Community Chat

[QVCkitty1]

I was in 9th grade French class , when it was announced over the intercom  My teacher told

us all to pray. Later it wad announced that the president was dead . It was so quiet, and even

on the walk home ,so quiet, everyone was stunned.  I was heartbroken .

[skuggles]

---

@Puzzle Piece wrote:

Ladies, remember that 151... was young at the time and everyone will have different reactions and viewpoints. 

I remember the event as the ladies living on our street in the neighborhood came over to watch the news together with my mother.  I was young and didn't understand all the emotion.  The mood was somber in the nation and I think that many were sorry for the loss of a president.  We all have moved on and our nation has stood many trials.  We are resilient and strong.  We are still here. 

---

I agree. I barely knew what a president was at the time, but as the days unfurled, I become increasingly aware of the presidents power and duties. I was introduced to a distressing state in the adults around me and seen on news footage, that I was not familiar with. For the life of me, I couldn't understand why anyone would shoot those two little kid's daddy. I learned of an anxious uncertainty that can crop up in life that is very uncomfortable, but can't be just put aside or blown off. As a child, this was a learning experience even though I was not developmentally able to fully appreciate the implications and consequences as it did have only remote impact on my immediate life. I saw the sorrow and felt sympathy for the kids and their mother. To this day, I don't understand how anyone can shoot the father of young children, so that was never resolved.

[Pearlee]

---

@QVCkitty1 wrote:

I was in 9th grade French class , when it was announced over the intercom  My teacher told  us all to pray. Later it wad announced that the president was dead . It was so quiet, and even on the walk home ,so quiet, everyone was stunned.  I was heartbroken .

---

@QVCkitty1  Was this in a public school, or a private school?

[Nightowlz]

I have always wondered what really happened. After all these years does not look like we will ever really know.

[patbz]

I was a sophomore in college and was at my sorority when I heard it on the radio. Like everyone else, I was in a daze.  I stood in a miles long line to Show my respects at the Capitol Rotunda ( I was in school at the University of Maryland.

[QVCkitty1]

This was public school, but remember the time period and circumstances . My teacher was an older woman and shocked.

[Puzzle Piece]

@skuggles I can relate.  Seven months later my dear grandfather died.  I could not comprehend what the loss would mean. 

[skuggles]

@Puzzle Piece Interesting ... my grandmother died around this time too, and that was painful to witness.  And very sad.

[Nataliesgramma]

America lost its innocence and we haven't been the same since....

[Perkup]

---

@Nightowlz wrote:

I have always wondered what really happened. After all these years does not look like we will ever really know.

---

My question exactly.  I was married, living in Memphis. DH and my then three children were having lunch - egg salad sandwiches, milk  and apple slices. We were watching As The World Turns when Walter Cronkite interrupted. We had been recording the children singing and our 6 hour recorder was on a side table by DH at the time. He switched it on, so we have a long taped recording of the entire day. Interesting, because the children had dozens of questions, and they became part of the recording.  

Some years later I watched an interview with the wife of then Governor John Connally. She had no question in her mind about the event. She said that from her vantage point in the convertible with the Kennedys, she was 100% certain that there were two shooters. She explained where the shots came from, and had a very believable explanation of how the bullets hit both Kennedy and her husband. I was sufficiently impressed with her explanation that I totally bellieved it.  Still do.

Will we ever know?  Probably not - there's no one left in the family now except Caroline, and it seems to me that enough time has passed for our citizens to know what really happened. Transparency?