# November 22, 1963



## Rocky (Nov 18, 2013)

It is hard to believe that it has been 50 years since that horrific day in Dallas. I have heard a number of stories from people relating what they were doing when they heard the appalling news flash from Texas. I would like to hear what some of you were doing and how you recall that day. 

I will start because my personal experience was eerie! It was a Friday, of course, and I was enrolled in Art Institute of Pittsburgh. A friend and I decided to cut classes and get a start on the weekend. I picked her up and we had breakfast and were meandering around in my car as you could when gas was $.35 a gallon. Our travels took us to Wilkinsburg and East Hills Shopping Center. The center was best described as an "outdoor mall" with many shops on a number of streets and the center was contained by the surrounding parking lot. 

The ironic thing was that the streets were named after US Presidents. We had the radio on and were listening to pop music. Carol said something to me and I turned the radio down, not off, to continue the conversation. We stopped at a stop sign in the mall that let shoppers go from the shopping area to their cars and I looked up at the "street" sign and it said, "James Garfield Way." I thought idly to myself, ' That was one of the Presidents that was assassinated.' We continued our drive and the conversation waned as we drove through Wilkinsburg on Penn Avenue. I noticed that the radio volume was down and I turned it up only to hear, "Governor Connally was also hit and was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital. Witnesses said there were multiple shots fired." I thought, "Wow, someone tried to assassinate Governor Connally, whoever he is." I had no idea he was Governor of Texas or that President Kennedy was in Texas. Then a confusing bunch of flashes started to come in and we were riveted to the radio. "Mrs. Kennedy was not hit." "Witnesses said the President was hit in the head." I pulled the car over to the curb on Fifth Avenue to listen and the next thing I heard (I believe it was Walter Cronkite) "This just in from Dallas. The President of the United States is dead!"

I cannot describe the shock we both felt. We went to her apartment to watch TV and spent most of that day getting the details. I say it was an eerie experience for me because, give or take 10 minutes either way, we were sitting at that stop sign at just about the exact time the shots were fired in Dallas. It is seared into my memory and I recall it as though it happened yesterday.


----------



## winointraining (Nov 18, 2013)

I was 11 and had stayed home from school because i was sick, i heard the news flashes and I really didn't understand the importance of what was happening. When Oswald got shot I was watching that. still think Oswald was a patsy, and LBJ was behind it all. but like I say I really didn't understand the importance of it all.


----------



## jamesngalveston (Nov 18, 2013)

I was in the 4th grade, they announced of the loud speaker that he had been shot, all i could think about was if we were getting out of school early, so i could go fishing,.
It did not matter to me, was to young to really put it all together.
And 50 years later, it still does not matter much. I doubt that if he were to have lived, that things would be any different then now.
Gas would not still be .35, are bread, .29 are milk .31


----------



## s0615353 (Nov 18, 2013)

I was not born yet, but my grandfather actually got his US Citizenship on that fateful day.


----------



## LoneStarLori (Nov 18, 2013)

That is an eerie story Rocky.
I was only 5 at the time. I remember coming downstairs to see my mother crying heavily in the living room in front of our B&W TV. I tried to hug her and make her stop but she wouldn't stop crying.
It's funny, that is one of the very few early childhood memories I had. I think it scarred me for life.


----------



## JohnT (Nov 18, 2013)

I was only a baby at the time, but I always remember my dad saying that the communists must have had something to do with this (Dad being an die hard anti-communist due to his experiences growing up in Hungary). 

Turns out that he was right. Lee Harvey Oswald was indeed a communist, spent time living in Russia, and even held protests to support Castro.


----------



## tonyt (Nov 18, 2013)

I too was in the forth grade, St. Anne School. Like every other Catholic School in the nation the principal (Sr. Agnes) came on the intercom and announced that the President had been shot in Dallas and we were all to kneel at our desks and she lead us in lengthy prayers. Later in the afternoon she announced that President Kennedy had died. I remember thinking "but we all prayed that he wouldn't". The nuns cried.


