# Where were you November 22, 1963?



## Snowbody (Jan 3, 2009)

Thought we might share our stories. With all the shows on tv about the John F. Kennedy assassination, it really brings the even back to me so vividly even though it's nearly 50 years. It was one of those seminal events where most people remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. I know there are some younger members here who weren't even alive at the time, but I hope they will have a window into how that changed the younger generation, robbing our youthful innocence. 

II was in junior high school taking a biology exam when the word came over the loudspeaker, "Our President is dead." I couldn't figure out what our principal meant. President of what? I could not imagine that she could have meant President of the United States. Our teacher burst into tears and we were sent home since it was pretty close to 3pm when we heard it. I remember standing at the bus stop and seeing all the adults around me weeping. I then got home and realized the immensity of what happened. As a teen, JFK had been a very young vibrant president (especially next to other Presidents) with a beautiful wife and children. So young to be cruelly taken. 

For me there was extra meaning to this. As many of you know, my dad died suddenly when I was 6 and in those days, people didn't talk to kids about death thinking it would be too hard to cope with, so I never really mourned my father. Well, when JFK died, I think I transferred all the feelings I had about my dad's death, especially since JFK's murder came 6 days short of Caroline's birthday; my dad died 7 days short of my 6th birthday. I solemnly watched every second of coverage including the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald, JFK lying in state and the funeral and cried my eyes out for days. Coincidentally when I gave birth to my son, Caroline was in the next room giving birth to her daughter. I've always felt a strong connection to her and some people used to say I looked like her. What burdens that family has had to bear their whole lives.


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## ladodd (Jan 8, 2012)

I was 6 months old. But, I have visited Arlington and was very moved by the gravesite. I have been watching all of the tv coverage and really enjoyed the movie Killing Kennedy that is currently showing on The National Geographic channel. I do wonder what our country would be like if he'd lived.


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## Summergirl73 (Sep 18, 2011)

I wasn't born yet. Finally ....today I feel young lol  .


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

I actually have a total picture. I was sitting in the first seat of the fourth row in English class. (My favorite class and my favorite teacher.) It was so horrible. Everybody, everywhere was sobbing. For days we watched everything on TV and cried. I can still hear the drum beat during the funeral procession.

I got to see & touch hands with JFK while he was campaigning. I remember his vibrant hair and the way he seemed to have a light shining all around him...like a full body halo.

It was the end of innocence and trust, that day.

Oh and his smile...he had a beautiful smile. Fifty years later and tears are running down my face.


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## spookiesmom (Mar 28, 2010)

I was in 10th grade English class, studying Shakespere. Do kids still read him? Watched all of it on tv.


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## maddysmom (Mar 8, 2012)

Summergirl73 said:


> I wasn't born yet. Finally ....today I feel young lol  .


Lol...me too


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## Kathleen (Aug 4, 2011)

I wasn't born yet either, but it has always struck me how the whole country mourned our President, how deeply the loss was felt by all.
It seems that the country wasn't so divided, as it is now.
People loved their President and loved their country.


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## mdbflorida (Feb 28, 2013)

I was one and mom said we were in the checkout line at woolworths


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## pammy4501 (Aug 8, 2007)

I was in 9 years old and in the 4th grade. The same exact age as my granddaughter to put it into context. My recollections are very clear, but I still see it through the lens of a youngster. 

Our principal came to our classroom and was whispering to our teacher and she started to cry. It was very upsetting as a child to see your teacher burst into tears. Very shortly after, they announced that President Kennedy had been killed. They suspended school for the day, and sent us home. That is remarkable, as in today’s world they would never just randomly release elementary school kids home without forewarning the parents. But I guess in 1963 you just assumed everyone had a Mom waiting at home. 

I vividly remember the funeral coverage on TV. But what stays with me the most is how venerable I felt as a child when all the "grown-ups" were so visibly upset and tearful. I felt that the whole world had shifted and we weren’t as safe as we were before this happened.


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## Orla (Jul 5, 2009)

I wasn't born until almost 30 years after that.


