Where Were You When President Kennedy Was Shot?
November
22, 1963
To
fellow readers and writers, I sent out this query November 22, 2024
on the 61st
anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy. The question
was inspired by George Cummins a former member of the US Peace Corps
who had contacted his Peace Corps group
Tanzania 5, about their memories of that
day. So I followed up with a similar
question to my former Peace Corps team Tanzania
10, who went to that
country at the end of 1965, already two
years after the assassination. I’ve been overwhelmed by the number
of responses, approximately 65 in less than a week. I also sent it
out to readers of my track and field blog that I’ve been writing
for the past 14 years, and then to a few other friends and
acquaintances. We have travelled on many
different paths since 1963 and we’ve been molded and shaped by many
events in our lives. I’ve
realize that you
have to be about 71 years of age to answer
the question. A few of the younger respondents are relating what
they’ve been told by others. On the other end of that spectrum,
about 85 years, our memories though fading still have some indelible
marks and interesting tales to tell. Some
only responded to say where they were on the map at the time, but
others were much more willing to share memories,
thoughts, and opinions. Answers came from
many points on the globe, primarily the US, but also Zimbabwe,
Scotland, Germany, Spain, Canada, Morocco, , and Canada. One
respondent also sent the front page story from their college
newspaper which I’ve attached at the end of this. In
checking out the papers of that date, I learned of another tragedy on
that day that was
long forgotten, a nursing home fire in Norwalk, Ohio where 63
residents died, many held in their beds by restraints. It reminds me
that these things are happening everyday somewhere on the planet. In
refugee camps, in The Congo, the West Bank,
Gaza, Lebanon, Israel, the Sudan, Mynamar,
Syria, and many, many other places. We become immune to
terrible news in many instances,
but the big events such as JFK, 9-11, the Challenger, and a
very few others tend to be those that link
us to shock and sadness. I hope that if you read some or all of
these accounts you will be moved to a few moments of reflection and
be able to show a good side of humanity to someone who needs and
deserves it, maybe even to someone
who doesn’t.
It may be one of the few paths on which
people and nations
can heal.
Thank you so much for sharing your
stories.
All names and identities have been scrubbed from the accounts.
George Brose
1. I
was playing pickup basketball in the Alumni Gym of Capital University
(Columbus, Ohio) on that fateful Friday. in 1963. We were
playing cross court when mysteriously the guys at the other end
stopped playing and were just wandering around aimlessly, most
talking in hushed tones. Eventually, one came down to announce
to those in our game "the President has been shot."
My first thought was "why would anyone want to shoot President
Yochum (the very popular Capital University president). When he
corrected me I was even more concerned because I knew the
ramifications were much larger.
Strangely
my eventual wife was in her Belmont High School (Dayton, OH) English
class when the announcement came over the speaker.
Since
I eventually became a coach and she an English teacher, it seemed
only appropriate that we were both where we should have been when
this tragic event took place.
2. I
was on the way to the Baptist Student Center in Norman (OK)
at the time JFK was shot. When I got there and while I was
walking up the staircase to the main floor, a guy yelled down at me,
“Did you know Kennedy was just shot?” At that time I didn’t
know it was fatal and tried to get to a TV to see how he was. A
couple of minutes later the news came that he had been killed.
My
first reaction was to blame the hard-line right- wingers that Dallas
was known for, for Jack’s death. The Kennedy’s had had some
reservations about going to Dallas at that time—not sure they would
be welcome or that it would be safe to be out in public in Dallas.
So my first reaction followed that logic: they had gone
into hostile territory and the trip ended up with him getting
killed.
Then
as other details came out about Oswald I began to realize it was not
the type of people I had imagined that were responsible for his
death.
Then
Jack Ruby killed Oswald and the whole thing got way more confusing.
The biggest mystery to me is how Ruby was ever allowed to get close
enough to Oswald to shoot him. I don’t think that question has ever
been adequately answered. What were the Dallas police doing?How
could Ruby ever be allowed to get close enough with a pistol to shoot
him? I don’t think we’ll ever know.
Jackie’s
life since Jack’s death has been a disappointment. If
there ever was a marriage for money, her marriage to Onassis
was one—a disappointment. I hope it gave her some
happiness—she surely deserved some—but I doubt that it did.
3. I
was in the 6th grade, 11yrs old. I don’t remember very much. I knew
it was a big deal. (My parents were Nixon people)
4.
