Wow...
This coming Friday, November 22... will be the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I remember a part of that day that I doubt I will ever forget as long as I live.
I say that because for the most part, that morning and noontime in my world was the same as any other day of that week... or month... or year.
It was a Friday, and most of my friends and I were ready for Thanksgiving that would come that next week. I was in the 7th grade, and we had been outside playing during lunch recess... the 1:00 PM bell rang to tell us it was time to go back inside and resume our work...
(... happening while we were playing...)
As we came into the hallway, we were told to get to our homerooms immediately and to sit down... this wasn't normal. When we went into our rooms, we were told to sit down and to be quiet. A radio was being played over the P.A. system...
(...happening while we were playing...)
... we were able to listen and eventually we heard a voice say that "... the president has been shot." We were kids, but we knew that wasn't good... there were gasps... there were "Oh no's"...
We listened and were hearing of places that meant nothing special to us... "Dealey Plaza"... Dallas, Texas... the president was to make a speech.
"Dealey Plaza"
Dallas, TX
Texas Book Depository Building
And then came the radio version of this announcement...
Things really changed... I immediately started wondering what was going to happen now... we had come closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union... far closer than many people will ever realize... and what was going to happen now?
Someone at school decided that we needed to maintain our class schedule for the rest of the day... and we did. The only thing I can remember though is going to a P.E. class... playing basketball.., and actually making a shot from the free throw line.
At the end of the school day, we took the buses home... and I ran to my family's business, where I knew Mom and Dad would be. That symbolized 'safety' for me.
We would gather around the TV that evening... and learn of Lee Harvey Oswald...
"Hell... he doesn't look smart enough to have done this..."
My Dad wasn't a Kennedy fan... and he was already guessing at who was involved in the killing of the President. I had no idea that much of the country was wondering the exact same thing.
... and a few days later, while Lee Harvey Oswald was being moved to a "safer" location, he was shot and killed by a fellow named Jack Ruby... a very low-level mob-connnected guy. This would just fuel more speculation about who all was involved in this act.
Mom and Dad saved copies of the newspapers for all of us... I'm sure my recently departed dear sister got all of them... they were probably used for packing and moving stuff from her house.
Later that Friday, aboard Air Force One, Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn into office as the next president of the United States... Mrs. Kennedy was by his side... Johnson had demanded that she be there, and she made the comment that she felt she needed to be there... she was wearing the same suit that she was earlier in the day when her husband was assassinated.
... and later that evening, JFK was returned to Washington, DC...
My recollection is that we stayed glued to the television set for the next few days... wanting to know what was going to happen next.
~shoes~
Edited:
I 've read another blog where someone referred to the shooter/shooters of JFK as having been 'right-wing nut jobs'... I found this photo which sheds an interesting light on such a perception.
~shoes~
Please feel free to leave your story... your memories of this date in our history. I am often amazed that seldom do people ever witness or see or perceive an event the exact same way.
ReplyDeleteI was 9 at the time and all I remember is everyone either crying or in shock.
ReplyDeleteKind of wish he was here to be our current president.
Hey you... how are things going with and for you??
DeleteI think given today's definition of what a 'Democrat' is, I don't think he would be acceptable...
His strong point was his work for civil rights... the downside seems to have been his family's connection to the seedier part of Society.
I think it's difficult being president...
Kennedy seems to have made many many enemies... it is said that Robert Kennedy asked J. Edgar Hoover, point blank, "did you kill my brother?"
It was certainly a defining time in my Life.
~shoes~
Before my time, but I still have my doubts about Lee Harvey Oswald. The fact that one of the major networks recently ran a story with "incontrovertible proof" that Oswald was the lone gunman only makes me more suspicious. The one bullet theory doesn't hold up. And if you do some digging, there is a lot of things that don't add up. There are witnesses (all murdered, of course, before trial) who say that Oswald was a low-level operative for our government (CIA, I believe) and so was Jack Ruby. They knew each other. I think they were both patsies for something much bigger. Something that if Americans knew (even today) it would make We The People distrustful of EVERYONE in government office. The imperative is to keep the narrative in place so that Americans don't go ballistic and think they *just might* be living under tyranny (rather than democracy). Call me a conspiracy theorist... but it makes more sense than any of the garbage in The Warren Report.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Robin...
DeleteI certainly have my doubts about the Warren Commission...
I'm always amazed when I watch the assassination video... at the time of the impact of the fatal bullet, Jackie is SO close to Kennedy. It's amazing that she wasn't hit. Those old rifles just aren't/weren't capable of that degree of reliable accuracy.
~shoes~
I wasn't born yet, but I know this day well. JFK was a great president. I have often wondered what would have happened, had he not been killed. Imagine all the more he would have done for our country. And I was IN LOVE with his son. John John. When he died, I mourned his death as if he was a personal friend of mine. I even attended a memorial mass at once of our local churches. Again, I have wondered what the son of a great man, would have done for our country. To be honest, the entire Kennedy family fascinates me. When Senator Teddy died, I was sad again. And I wondered how Caroline felt, all alone now. I've visited Dallas a few times and have been to the remains of Dealy Plaza. Surreal.