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## Lacie's Mom (Oct 11, 2006)

Sue -- like you, I was in Jr. High (now middle school). I got my period and had terrible cramps and came home just as JFK was shot. I layed down in my parents bed and turned on the TV -- they had a TV in their bedroom and saw the news. I didn't believe it. My Mom was a newspaper reporter and I called her at the newspaper and she confirmed that it was true. Our house was across the street from my Jr. High and right after that I heard the PA announcement.

My grandparents came for Thanksgiving and I remember that we were all crowded around the TV watching the funeral procession. JFK was my family's hero and this was so sad for all of us. I don't think I really understood the magnatute of the assassination. But I do remember crying and crying while watching everything on TV. I'm crying still - 50 years later. It was just so upsetting and truly was the end of innocence for both me and the country in many ways.

It was actually Bobby Kennedy's death that truly rocked my world. I was such a huge supporter of his and still wonder, to this day, how different our world might be now if he had lived and been elected President.

Here at Comcast, we have the halls and offices decorated with posters of Movies and TV shows. The poster I see from my office door is of the movie "Bobby". I especially had them place that post in that location.


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## jane and addison (Nov 1, 2012)

I was just getting out of the Army after two years. I was driving from Ft Dix, NJ to see my girl friend in Vineland NJ ( she has been my wife for 49 years. Found out when I went to pick her up at work. Sorry I am so old, but keep going.


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## maltese manica (Nov 6, 2012)

I wasn't born or thought of yet! But my mom told me that everyone on the Canadian side was shocked by the news and the Canadians mourned a loss of a great leader! My mom has always been a great fan of the JFK family!


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## The A Team (Dec 1, 2005)

I was 10 years old. I remember my sister being in her basinette swinging while I watched it on TV.....it's funny how we can remember stuff like that...


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## Furbabies mom (Jul 25, 2011)

I was in the fourth grade when the Principal came in and told Mrs. Jollife the news. She cried and then we all cried! I remember one particular boy that was older in our class and he cried so hard and loud. So many things happened after that with the news and then Oswald getting killed by Ruby. Our tv was on non stop! I remember watching the funeral on tv and feeling so sad for Jon Jon and Caroline.It was a sad time in our country. There are so many the theories about who did it and who was involved


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## The A Team (Dec 1, 2005)

The A Team said:


> I was 10 years old. I remember my sister being in her basinette swinging while I watched it on TV.....it's funny how we can remember stuff like that...



....and I also remember that we didn't get a color tv until I was 16 years old...if that means anything....:blush:


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## Maglily (Feb 3, 2009)

I wasn't born yet, 10 months later. I was watching a show about JFK the other day before work and thought how sad and difficult for the family to see the film of the shooting over and over all these years, and even if they don't watch just to know it's shown.


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## educ8m (May 19, 2010)

I was 10 years old and vividly remember that we were walking back to the classroom from the library. We were in the hallway (single file, of course) and another teacher stopped our teacher to tell her the news. Word quickly trickled down the line and as we passed each classroom, we could see the teachers crying. I don't remember getting out of school early, but I don't remember doing any more work that day either. I was glued to the TV through all the coverage. In my 10 year old mind, I recall feeling so sorry for Caroline and John-John. Every child's biggest fear of losing a parent had just come true for them. I remember thinking how terrible it would be to lose my Daddy. 
My husband and I were just talking last night about how young could someone have been at the time to remember the assassination. He thinks a five year old would have some memories. I think a second or third grader would have some memories, but don't know about age 5. It doesn't seem possible that its been 50 years and that those of us in our mid-fifties, early sixties are among the youngest who remember.


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

Maglily said:


> I wasn't born yet, 10 months later. I was watching a show about JFK the other day before work and thought how sad and difficult for the family to see the film of the shooting over and over all these years, and even if they don't watch just to know it's shown.


Oh Brenda, the really sad thing is that so few of the Kennedy family are left. I will also always remember the disbelief when JFK junior...little John John in the photos... was lost in a plane crash at a very young age. I kept waiting to hear that it was just a big mistake.


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## chichi (Apr 12, 2007)

I was in 7th grade in study hall. The principal announced it over the PA. I don't remember a lot but I must have wacthed it on tv. I do remember a coffee table book that we got called The Day Kennedy Was Shot. Lot's of pictures, And I used to look at it a lot.