----------



## Kraffty (Nov 18, 2013)

I just turned 6 and couldn't understand the magnitude of the news but was keenly aware of the fact that it was having such an impact on everyone around me. We lived at my grandmother's house and my 7 aunts and uncles and their spouses and families seemed to be around the house 24-7 for the next week. I'd never seen and haven't since seen all of the adults in my life so distraught and saddened by one event. I do remember days of everyone crowded around the black and white set, the powerful silence of no one speaking or even moving much. It was so amazing to see this crowd that was usually loud, laughing, animated at everything so still for so long.
Mike


----------



## Kraffty (Nov 18, 2013)

I read last week that CBSNEWS.com will be replaying all the news reports of that 4 day period in live time over 4 full days. It should be interesting to listen to. I think it starts around 12:30 ET.
Mike


----------



## cimbaliw (Nov 18, 2013)

JFK was shot on my 2nd birthday. That's right I'll be 52 on Friday. I am holding a thin hardcover document titled "The torch is passed." The Associated Press story of the death of a president. Maybe some of you had this in your house growing up. I guess it was a real limited edition, I see they're going for 1 cent on Amazon.


----------



## LoneStarLori (Nov 18, 2013)

cimbaliw said:


> JFK was shot on my 2nd birthday. That's right I'll be 52 on Friday. I am holding a thin hardcover document titled "The torch is passed." The Associated Press story of the death of a president. Maybe some of you had this in your house growing up. I guess it was a real limited edition, I see they're going for 1 cent on Amazon.



I have a copy of that too. My mother had one and it was always on the coffee table. I don't know what happened to it after she passed away. One of my girls heard me talk about the book and what a big part of my childhood it was and bought me an old copy for Christmas a while back.


----------



## pjd (Nov 18, 2013)

It's a bit off topic but I see there is a whole bunch of us 50 something's here. I often wondered the age group of forum participants.


----------



## bakervinyard (Nov 18, 2013)

I was in second grade at a catholic grade school. The school had recently gotten televsions in its class rooms. The principal came on the intercom and made the anouncement and to turn on the television. Other than that I don't recall to much more except for watching the funeral on tv. Bakervinyard


----------



## Runningwolf (Nov 18, 2013)

Phil, I was thinking the same thing. I was 7 years old when it was broadcast over the school intercom. That was back in the day when we had air raid drills and would all go to the basement fall out shelter area. Who remembers theses signs (sorry not to change the subject). How many folks ran out and got the Kennedy half dollar when they came out. My parents got each of us kids one.


----------



## cmason1957 (Nov 18, 2013)

I was six when it happened, in morning kindergarten. I remember watching accounts of it and being upset that the normal shows weren't on Tv. I was to young to really understand what it meant.


----------



## ibglowin (Nov 18, 2013)

I was 5 and in first grade (private school) in San Antonio. Got sent home after it happened. Being in Texas at even that age I can remember it very clearly.


----------



## rob (Nov 18, 2013)

I was 6 years old


----------



## e_weaver (Nov 18, 2013)

i was in 3rd grade, i thought it was sad he died so young


----------



## Rocky (Nov 18, 2013)

Wow, you guys and gals are really young! I was 21 when it happened and the experience was surreal. I recall just returning from Mass on Sunday, November 24th just in time to see Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald. It was a scene of confusion and we were all saying, "What happened?!" My Mother said, "It was the guy in the fedora hat! I saw it." She was right, too. Ruby was wearing a fedora.


----------



## sour_grapes (Nov 18, 2013)

Well, add me to the 50-something demographic. However, I was 6 _weeks_ old. I have been told where I was, but, obviously, do not remember it.


----------



## Boatboy24 (Nov 19, 2013)

sour_grapes said:


> Well, add me to the 50-something demographic. However, I was 6 _weeks_ old. I have been told where I was, but, obviously, do not remember it.