I recall it clearly. I was making my way from the
LBSC
(Long
Beach State College)
locker
room out across the grass field toward the track for my Friday
work-out, always an early workout as I had only one class in the
morning. One of our team mates was holding some kind of
conference out in the middle of the field, which was out of the
ordinary. Much excited talking as I got closer. We were all in
a state of shock, as JFK was one of the most liked politicians of my
lifetime. I was starting my Junior year and cross-country was
just finishing up and no one felt like training that day or
over the week-end. I recall that network TV was covering the news
almost 24 hours a day and eventually I heard growling about enough
being enough. I didn't really have time to sit in front of the
TV anyway with school, training, work and a newborn baby
and wife to care for. I was especially taken by his service in WWII
and looked up to him as a genuine hero for his service on PT 109. Sad
Sad day in US history.
5. I
had picked up my new car at the Rambler factory in Wisconsin and
started driving southeast to get my Mother in Yellow Springs,
OH
where
she had been visiting my
sister.
It started to rain so I went to the Rambler agency somewhere on
the way and they fixed my wipers OK. All along the drive
I had been listening to the radio and heard about the assassination.
I "think" he was shot when I was just entering Illinois and
he died almost right away. Interesting for you George, I
stopped in Warsaw Indiana, home of Max Truex and phoned his parents
for a short
phone call.
I was in the Air Force on leave to get the car and thus when I
returned to Oxnard AFB in Calif, the atmosphere had certainly
changed.
6. I
was working on Wall Street at the time and was finishing up lunch at
a local diner with some friends when we got the word
that the President had been shot. By the time we got back to our
office, trading had been halted on the NY Stock Exchange and we
sat around listening to transistor radios until it was confirmed that
he had died.
7. Doing
my college part-time job - washing test tubes for the School of
Applied Medicine
at UPenn with the radio on - shared the dreadful news with
students in a nearby classroom.
Last night, I was washing up after some pre-Thanksgiving prep and
realised it was
that fateful day 22 November and had no one nearby to "remember".
8. I
was just leaving class at UC Berkeley and walking back to my
apartment at Channing and Shattuck. Soon after I got in the
door, my sister called, and I remember her words, “What are we
going to do now?” She told me JFK had been shot and killed.
Like
nearly everyone in the country I spent the next two weeks glued to
the TV as the saga unfolded.
9. I
was cashing my graduate student assistant paycheck in West Lafayette
Indiana at Purdue. I heard it on the radio and went into the
bank and told them to turn on their radio. My 1:30
class was not cancelled even though Kennedy had already died. Since
there was a John Birch Society sign on the main drag saying "Less
Profile, More Courage" my friends decided they were to blame and
they were planning to deface the sign. Then the Oswald news came.
On Sunday people were bitching that the NFL games were
pre-empted for assassination coverage but I saw Ruby shoot
Oswald on live TV.
10. I was in my
final semester of college (I finished in the fall semester) at Alfred
University. Myers Hall had the chemistry department and modern
languages, among other departments at that time. I was walking
out of the building to go to the student union when I saw an elderly
lady, a faculty member from modern languages, sobbing while sitting
on the steps to the second floor. Between
sobs she reported that President
Kennedy had been shot and killed in Texas. I was shocked and
very sad, as one who saw Kennedy as “my President,” rather than
the "national grandfather” as we saw Eisenhower in those days.
I was in mourning for quite some time after that, and actually
visited the White House that winter. Later I have visited the
Kennedy grave site in Arlington National Cemetery several times. The
event remains seared in my memory, and later I was in the same
hallway, then as a member of the faculty, when I learned of the
Challenger explosion. Those two memories will remain with me as
long as I am alive.
11. I
was in 10th grade Biology class. First thought was,”Oh no, they are
going to cancel the basketball game”. Drove by the “grassy knoll’
a couple yrs ago with my brother. He had read the whole Warren
Report, and reported on his analysis. He’s a deeper thinker than
me!
12. I
was in the 5th grade and they came in and announced that the
President had been shot. My immediate reaction was - why would
somebody do that? Even, how could somebody do that? To me, at that
time, the President was like some indestructible person. We were not
too well off and did not have a television at the time. I remember my
dad going to the appliance store and buying one so we could watch
what was happening that weekend.
It was around the Thanksgiving break and we always traveled to my
mother's family in upstate New York for that holiday. While we were
at the gas station near home filling up we had the coverage on the
car radio. I heard a pop-pop and the announcer screaming that
somebody shot Lee Harvey Oswald. I remember thinking that everything
was falling apart and worrying if we were going to make it to the
relatives house safely.