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## Grace'sMom (Feb 22, 2012)

my mother was 9....so... still in the universe waiting to be born, or perhaps at the end of some past life....


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## revakb2 (Sep 8, 2006)

I was home sick, and was watching TV with my mother. I saw it as it happened. JFK was my hero. He was the first president I really knew anything about. I was a teenager and he was young and good looking. I had no idea about politics, but his life and family fascinated me. Many years later, I visited Dallas and the place where Kennedy was shot. It still had the ability to make me cry.


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## michellerobison (Dec 17, 2009)

I was a month old, but Al remembers it, he was 7 yrs old...


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## Fluffdoll (Aug 9, 2012)

I was probably in Heaven, lol! I was born 31 years after that... :w00t:


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## socalyte (Nov 15, 2010)

I remember being in class and the teachers were all called to the office. My teacher, whom I did not care for at all, was crying, and I remember it was the first time I saw her appear anything but stern and forbidding. We were all sent home, too. My mom had just had my brother Sept 22, and I remember rocking him while watching the TV reports. Then our neighbor went into labor and we took in her children while she went to the hospital. Much clearer than these flashes of memory are the feelings I recall-- they are much more vivid.


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## KAG (Jun 1, 2006)

I was 4, my brother Keith 3, Kevin 2. My Mom was 24. We were all sitting on the couch. My Mother was sobbing. I remember horses. I remember the clicking sounds from their hooves. My Father must have been working because he wasn't there. 

When John Jr. died I sobbed for 11 days straight. No one knew what to do with me. I went to a Mass being said for John and Caroline at the Old St Patrick's Cathedral in Lower Manhattan, so that made me feel better. 


Xoxoxoxo


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## kilodzul (Oct 7, 2013)

Not born yet, but I can understand the feelings of those who remember it. I can still clearly remember the moment I heard about death of our Polish President Kaczyński (along with 96 other politicians) in plane crash 3 years ago, and I don't think I'll ever forget it. Just like I remember Pope John Paul II death.
Those kind of memories stay with us and create shared experience for whole generation.


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## Maglily (Feb 3, 2009)

Sylie said:


> Oh Brenda, the really sad thing is that so few of the Kennedy family are left. I will also always remember the disbelief when JFK junior...little John John in the photos... was lost in a plane crash at a very young age. I kept waiting to hear that it was just a big mistake.


 
yes that's true too. that was so tragic and for the other family to lose the two sisters. That really was a tragic loss when it could have been avoided.


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## SammieMom (Nov 13, 2010)

I remember sadness in my home....but I was only in first grade, and the teacher telling us to act like a fire drill and walk home. My sweet brother in 3rd grade walked me home. I remember my dress, and then opening the screen door and my mother on the sofa (she never sat around during the day like that) everything was OFF. 

But when I hear president Kennedy's name I always think of Walter Cronkite taking his glass on and off. Weird the things kids remember. Not sure, but this video seems like it or it was a little later broadcast. 

Walter Cronkite announces death of JFK - YouTube


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## maggieh (Dec 16, 2007)

I was 5, and it must have been above freezing in our area because I was playing on the front porch with my neighborhood friends. My next-door neighbor's mother walked over and said something to my mom and they were both trying not to cry. Then the neighbor walked up the street to get my other friend's mom and they all sat in the living room with the TV on and made us play the rest of the afternoon in the basement. I don't know how old I was before I realized exactly what had happened, but I knew that day that whatever it was, it was bad.


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## Cyndilou (Jan 24, 2013)

I wasn't born yet either. I suppose the closest thing to it in my day would be 5th grade when the space shuttle exploded. Then being at work during the trade center attack. 
I do however see how much our country loved JFK. I remember holding my last born when was just a few months old and they broke in about JFK jr's plane going down.


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## Katkoota (Feb 18, 2006)

I didn't exist in this world....