That's how old I was for the first lunar landing!! My father was in Vietnam and my mother and I were living with her parents. My grandmother woke me up and put me in front of the TV so I could say that I had watched it. 

Obviously, I wasn't around when Kennedy was shot. But I clearly remember when Reagan was and will never forget that afternoon. My parents still talk about where they what they were doing when Kennedy was assasinated. I believe my mother still has the newspapers from the following day.


----------



## sour_grapes (Nov 19, 2013)

Boatboy24 said:


> That's how old I was for the first lunar landing!! My father was in Vietnam and my mother and I were living with her parents. My grandmother woke me up and put me in front of the TV so I could say that I had watched it.


Well, obviously I was 5 (nearly 6) for that, and I _do_ remember the 8 of us crowding around the B/W TV for the "small step."



> But I clearly remember when Reagan was [shot].



Me too, but then again I was a senior in HS!


----------



## Ricky (Nov 19, 2013)

sour_grapes said:


> Well, add me to the 50-something demographic. However, I was 6 weeks old. I have been told where I was, but, obviously, do not remember it.



Hey SG, what's your birthday?... Mine is October 9th, 1963.... Don'remember the JFK shooting, but I do remember the landing on the moon.... Sitting in front on B&W tv..wow, how thing's changed in 50 years


----------



## sour_grapes (Nov 19, 2013)

Close, Ricky! I was Oct. 10. And a whole passel of my cousins grew up in Levittown, including one who was born Nov. 1963.


----------



## Ricky (Nov 19, 2013)

sour_grapes said:


> Close, Ricky! I was Oct. 10. And a whole passel of my cousins grew up in Levittown, including one who was born Nov. 1963.



Lol... No kiddin, small world.... Happy belated birthday,.... Young buck!


----------



## Deezil (Nov 20, 2013)

My mom was 6 months old in Nov. '63..

I was the butt-end of that horrid "You know she's gonna grow up and have kids some day, right?" joke... Back when they said "in the blink of an eye" 'cause it was hard to imagine anything faster


----------



## Thig (Nov 20, 2013)

I was 6 at the time and remember standing in the school yard and looking at the flag at half mast. That is my only memory of the time.


----------



## cedarswamp (Nov 20, 2013)

I was born 16 days after, I don't remember a thing. LOL


----------



## JohnT (Nov 21, 2013)

Deezil said:


> *My mom* was 6 months old in Nov. '63..


Deezil, 

You really know how to hurt a bunch of old farts like us!


----------



## Deezil (Nov 21, 2013)

I was wondering how long it'd take before someone caught that


----------



## tonyt (Nov 21, 2013)

JohnT said:


> Deezil,
> 
> You really know how to hurt a bunch of old farts like us!



So why are we allowing kids on this forum anyway. Isn't their an age limit of like 50?


----------



## jamesngalveston (Nov 21, 2013)

Deezil in the corner...lol.....bday, sept 13th (friday) 1954


----------



## jjduen (Nov 21, 2013)

I was one but I still trying to find out what he did that supposed to have made him a great president. Other than he and his bro doing Monroe.


----------



## JohnT (Nov 22, 2013)

jjduen said:


> I was one but I still trying to find out what he did that supposed to have made him a great president. Other than he and his bro doing Monroe.


 
*Julie: If you feel the following is too political for the forum, please feel free to delete this post.*

You make a good point. When you think of it, he really did not do a good job....

1) He had ties to the mafia. 
2) Bay of pigs 
3) Cuban missile crisis (almost started a war with Russia) 
4) Viet Nam (at least some of the earliest stages of that war)
5) He cheated on his wife with anything in a skirt
6) His spending on luxury while in office (Camelot was expensive)

So what made this so tragic? Why did he get away with all of this?

Back then, we did not hate our presidents. Kennedy represented youth and charisma. He had a very beautiful wife and two young children. People could not help but to look up to him. He was also the first Catholic president. Such a large portion of our population was (and still is) Catholic. 