13. I
was a 28-year-old freshman at Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio, the
only older, married (with two children) commuting student there at
the time. Classes were over for the day; I'd just gotten into my
green '63 VW bug for the 20 mile drive home, when Phil, one of the
track and CC boys I trained with (since girls' track didn't exist
yet) came running over to my car to tell me the terrible news.
I sobbed all the way home, saying out loud, "Oh, the poor
country! The poor country! What will we ever do?" Did the car
have a radio? I don't remember. The 20 miles were a blur, as if it
were raining. The rest of the day, and days after, were spent by the
TV, crying. And again, even now.
14. On
JFK's assassination date I was a junior in school at U. of Oklahoma.
There were mixed feelings on campus about his death. I
heard one coaching staff member say, “Well, they shot Santa Claus
in Dallas”.
I spent the afternoon at the student union watching the only color tv
on campus. One of our tennis players Paul Gregory knew
Lee Harvey Oswald, from his association with the Russian emigre
community in Dallas. He made the mistake of mentioning that and
was picked up by some federal agency within hours for questioning.
There
have been lots of theories about the assassination. One of the
best I ever heard was by someone who spoke on campus a year or so
later from the Bertrand Russell Foundation, but I can't remember his
name or tell you what his theory was. I do remember the hall
was packed and he spoke for several hours. No one left the room
believing anything the Warren Commission had proposed after listening
to the speaker.
15. I
distinctly remember when JFK was shot. I was in a stall in the
Michigan
State University veterinary large-animal clinic holding a thermometer
in the anus of a cow.
A
colleague student yelled down the hallway that "John Kennedy has
been shot!!"
For some
reason that I do not understand, my thought was that it was
"John-John", the son.
I
guess that my brain automatically shut off the enormity of it
actually being the President.
What a
horrendous and tragic loss to our country.
16. I
was on my way home from Peace
Corps
assignment in India. Staying at a Youth hostel in West Berlin eating
breakfast with some Americans. A German girl stood at our table and
said President Kennedy was killed. We did not react. Kept on talking
and eating. She stood and said what is wrong with you Americans?
Don’t you care about your president? She repeated that he was
Killed. We really did not comprehend what she first said. We
apologized her and realized what she said. Of course our lives were
changed that day
17. When
I got to Tanzania, wtih
the Peace Corps
,I was sent to Mwanza by myself. Eventually they gave me a Danish
volunteer as a roommate. His take on JFK's death was completely
different than mine. After reading that famous (Warren)
report our government published, I thought the "lone gun man
theory" was correct-yes I was naive. He said that most Europeans
thought the report was a coverup. He was shocked that Americans were
so easily taken in. Do you think we'll ever know what happened?
18. He
was the first president I was old enough to vote for. I was
eating lunch in the Portland State
College
around noon when it came over the PA system.
19. I
was getting ready to enlist in the army in 1963.
20. I
was 5 years old in kindergarten at Fairport grade school in Dayton
Ohio.
21. Northwestern
University campus sitting in the library getting ready for afternoon
seminar, suddenly hearing a low murmur of voices all around me in a
space usually dead quiet in the morning.
22. 1963
Kitchener, Ontario driving a delivery truck back
to Arnold Brothers. Many people standing around talking which seemed
quite strange to me. Then, it was announced that the President of
the United States was shot and killed! Shocking news to hear that
day! And everyone quit work that day. Many people were sure the
Russians had something to do with it because everything at that time
was so confusing.
23.
At
St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, England, for a concert (age 16).
25.
What
follows is my reaction to your question:
The day JFK was
shot, I was an undergrad at Laval University in Québec
City.
Second year of a Bsc. in Biology, first year of living in a city,
off
campus.
My mind was still in the French, Roman catholic
mode of my youth. What
happened in the USA was part of the
English speaking world, hence of
marginal interest.
Nevertheless, there was the catholic connection that
had been
formed through the Irish Catholic migrants who had settled in
and
around Québec City, in the vicinity of the Grosse Isle,
the
quarantine island.
To me the JFK assassination
had a flavour of religious persecution and
of religious
intolerance. I sensed that this was a momentous event,
although
I could not really fathom the social or political causes
nor
effects. When Robert Kennedy
was
killed in 1968, I became convinced that America
harboured dark
and powerful interests.