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## wkomorow (Aug 26, 2011)

I was at school and we were sent home but no one understood why. I do remember watching the news on TV with my grandmother that afternoon


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

I did a gap yr. after high school & moved to Chicago. I was at work, in the cafeteria on a break. In Nov. I flew home to TX. for Christmas---took a taxi from Love Field (where JFKs plane had landed prior to the incident) and asked the driver to take the same route as the motorcade. It was eerie.
I later did a term paper on JFK & wrote to Mrs. Kennedy. I later got a registered letter from her in response to my letter. I was honored that she (or her secretary at least) wrote back.
I was in Greece w/JFK Jr. crashed w/his wife & sis in law---that was also a sad event. 
So much heartache for one family.


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## lols82 (Nov 13, 2012)

Well I wasn't born until 82 :blush: we studied alot of his assassination in school though. Probably the worst thing I have been alive for would be the twin tower attacks, I remember just getting home from college to see the second tower fall. I'll never forget that ever.


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## Snowball Pie's Mommi (Oct 16, 2008)

edelweiss said:


> I did a gap yr. after high school & moved to Chicago. I was at work, in the cafeteria on a break. In Nov. I flew home to TX. for Christmas---took a taxi from Love Field (where JFKs plane had landed prior to the incident) and asked the driver to take the same route as the motorcade. It was eerie.
> I later did a term paper on JFK & wrote to Mrs. Kennedy. I later got a registered letter from her in response to my letter. I was honored that she (or her secretary at least) wrote back.
> I was in Greece w/JFK Jr. crashed w/his wife & sis in law---that was also a sad event.
> So much heartache for one family.


A few evenings ago, I watched a special that was about the letters written to Mrs. Kennedy after President Kennedy died. The show was so touching, bittersweet, and well done. Between letters read ... footage was shown of both the President and Mrs. Kennedy. Also included was Mrs. Kennedy's television thank you to everyone who had sent her letters.

The letters read touched me deeply ... especially one read from a humble black woman (she referred to herself as a ***** (which still in the 60's, black folks were called ***** and/or either colored) who said her letter would probably not reach the First Lady. Well, the letter did reach Mrs. Kennedy. Mrs. Kennedy said that not only was she going to read every letter ... but, she has made sure that every single letter has been kept. So, Sandi, your letter is preserved as an important part of history. 

I cannot believe it has already been fifty years since we lost President Kennedy. I often can't help but feel that things might have been so much better today if he was still here. I felt as though things started to change for the worst after he was murdered. 

I was nineteen years old and thought I lived in the most exciting and glamourous city in the world. I lived in a luxury highrise on upper Connecticut Avenue. At that time, there was front desk service around the clock (I guess now referred to as concierge) 

On November 22, 1963, I got off of the elevator in my apartment building and saw that the lady at the front desk was in tears. I asked her if she was okay and if I could help her in any way. She told me it was just on the radio that the President was shot. I recall saying that I am sure he would be okay. But, then moments later, an announcement was made that President had died. I was stunned and frightened. I, as everyone else did, felt lost and very sad. 

After I left the building to catch a cab ... everyone I saw on the street was either looking stunned or crying. Even the cab driver was crying.

I adored President Kennedy and the First Lady ... Mrs. Kennedy. 

I look back now and smile because I am reminded how often I was told I looked like Mrs. Kennedy. The funny thing was that I was in my late teens ... and, she was in her early thirties. However, I dressed a lot like her and wore my hair like hers. 

Months later, as I was once again waiting outside for a cab to pick me up, a limo stopped at the streetlight. I knew it was someone important because of police detail (but, not much at that time) leading and following behind the limo. Then I noticed the little American flags waving in the breeze on the front of the limo. As the lights changed from red to green, and as the limo started to drive off, a gentleman sitting in the back ... gave me a big smile and waved warmly. It was President Johnson.


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

My post should have read that I went to TX. in Dec., not Nov.
Thank you Marie. I did not know that the letters were kept. I pieced together her personal address from my research.
Mrs. Kennedy was more than a pretty face---she was so intelligent. I think President Kennedy was more foolish than she---in some ways. 
Though I have no idea about today's movie stars, entertainers, or sports heros, I do try to follow the lives of people like Caroline Kennedy. I would love to spend an hour talking w/her.


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