Then there is the way he was gunned down. Shot through the head while riding in a car with his wife. Think of poor Jacky-O. No woman should ever see a sight like that. To make matters even sadder, she then had to try to explain all of this to her kids. 

Despite what you might think of Kennedy's politics, he was still a man with two small kids and a wife, who's life was cut short. It was tragic none the less


----------



## Julie (Nov 22, 2013)

No JohnT, you are posting facts, not opinions. And yes, I agree with you, he was a man with a family and very tragic.


----------



## ibglowin (Nov 22, 2013)

*Here are some more facts*

1) Kennedy served in the Navy during World War II ending his time as a lieutenant. He was given command of PT-109. When the boat was rammed by a Japanese destroyer, he and his crew were thrown into the water. He was able to swim four hours saving himself and a crewman, but aggravated his back. He received the Purple Heart and Navy and Marine Corps Medal and was hailed for his heroism.

2). To this day, John F. Kennedy's call for Americans to serve their country has remained an inspiring and memorable appeal. (Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather what you can do for your country)

3. Among John F. Kennedy's most notable and long-standing accomplishments was the establishment of the Peace Corps, an organization that is now responsible for sending thousands of American volunteers around the world to help the needy.

4. It was John F. Kennedy's cautious and sensible approach to the standoff during the Cuban missile crisis that ultimately diverted a nuclear war with the Soviet Union and secured the removal of missiles from Cuba.

5. John F. Kennedy was committed to landing a man on the moon, and although it occurred after his death, it was his support of space exploration that helped make it happen.

6. John F. Kennedy's perseverance was instrumental in securing a limited nuclear test ban treaty with the Soviet Union.

7. It was John F. Kennedy's dedication that helped secure the passage of the Area Redevelopment Act, which assisted states that were suffering from high rates of unemployment.

8. Under John F. Kennedy's administration, laws were put in place to end segregation in interstate travel facilities.

9. John F. Kennedy helped promote the arts by holding concerts, plays, and musicals at the White House.

10. John F. Kennedy issued an executive order prohibiting discrimination in the sale or lease of housing that was financed by federally guaranteed loans or owned by the federal government.

I think much more would/could have been accomplished but he was only in office for less than 2 years before he was assassinated.



jjduen said:


> I was one but I still trying to find out what he did that supposed to have made him a great president. Other than he and his bro doing Monroe.


----------



## jjduen (Nov 22, 2013)

It was not meant to be political but I really don't care. 

Their have been other presidents assassinated which had a much stronger impact on the nation and it's history than JFK but you only hear about him. 

I was only 1 at the time so I only go by what I was educated on about history. My wife is a JGK fanatic and I have never understood the fascination with him. 

Personally I am apathetic either way


----------



## JohnT (Nov 22, 2013)

ibglowin said:


> 1) Kennedy served in the Navy during World War II ending his time as a lieutenant. He was given command of PT-109. When the boat was rammed by a Japanese destroyer, he and his crew were thrown into the water. He was able to swim four hours saving himself and a crewman, but aggravated his back. He received the Purple Heart and Navy and Marine Corps Medal and was hailed for his heroism.
> 
> 2). To this day, John F. Kennedy's call for Americans to serve their country has remained an inspiring and memorable appeal. (Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather what you can do for your country)
> 
> ...


 

Glowin, 

I have to agree with all that you listed. Thanks for shining the positive light and reminding us of all the good he did!


----------



## ibglowin (Nov 22, 2013)

Really?

Where were you last year when all we heard/read about was this



jjduen said:


> Their have been other presidents assassinated which had a much stronger impact on the nation and it's history than JFK but you only hear about him.