Today, I wonder if the apparition
of a Kennedy in the Trump Cabinet,
has any connection with
that distant past of the 1960's and the tragic
end of two
prominent American politicians.
26.
In
November of 1963 I was a freshman at Rutgers University in New
Brunswick NJ- I had a German 1 class in New Jersey Hall, Hamilton
Street. The class began around 1 o’clock and the professor was a
very demanding “strict” person originally from Austria. There was
no time margin - be a few minutes early. The class was 75
minutes, ending as usual with the challenge of a difficult quiz on
Monday. Leaving that class was exciting for a freshman because
outside the steps of New Jersey Hall a group of football players and
RU fans predictably would gather to discuss Saturday’s game.
As
I left the building it was noticeably quiet. When I got outside there
was absolutely no one around. I headed for my dorm by walking up
College Avenue. As I passed Ford Hall a lone resident was sitting in
a window holding a transistor radio. I shouted to him, “Where
is everybody?” He replied simply, “The President has been shot”.
I walked all the way ( .5 miles) to my dorm (Livingston, now Campbell
Hall) encountering no one. When I got to my room
someone told me the President was dead.
The
football game was postponed. A memorial service was held in the
Rutgers Chapel a day or two later. I remember facial expressions as
being “blank”. Classes were cancelled. That Sunday while
returning from lunch I learned that the alleged assassin too had been
murdered while in Dallas police custody.Thanksgiving recess was
ahead. My plan was to go to Washington DC with a friend I had known
while living in Tehran, Iran. During the stay at his home we
went to JFK’s grave. It was a temporary grave surrounded by a white
fence, probably a 10X10 yard square. Flowers we heaped to overflowing
the fence itself.
As
an 18 year old in 1963 this was jolting and confounding. I certainly
did not understand much beyond the actual shooting . So much
lay ahead.
27. I
was 12 years old at the time and school was getting out and we were
all getting on the school buses to be taken home. The bus was filled
with kids all talking
abut their day and then one of the teachers came on the bus and said,
"I wanted all of you to know that the President has been shot
and killed". Very quickly the bus became quiet. I could
hear some kids beginning to cry, and as I looked around everyone had
their head down. It became strangely quiet. I'm not sure reflecting
back that most on the bus could actually comprehend the magnitude of
what we had heard. Obviously, at that time of the US news did not
travel quickly, and no one was sure exactly what had happened. As the
buses left the school and took us on our way home their wasn't much
talk. And some of the kids were trying to understand the devastating
news that we had received. When I got home my mother had the black
and white TV on and she was fixated on the what she was hearing. So
it wasn't until I got home and watched the news that I began to
understand what happened.
28. Heard
about it walking back to my dorm. Went to the fraternity house,
and several of us talked about the historical significance. We
jumped in the car and drove to DC. Senator Nye took us through
the Capitol, and we walked past the casket.
29. I
was on my way to my 4th period class when over the PA system they
made the announcement that
JFK
had been shot in Dallas. Mr. Hart, our geometry teacher, didn't
think we were in the learning mode at that point and asked us to just
pray for our President. When class ended, I went to
my locker to put
away
my books and go to lunch. While at lunch they made another
announcement over
the
PA system saying the President was dead and that school was cancelled
for the rest of the day.
Most
of us were in total shock and a few kids started crying. It was
a very surreal day and one I'll never
forget...
30. I
was a freshman at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. I was in the
process of changing classes when a friend hurriedly claimed Kennedy
was killed. I didn’t believe him. I arrived at my next class where
I was welcomed by many classmates sobbing at their desks. That’s
when it hit me. My world imploded. The professor arrived, calmly
announced the tragic event and incredibly proceeded to teach the
class. No one listened as we were trying to process the tragedy. I
ran to the dorm to watch the news unfold on TV. Later that day I
sadly walked to the cafeteria for supper. As I entered the line, I
was met with silence in the large area. Everyone had succumbed
quietly to the tragedy and began the mourning process.
I
frequently draw on that memory because it hit me so hard. Thanks for
letting me log that terrible event.
31. It
seems that every generation has a unique event which they will never
forget.
For
our parents it was Pearl harbor.
For
our generation it was Kennedy's assassination.
For
my children it was 9-11.
For
my grandchildren it may be the swearing in of Mr. Trump.
32. Biology
Lab, University of Dayton, freshman year.