ReplyDeleteHi there, Yvonne... I wonder those same kinds of things. I've often thought about how different the history of the United States had been had Lincoln not been assassinated. Things may have gone easier for the South... it's my belief that Lincoln saw the war as unnecessary and a great burden to the country... whereas after his death, a group of profit-driven people took charge.
DeleteAs a young guy, I thought killing him was a horrible act... and I couldn't even begin to fathom the idea of killing someone over differences. I wasn't naive... I was just a kid.
I couldn't respect Ted... for the death of the young woman. That didn't have to happen... but then the stories are that Marilyn Monroe was about to become embarrassing for JFK and RFK... and that she was murdered in order to clean up that mess. Poor Jackie.
Dealey Plaza is an amazing place. I stood where Zapruder stood on that day when he filmed the motorcade... and pretended to watch the flow of traffic... trying to get a feel for what everyone witnessed that day.
Standing there, one could see that a perfect crossfire could be established. The idea that someone could have been on that grassy knoll was no longer far-fetched to me.
Surreal is the correct word. I doubt we will ever know the truth.
Thank you for your comment!
~shoes~
I remember it was the 'freeze bell' at school.. Freeze bell was a bell that was sounded telling us to stop playing and freeze and another bell sounded to line up for the teachers to come and bring us back in from playing...We lined up and the principal came on the p.a. announcing that Kennedy had been shot... At the age of 9 I sort of knew who Kennedy was... call me naive/dumb, but at that age I was not as aware as kids these days about who the Prez is/was... I do remember that at the same time, a silver crown in my mouth had come off... the glue had simply stopped sticking to my tooth. I remember showing my teacher and she acknowledging and telling me to get back in line... Another time I remember when I woke up and hearing my mother talking... she was watching the news of when Bobby Kennedy after he had been shot... I will never forget that infamous scene of the waiter cradling Bobby Kennedy's head...I was shocked and stunned. Today, I wonder how Caroline Kennedy feels being the only survivor of her family? I guess she and I have that in common and may have similar feelings...
ReplyDeleteHi Chris...
DeleteFirst off, your comment about the "freeze bell" has me thinking... as to whether we had something like that.. I simply can't remember that detail, but I can remember the 'fire drill' bell which was the three-burst ring... for some reason, that seems so familiar now.
Isn't that funny? You remember your crown coming off... I remember making a free throw. Strange the things we remember.
You know, I remember something from somewhere, where it was being discussed about the Kennedy Curse, or the Kennedy Karma... some sort of pay-back for things the family is reported to have done.
Re: the photo... at what point does a photographer take a photos, and start becoming an opportunist? Of course, History is thankful for those kinds of images.
I wonder why, after the events of recent years, someone hasn't re-thought the Sirhan Sirhan, of Palestinian descent, connection to the assassination of RFK and considered it to be a terrorist attack. Of course, with RFK, there are CIA-related conspiracy theories there as well... it seems the Kennedys angered a large group of people with the botched 'Bay of Pigs' invasion.
Thank you so much for your comment...
~shoes~
I wasnt around yet but I became really interested in all the conspiracy theories surrounding his death and started doing a lot of research into the topic, read The Warren Report. I've pretty much concluded, Oswald acted alone.
ReplyDeleteI think the most interesting "where were you" story I've heard was my mom's ex-boyfriend. He was in the Air Force stationed in TX and was on the runway waiting for AF1 to arrive from Dallas...but of course it never did. I've got to call him this week and get more details.
Hey you...
DeleteThis topic has maintained its interest over the years. I recall at the time of the shooting of Martin Luther King, and living not far from Memphis, that there were reports of police looking for a particular model Ford Mustang... and how it was being reported seen ALL over Memphis at about the same time... there were hints that someone had a police radio and was sending these reports to mislead police.
I guess there will always be some kind of conspiracy theorists.
That story of your Mom's ex-boyfriend would be interesting to hear. I hope you will share it with us. I remember a handful of years later, changing planes in Dallas on way to an Air Force assignment... passing a placard in the Dallas Airport saying that not far from this location, LBJ was sworn in as president of the US after the assassination.
Interesting... thank you for adding this.
~shoes~
I drive over that spot several times a week. I took my parents to the museum not long ago, my mom cried when I drove over the spot "where Johnny was iced."
ReplyDeleteHi there, Ella... I've driven over it a few times as well, and I can't help but feel 'eerie' when I do so. It's almost as if violating a sacred place...
DeleteI was amazed when I was there last... experiencing that feeling of being in the same place, separated only by Time.
Oddly enough, it is said that "Doc" Holliday supposedly had a dental office in that general area back in the day.
I've never been to the museum... is it interesting??
~shoes~
I was not born so I don't have a personal experience like I did with 9/11.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do love reading about History events. Three weeks ago, I ran across a book about President Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy at the library in their last days together. I did not realize quite a few things regarding their personal life. I have to hand it to Jackie Kennedy she is one classy "lady". The heartache that woman has gone through death of her husband, the two death of infant children, and then the death of her son in the plane crash, infidelity (amazing how much in public u can be and still get to do this have mistresses), his back issues, his health issues, and I'm still not through reading everything on the political side of what President Kennedy did for the US.
