, brings back a flood of memories of what happened on that date, and exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news of what had just taken place. In my lifetime there are three such dates, excluding the dates when I lost my parents and my first wife.

The first and perhaps the most traumatic, was November 22, 1963, when our president was assassinated. Traumatic, perhaps, because of my youth and was the first time I had ever experienced such a catastrophic event with worldwide implications. The senseless murder left the world in total grief.

I was a sophomore in high school, and had just started French class, my last class of the day, when the principal announced over the intercom that President Kennedy had been shot and was being rushed to a hospital. I spent most of my time in that class, staring out the window, praying for him, and assuring myself that everything would be fine. People get shot all of the time, I thought, and he would probably have his arm in a cast for awhile, but he would recover. That seemed to be the longest hour of my young life up to that point.

After the bell rang to end that class, everyone filed out into the hall, all ready to go home. I noticed some of the girls crying and someone told me the president had died. I didn't believe it. It just couldn't be true, as my mind was still seeing him with a cast on his arm. I didn't believe it UNTIL I got home and found my mother sitting in front of the TV, her eyes red and swollen from crying. From Friday afternoon through the following Monday, we sat mostly in front of our black and white TV, numb with grief, watching the events happening live honoring the memory of our young president.

The second date etched in my memory is November 14, 1970, when the plane carrying our Marshall University football team, coaches, and prominent fans, crashed in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, just short of the runway to Tri-State Airport, killing all 75 souls aboard. Unimaginable grief hung over this area for quite some time.

And, of course, the third date is September 11, 2001, when our country was attacked by terrorists, killing nearly 3,000 innocent people in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

On first date, November 22, 1963, only one man lost his life, but our country and the entire world lost a great leader.

Since my post of November 23, 2015, has not changed or expired yet...I just say "ditto." It will have an expiration date sometime in the future when I expire. I promise not to use it again after that unknown date.

BTW JFK would have been 100 years old last May 29...still looking good.

 

[johnny]

Few dates in one's life are so seared in one's brain, that when heard much later in life, brings back a flood of memories of what happened on that date, and exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news of what had just taken place. In my lifetime there are three such dates, excluding the dates when I lost my parents and my first wife.

The first and perhaps the most traumatic, was November 22, 1963, when our president was assassinated. Traumatic, perhaps, because of my youth and was the first time I had ever experienced such a catastrophic event with worldwide implications. The senseless murder left the world in total grief.

I was a sophomore in high school, and had just started French class, my last class of the day, when the principal announced over the intercom that President Kennedy had been shot and was being rushed to a hospital. I spent most of my time in that class, staring out the window, praying for him, and assuring myself that everything would be fine. People get shot all of the time, I thought, and he would probably have his arm in a cast for awhile, but he would recover. That seemed to be the longest hour of my young life up to that point.

After the bell rang to end that class, everyone filed out into the hall, all ready to go home. I noticed some of the girls crying and someone told me the president had died. I didn't believe it. It just couldn't be true, as my mind was still seeing him with a cast on his arm. I didn't believe it UNTIL I got home and found my mother sitting in front of the TV, her eyes red and swollen from crying. From Friday afternoon through the following Monday, we sat mostly in front of our black and white TV, numb with grief, watching the events happening live honoring the memory of our young president.

The second date etched in my memory is November 14, 1970, when the plane carrying our Marshall University football team, coaches, and prominent fans, crashed in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, just short of the runway to Tri-State Airport, killing all 75 souls aboard. Unimaginable grief hung over this area for quite some time.

And, of course, the third date is September 11, 2001, when our country was attacked by terrorists, killing nearly 3,000 innocent people in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

On first date, November 22, 1963, only one man lost his life, but our country and the entire world lost a great leader.

What a Great Post Robb. Timeless. Truly was the end of Innocence as We new it. 9/11 Frist time we all came together for awhile.
Time stood still for a while. We all Loved each other for a while. We all were one. For a While. And Marshall. Funny I just saw the movie Sunday.
Such a tragedy. So much grief. Never to be forgotten by the people that were there. But good to see in the Movie at least the people really did come together. Even in there Grief.
Ya..Robb ...Great Post. I hope You will be around many years to post it again and again. Timeless..
THANK YOU..
Have a real Nice Thanksgiving Robb...My Friend..xoxoxo Johnny...