----------



## Kraffty (Nov 22, 2013)

For anyone interested, this link is for the 4 day web broadcast on cbsnews.com starting at 1:38 ET today. No clue what it'll be like but might be educational for some, including me hopefully.

http://www.cbsnews.com/feature/jfk-assassination/

Mike


----------



## jjduen (Nov 22, 2013)

Just recently joined so can't be blamed for past indiscretion


----------



## jswordy (Nov 22, 2013)

I was 5, and I absorbed the impact through my parents' shock and grief. I remember being glued to our B&W TV set for news, and watching the entire funeral procession. I first saw the now-iconic John Jr. salute as it happened.

Mostly what I remember was that it seemed like almost all adults were walking around numb for maybe a week after that, and it affected my schooling too, because the teachers were all that way. It was like, for a short period, time stood still and it was understood that things were not going to be the same afterward.

I experienced the same feeling on the morning of 9/11, after the second tower fell and TV had finally given up on the pretense of an "airliner accident." There was a period then that lasted maybe 2 days where people were in a semi-shocked state as the realization that nothing would again be as it was crept in. I think the stunned period was shorter for 9/11 because the feeling was, for so many people, quickly replaced by anger.


----------



## tonyt (Nov 22, 2013)

Glowin and JohnT both make great points. Our presidents all make good and bad decisions, often under the political and social pressure of the time. History often lowers our opinion of the great and elevates our opinion of the lowly. Kennedy is now often criticized and Nixon is sometimes seen as a statesman. They are all just mere men, no better or worse than the rest of us. And time is a great equalizer.


----------



## DirtyDawg10 (Nov 22, 2013)

My Parents were both 13 years old and wouldn't meet for another year and a half...so I wasn't even a twinkle in my Father's eye. Sorry I had to


----------



## ibglowin (Nov 22, 2013)

*The President's Visit December, 1962*

This was a BIG deal for us. I have worked in that building on and off for the last 28 years now. They have a small window box with photos and the actual coffee cup he used. I still can't believe they served him coffee in a plastic Melmac cup. Couldn't they have dug up a set of China from somewhere even somebodies house. LOL Then there was the fact that they served coffee and pastries in a Hot Cell. I have been in that Wing and there is no way I would eat in there. Of course this was 1962 and the building was only 10 years old and not 60 years old as it is now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Xkx-KLZN-N4


----------



## NoSnob (Nov 22, 2013)

After reading all these posts from you young whippersnappers I figured I'd briefly share my experiences. 

I was in the Navy and on leave at home before assignment to my next duty station as a hospital corpsman. I had heard President Kennedy's inauguration speech and parts of it then (and even today) were riveting. Everyone remembers the line *"Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country."* But a lesser-known line has become most meaningful to me as well: *"Here on earth, God's work must truly be our own."*

That Friday, my dad and I were watching television on CBS when the news broke in with the announcement of the shooting. We were stunned. A few minutes later, Walter Cronkite said the president had died. He took off his glasses and looked up at the clock announcing the time. He had tears in his eyes. We never forgot it.

I was not politically active and did not identify with the New Frontier, although it certainly animated an entire generation of people my age. Afterwards, of course, we all identified with Camelot, the myth surrounding the potential of the Kennedy family that was crushed by these events. 

On Saturday, and all week-end, all eyes followed the funeral on TV. More images burned deep into our brains that continued to sadden us. By Sunday, I traveled to my new Navy duty station where they continued to follow the funeral and related events on TV, also into Monday. 

For 30 days we flew the U. S. flag on base at half-staff in honor of our loss. My commander in chief had been killed and there were far more questions than answers. This event and those that followed in the next few years did not make much sense to any of us. We lost other notables as well.

Those were indeed sad times.

NS


----------



## cimbaliw (Nov 22, 2013)

The end of innocence in some ways. This thread has really made me think of how rapid social change ensued following JFK's assassination; drugs, music, divorce, the pill, welfare, the list goes on. Things just never were the same after 1963.


----------



## Hokapsig (Nov 22, 2013)

I was about to become 2 years old as my birthday was the next day. I was wandering around, talking jibberish and pooping in my pants. 50 years later and nothing has changed....


----------