33. I
was a sophomore at The University of Kansas and came out of American
History class to learn of the assassination
of JFK. Our cross country team then flew the next day to East Lansing
MI for the NCAA championships. The meet was scheduled for Monday and
due to a national day of mourning
the meet was moved to Tuesday. We sat around watching all the
commentary and discussion of the assassination
of JFK and it was very depressing. Plus it was cold!
34. I
was working as an insurance claims adjuster for Farmers Insurance
Group in their Hayward, California office. I was in the
"bullpen" with four or five other adjusters and had to call
our regional office in Merced, California for some policy
information. I was told by the woman I called in Merced of the
assassination attempt, but the fact that JFK had died was not yet
known......I was also coach of the St. Joseph's High school (Alameda,
California) cross country and the regional Catholic championships
were scheduled for later that day at Bellarmine High School, north of
San Jose. I had to make many calls to determine if the meet was
still on and to let the team members know. It was decided to
continue with the meet. My best runner, Bill Fairwell, won the
race, but, needless to say, the excitement of the event was dampened
significantly by the tragic news.
P.S.
There are only two historical events in which I know where i was and
what I was doing at the time. The other was Bobby Thomson's
"shot heard around the world" in the 1951 playoff game
between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. I was in my
Modern History class at Alameda High School. The principal was
a big baseball fan and had the final innings piped over the school's
loud-speaker system. Miss Grace Powers, our teacher, was
clearly upset by this. I was a fanatic Dodgers fan and the
probably the only kid in the class with any interest in the game.
It was a depressing moment when Thomson hit the game-winning homer.
.
35. I
was in fourth grade. We had just come in from recess where the
boys played basketball and
tormented the girls, which is what most central Indiana fourth grade
boys are apt to do..
Mrs.
Everett was reading us another chapter from “Heidi” to settle us
down.
Our
principal, Mr. Alicehouse, (I swear that was his real name)….
Anyway, Mr. Alicehouse interrupted the class with a school-wide
announcement that President Kennedy had been shot. He then
played the live radio news broadcast for the rest of the school day.
We were all kind of stunned and didn’t know what to say, however
soon after the radio news broadcast said “The President is dead”.
At that point Mrs. Everett ran out of the room crying. We
looked around at each other with the confusion one could expect of
scared ten year olds, and in that moment all 24 of us were wailing
out loud and I remember distinctly the fear we all shared of the
unknown and what would happen next.
School
was dismissed for a week where I stayed home with my sisters and
brother and watched everything on the news in black and white on our
Philco TV.
It
was a very sad time at Northeast Elementary in Greenwood, Indiana
(South side of Indianapolis).
36. I
was in 9th Grade English Class at Campbell Hall in North Hollywood,
California on the afternoon of November 22, 1963 when our teacher
told us President Kennedy had been assassinated. Everyone was
stunned. One of the girls in class broke down and cried.
My parents were very concerned but calm that day. We all liked
JFK, it was hard to believe he was gone.
37. I
am 62 years old and was just short of 22 months old on that day.
Can’t remember it, surprise, surprise. However, I know my mom was
walking me around the block in a stroller when she heard the news
blaring out from somebody’s TV or radio. They must have had their
front door open. I grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles. Guess it was a
warm late fall day.
38. I
was walking to class at the University of Arizona when I heard people
talking about Kennedy being shot . I couldn’t believe this was
true. As I was rushing to my dorm so I could watch the
news, I heard someone say, “I wonder what this will do to
Goldwater’s chances.” I was shocked by the news and angry
about the reaction I had heard. The world suddenly felt less safe and
the partisan response made it much worse. Looking back, it was a
preview of today’s world.
39. I
was 13 and a freshman in high school when this happened. I remember
that I was in gym class. We didn’t finish the class ~ everyone was
so upset. On the way home my friend and I stopped at a church and
said prayers for him. What a time!
40. I
was a 19 year old sitting in the Library at McMaster University in
Hamilton Ontario. I recall it was a grey damp November day.
Late in the afternoon the PA came on in the library...the PA was used
rarely except to announce: "The library will be closing in 10
minutes"... but I remember clearly the shock and my unsettling
response that one of the rocks of the western world had just been
shaken. I felt a bit fearful and vulnerable as if nothing was
safe.
41. I
was in the Air Force in Little Rock, Arkansas, in the early afternoon
after finishing a 24-hour alert plus traveling and the debriefing—and
was just getting ready to take a nap. I was shocked and disappointed.
I did not get my nap in.
