Community Chat

[golding76]

Can never, ever forget.

I was in my English Novel class when the world suddenly stood still.  Most classrooms were equipped with television sets for the occasional telly instructor (not so with the English Novel class) when the terrible news began to spread across campus.

Televisions went on and we were emotionally destroyed but transfixed.

A couple hours ago I thought about the day and following events and how young I was at that time, how much stamina I had.  Along with thousands of others, I stood in line for hours in order to pay my respects to John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who was lying in state at the U.S. Capitol.   So many of us loved the Kennedys; they were youthful demi-gods to us (we were innocent).

There were so many people queued up to pass the casket that among all of them, I ran into an old high school friend.   (Of course, I was originally from the D.C. area and so the accidental meeting was not all that far-fetched.) 

[LonestarBabs]

I was five years old. I don't remember too much about that specific day, but I do remember everything was very sad and dark everywhere for days. People were crying in the stores, seems like everything became very still and quiet. I remember all the television coverage in black and white. I remember huge black headlines in the newspaper as my Dad and I searched the newsrack at the grocery store. The newspapers were on the bottom shelf and that was close to me!

I live in Dallas.  No mention of that day anymore around here - it seemed to end with the 50th anniversary. When key figures die -- like Jim Lavelle or any of the attending physicians -- there is brief mention of historical context regarding their passing.

[Mz iMac]

At my high school pep rally.

@Kachina624  I miss Center City's Lit Brothers.  It was my go to department store.  Plan B Gimbles.

[I am still oxox]

I was 8 years and home sick and very sad that I would not be able to attend my Girl Scout fly up which was of course moved to a few weeks later

[Group 5 minus 1]

Mom was visiting. Someone called to tell us. It was also Daddy's birthday. After that day he said he never wanted to celebrate it again.

[skatting44]

 Yes, I do. I was in grade school  .The Nuns  came in our class and were crying . we all started crying as we did not understand what was happening. We were all put on buses and sent back home.  My Mother was home and  she was watching the news and told us what happened.  I  have not forgotten watching the funeral  and my Mother crying while we watched TV .

[Group 5 minus 1]

Thank you for asking about this.

[sashamatthews]

I was in school - eight-years-old.  I remember two of the older boys coming into the classroom (we had a three room school) with a transistor radio with the news.  Then, one of the boys came in and said the President had died.  It feels like yesterday.    

[geezerette]

I was in school, too.  And it was also a Friday.  I remember the principal coming into my class and whispering with the teacher and the look of disbelief on her face.  The teacher looked up, motioned to me to come up.  She handed me a handwritten note and told me to take it to each and every teacher in each classroom.  That was strange.  

I did as instructed and in each class the teacher inevitably looked at me and asked if it was true.  No one had said anything to me (or any of the other students).  So, as I went around I tried to decipher the note, which was hastily written and almost illegible.  I finally figured out it said that the president had been shot.  And it didn't register with me.  The president of what?  Nothing like this had ever happened before.  

Shortly after I got back to my own classroom, another note appeared.  This time it was only one short sentence and I could figure out quickly what it said.  When this one went around many of the teachers started to cry.  By the time I got back to my classroom this time around, my teacher had informed the rest of the class that the president had passed.

I remember running home to my mother, shaken.  She had been grocery shopping and the PA system had broken in with the news. 

[golding76]

An aside, but I cannot imagine what this must have been like:

Also on November 22, 1963, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was moving into its new headquarters building at 800 Independence Ave., S.W., where they are located to this day.

I cannot imagine the alarm or the confusion that followed.  The agency went ahead with the scheduled move but it must have been an emotionally overwhelming day for the FAA employees in so many respects.  Najeeb Halaby was the FAA Administrator at that time.