42. I
was in grade 9 and as I recall walking home from school in Halifax
and someone I did not know simply said President Kennedy had been
shot.
My
father was in his first year as President of the University of King's
College. He kept a guest book in his office and he noted the death of
JFK in this book. It was the end of innocence as we knew it. Very
sad.
43. I
was in grade six walking to school when I heard about it. We
lived in an area where we never locked our cars or homes. It was
a safe place. I couldn't understand why someone would want to shoot
him.
44. I
was in middle school when this happened I remember the day and
the following weekend But other than that I have no real
story to share
45.
I
was then
living in Seville Spain, paying the equivalent of $35./month for room
& board in a family-run hostel for labourers when my
landlady came knocking, shouting that the
American
president had been "asesinado" ...I was
flabbergasted ! watching a very greyish re-play on the family's b&w
TV, I began to feel nauseous and upset; can remember going to
the toilet afterwards, being comforted by the turkey gobbling in the
adjacent shower room, being fattened up for Christmas, strange
consolation ?!
46. I
was taking a test in a Russian language class at Oklahoma
U.
How ironic is that?
47. I
was at a boarder
at Holmwood School (Scotland),
sadly now gone. We were in bed in our dormitories. I cannot remember
who but one of the staff came into the dormitory, switched on the
lights and announced that the President of the United States had been
shot and killed. Why this sticks in my memory is because one of the
inmates of the dormitory immediately
went
into hysterics and started shouting that this was the end and there
was going to be a 3rd world
war. He had to be pacified.
48. I
was in the hallway at high school just outside of the principal’s
office (no, I was NOT waiting to be called inside)!
49. JFK
was shot Nov 22 1963. There were only two or three buildings at UAC
(University
of Alberta Calgary) during
this period. We all gathered in the Arts building to hear the
terrible news. I was in my first year………….what a change
evolved from there on!
50. We
were both in our senior year in high school. I was in Detroit
Michigan sitting
at
a
desk in my classroom at Benedictine High School when there was an
announcement over the overhead speaker.
B.
said all the classes were sent back to their homerooms at
Chaminade
high in Dayton Ohio and an announcement was made over the speaker.
Hard
to believe - 61 years ago
51.
Remember all of it
vividly...still! I had just finished lunch in the athletic dining
hall (U. Of Texas, Austin) and was walking down the hall on the third
floor of the athletic dorm to my room to take a nap before workout. I
noticed several guys standing in the doorway of a room. None of
the guys were talking...just standing and trying to see the TV set
inside the room. I asked what was going on. Someone turned to
me and said, "President Kennedy has been shot in Dallas."
I still remember that exact moment as all the hair on my arms
stood up and my first thought was denial. It can't be true...it
cannot be true.
52.
Northwestern
University campus sitting in the library getting ready for afternoon
seminar, suddenly hearing a low murmur of voices all around me in a
space usually dead quiet in the morning.
53. I
was in bed in my Bachelors' Officers Quarters (BOQ) room in Okinawa.
I heard it on the radio. I was an ROTC lieutenant in the
Military Police.
54. I
was a new freshman student at Archbishop Riordan High School in San
Francisco. After lunch, the entire school of 800 boys were assembled
in the auditorium. No one had a clue as to what was going on at this
emergency gathering. We knew it was serious. Our principal announced
that President Kennedy was shot and died
in Dallas,Texas. We were all stunned and saddened
by the tragic event. He told everyone to go home and that the next
day was a National Day of Mourning.
55.
I
was walking to a history class at the University of Oklahoma when a
girl ran up and said the President has been shot. My response
was “What President?” When I got to class, everyone seemed
to be there listening to the radio. Some were just looking
stunned and some were crying, including the Professor.
56. I
WAS TEACHING ENGLISH AND COACHING TRACK AT DETROIT. FINNEY HIGH
SCHOOL--ONE OF THE MANY DPS
(DETROIT
PUBLIC
SCHOOLS)
WHERE I TAUGHT A ND COACHED--AND A KID NAMED VINCE CAME INTO CLASS
LATE. HE WAS LAUGHING, AND HE SAID THAT JFK HAD JUST
BEEN SHOT. IT DEVASTATED ME.
57.
I
was working stuffing envelopes with a bunch of really old women
prolly way younger that I am now but I was
17 years old and working my first job ever, in New York City and all
of a sudden all the old women started getting their coats on and they
were crying and they all rushed out the door. There I sat all by
myself in the room where the silence was deafening. I had no
idea what they were doing and where they were going. I looked out the
window and saw that the traffic had stopped and I saw that people
were going to the cars and talking to the
drivers,
and then people would get out of their cars and be telling something
to the folks in other cars. It was mayhem. So I went out and asked
someone what was happening and they told me. I decided to walk
home as I could see the old biddies were not coming back so I walked
home and my parents were freaking out. The rest is history.
58. I
was still in my first few months in the Peace Corps in Casablanca,
Morocco. My roommate and I were returning to our apartment late in
the evening after a long day when one of our young neighbours
stopped us on the street, saying, "Your president has been
shot." My roommate & I looked at each other and asked,
"What is he talking about?" The young man touched his chest
and said, "I am sorry,' before walking away. Neither of us
understood what he meant. There were no computers, mobile phones,
etc. at that time. We had no quick contacts from home. We left our
apartment the next morning, giving no thought about what the kid told
us, only to find a long line of our neighbors waiting to shake our
hands to express their sorrow for us. We were totally stunned and
bewildered, But we were given several newspapers confirming the
current details. The rest of the day, at work and our other
activities continued the like that. The memory of that day has stayed
with me forever.
59. George,
I vividly remember that day. I was in the last couple of weeks of US
Army Helicopter School. We were on a search and survival week of
training. An order came down for us to cease the training as
there was a “rumor” that JFK had been shot. We all thought
that was part of the training as a way to play with our mindset.
Sadly, that was not the case.
60. I
wasn’t around on December 7, 1941, but I remember November 22,
1963, like it was yesterday.
It
was cloudy day in the Bronx, New York. I was in the 7th grade.
I remember walking out of John Peter Tetard Junior High School
stunned and in a state of shock. It was feeling I had never
experienced before. The school had a
winding
walkway to exit. I was the only person leaving at the time and
it was a lonely lost feeling as I began my walk home.
61. George:
I remember it as if it were yesterday. I was a sophomore
at Miami U. I had a noon speech class, and upon leaving for the
gym to get ready for practice, a friend was kneeling
at a car listening to the radio, I just waved and walked past.
Upon arriving at the gym locker room, I was confronted with the
news.
62. What
I found interesting about that day was the reaction I got from trying
to tell people about a horrific happening, which then was repeated
when the Challenger exploded and on 9/11. Normally,I am not a media
junkie listening to radio or watching news, but on each of the
occasions I mention, I was privy to hearing about it very quickly
following the tragedy: on the radio for Kennedy and the Challenger
and on television on 9/11.
So,
to your question, I was on a bus returning from a geology field trip
while at the University of Oklahoma. I happened to be seated in the
second or third row to the right of the driver who had the radio
playing. I was not chatting with anyone, and found myself listening
to the radio when the program was interrupted to announce
President Kennedy had just been shot. There was no
announcement of his death, and I believe they said he had been taken
to Parkland. My reaction was immediate horror and I turned to those
around me to relay what I had heard. They all looked at me like I had
three heads, and went back to their conversations. I continued on and
got the same reaction, each time explaining I had overheard it on the
radio. It felt like a very iappropriate time had passed before some
people seemed interested in this news. I did not understand their
reaction at all. Fast forward to a time when I was working for the
Boston Athletic Association at their office. Again, the radio was
playing and I was following the take-off of the Challenger and so
heard immediately when it exploded. The Board of Governors was having
a closed meeting, but I felt this merited an interruption. Again, I
got absolutely no response from anyone (and there were 6-8 people in
the meeting). Some 15 minutes went by before someone finally walked
out to ask me to clarify again what I had told them. And then when
9/11 happened our son was visiting and had a Good Morning show on. We
never had the TV on during the day, but there it was, and immediately
the programming was interrupted to relay the news regarding
the first plane hitting one building only to follow up
with the second one. My husband was working
in NYC that day in mid-town so I quickly called him, and once
again, I could not convince him of what was occurring. They had no
TV, and he kept telling me he could not leave, because they had a lot
of work to do! I consider myself "Dr. Danger" who reacts
quickly when anything odd begins to happen. Clearly I am in the
minority.
63. Stanford
University.
64. I was in my junior year at Washington & Lee in Lexington, VA. I believe I was playing handball about the time JFK was shot so was a little behind in hearing about it.
I don't recall any great sorrow, more just a numbness. I can't remember if I was a real fan of JFK. Although my dad was a a union man and described himself as a "yellow-dog" democrat I may have been partial to Nixon in 1960 since that was the choice of many friends and JFK was a Catholic and suspect to my Baptist faith.
I had just returned from a summer in East Africa where I worked in a Baptist Secondary School in Mombasa and also visited Zanibar for a few hours, Dar for a week where I had to preach in a "revival" and also climbed Kilimanjaro from the Marangu Hotel with a group of Brit school boys and two parents. (The mother parent and I were only ones to suceed in getting to Gilman's Point.)
That summer's experience was still being processed but had a definite liberalizing impact
In any event I was a dorm counselor in the freshman dorm that year and one of my charges was a kid from Staunton, only about thirty miles away. He decided to get a car from his home and invited me to drive up to Washington for the funeral on Tuesday. It must have been a three hour drive since I just checked Google maps and DC is 190 miles way from Lexington.
We must have gotten there in early moring and proceeded to park the car and look for a place to see the procession from the Capitol to the Church. I don't remember exactly what we saw. It passed very quickly. I don't remember seeing anyone I recognized in the large group of family, but I do remember picking out Haile Selassi, Prince Philip and maybe Charles DeGaulle from the large group of world leaders who attended and walked. We left afterwards since attendees of the burial in Arlington Cemetary were taken there by car.
I gradually became much more political at W&L espousing Democratic leaders. Students at W&L were incredibly conservative at this time. All men and all white, plus heavily fraternity. All worshiped Lee. It wasn't enough to be a member of the Young Republicans; there was also a Conservative Society. We liberals were vastly outnumbered but managed to hold on to the student newspaper and make voices heard. In the 1964 election the student body favored Goldwater by about 4 to 1 but faculty was 80% for Johnson. We liberals managed to keep Johnson posters up. Students were generally shocked by Johnson's massacre of Goldwater.
I had an especially interesting experience at a Conservative Society lecture. A Vice-Counsul or something similar. from South Africa was invited to speak and he gave a glowing report on the South African apartheid goverment. During the question & answer period I asked him why Albert Luthuli, a Nobel Peace Prize winner was imprisoned on an off shore island without any hope of release. He said he was a criminal and besides we all knew from Martin Luther King's award that a Nobel Peace Prize meant nothing. Loud applause.
Btw I was in Dar during my third year when word came that Robert Kennedy had been shot. A bunch of Americans gathered around a teletype machine in the Kilimanjaro Hotel late into the night until word came that he was dead. One of the persons there was an American black who was a sort of well known refugee from the USA. He was interesting to talk with. No memory of his name.
65. I was in a class at college when someone ran through the halls telling each class what had happened. Everyone immediately scattered back to their dorms. The whole dorm spent the next few days clued to the TV in the living room. Our campus had a small lake and when people took a break from the TV, they walked around that lake. I had met Kennedy over a year before and intended to go into the Peace Corps. It was hard to think that all that hope was gone.
65. Hi George: Friday, Nov 22, 1963 was cold in Omaha when the news came over the small TV in the Student Union building at the Muni. Univ of Omaha. We had a scheduled cross country meet that afternoon. Of course, the news had hundreds of students watching the events unfold in Dallas. We were hoping that the cross-country meet would be called off, as we were not sure that we could perform well, with the news that Kennedy was dead. Of course, our coach kept the meet and we all ran somewhat better than normal-mental adrenaline? Next two days were spent sitting in front of the TV watching the news coverage.at college.
66. I was working for Dover Publications on Varick Street in New York, writing blurbs for paperback covers, when the news came. We were all stunned, of course, and the office was closed. I walked home to our 6th St. apartment, soon joined by my wife who was working at St. Luke’s Hospital. We spent the next day or two watching television through the Oswald shooting. One shock after the other. The next few years we followed all the conspiracy theories—and the Warren Report smacked of cover-up. The American Camelot over much too soon.
67. I was a college student at Bowling Green State University in Bowling
Green Ohio.
I
was shopping in downtown Bowling Green when the news hit and spread
like wildfire. Walter
Cronkite reported that evening near tears. It was a shocking
nightmare.
I
saved the college newspaper, the B-G News when it next came out on
Tuesday, Nov. 26, 1963 and have attached it. I hope you can read it.
For
those not too exhausted, here is the front page of the Norwalk
Reflector Herald in Ohio about that nursing home
fire story. Probably the only newspaper in the country with a
headline above the assassination.