It overwhelms me at times to be able to take in all this information. Unfortunately for me, I am unable to inform my friends/family what I have learned unlike yourself whom can put this out in writing so that others can learn from it even if they are unable to read about it themselves.
History--I love it. Saturday I went to Elmwood as the weather was suppose to be rainy on Sunday my normal day that the pup. I stayed in the Confederate grave area quite a bit and read the names and more importantly the deaths of these young men. 19 years etc. So so so very young. I also realized people died very young (40's-50's). Maybe we live too long nowadays that's why our heartaches that much more over issues.
I wish I could pick your brain and put it in my brain.
We can learn a lot from History. Personal and World History.
Have a blessed week.
PS. Something I read when she jumped on the back of the car it said most thought she was trying to help the Special Agent that hopped on the back of the car but it said really she was "retrieving" the President's brain that was sliding off the car. Shock I'm sure. Thinking she should save it and they could put it back. Apparently, it feel in the street and was never retrieved. And all this time I thought she just trying to help the man. Things aren't as they always seem. No?
ReplyDeleteHi, Stormy... we do learn from history... one of the primary reasons we need to study history is so that we don't make the same mistakes again...
DeleteHitler should have studied Napolean a bit better... he would have learned an important lesson about not getting involved in a ground war in Russia during the winter. Oh well, live and learn, no?
Yes, she was trying to retrieve brain matter... obviously, to be sitting next to your husband and trying to help him... and then experience what she did.
Horrific doesn't express it enough... and then for Johnson to insist that she be present for his swearing-in ceremony. I can possibly understand the historic significance of it, but...
Things are seldom as they seem...
~shoes~
I was only 3 so I don't remember but it happened on my Grandma's birthday. I asked her what she felt that day and she said "utter sadness" and she cried so hard. Fear of the unknown was prevalent I'm sure. How are you? You seem in good spirits. Yay,
ReplyDeleteHi there, Barb... I am slowly coming back around... thank you.
DeleteRegardless of how I feel about politicians, I don't think having something like this happen to your president or leaders is ever good for a country to experience.
~shoes~
That had to be horrible to experience that as a kid! Probably the same sort of feeling kids had witnessing the tragedy of 9-11.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon, Sherry...
DeleteAs the events of 9/11 started to unfold, things here at the university started to become very uncertain... some professors were cancelling classes... some of my students were unsettled, and asked if we could meet class. In retrospect, I think that was a good idea, in that it allowed some structure for the students who were experiencing something like this for the first time...
I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned it, but yes, the feeling of tragedy was very much the same.
I hope all is well for and with you...
~shoes~
Thank you for writing about that day shoes. History is so cool!
ReplyDeleteI was 4, outside playing on a unusually warm day, when my Mom screamed at me in a very strange way to come inside. The TV was on in the kitchen mid-afternoon, also odd. The adults and my older sister were acting strange, very quiet.
I live in Boston now and am struck by the slant here... so much more personal as many people knew him, worked for him... he was their native son and they felt his loss so much more intensely.
The Kennedy family has their own personal history, and a great deal of it is not flattering. He was not the angel.. he was not the saint that many had/have made him out to be... but he was president.
DeleteI noticed the other day, a comment someone made on TV... that if Kennedy were still alive, he would be 96.
It's amazing how, when something like this happens to someone, they remain that age forever.
~shoes~
I have been watching a number of documentaries over the past week regarding the assassination. It's amazing how it still retains such profound emotions and unanswered questions.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Ms Sparrow... thank you for your comment. I just read your post about the Kennedy Assassination...
ReplyDeleteHere is the Link for Ms Sparrow's post:
http://sparrowtree-janice.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-day-jfk-was-assassinated-112263.html
I've been watching them as well... I saw several last night, and this morning, the History Channel was running productions.
Someone commented the other night that this was the first major story of its type to be covered by the media and television the way it was. We sat glued to the TV wanting to hear the latest news, which of course, was seldom the latest... not like today where it is possible to watch war events occur in real-time. This played out in our living rooms... in our lives...
I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I sure struggle with the idea that Oswald acted alone.
~shoes~
I found your comment on Blissed-Out Grandma's blog and decided to pay you a visit. I'm really enjoying your blog and look forward to reading more of your work, Take care.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Stephen!!
DeleteThank you!!
I will pay your blog a visit as well!!!
~shoes~
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBlows me away it's been 50 years. All I know about that day on a personal level is that my mom was ironing my dad's work shorts when she learned Kennedy was shot. I was John-John's age. I do remember RFK's shooting. The nuns led us to the church to pray that he lived. My dad was pretty torked about that. Didn't want his kids praying for "a damned Kennedy," or something to that effect.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Shrink...
DeleteI know... 50 years... unbelievable...
My Dad was a hard man... he would have made comments similar to what your Dad did.
I understand the aspect of political differences... what I don't understand, and have great trouble grasping... is the anger... the meaness that some have.
There are things that both Obama and Bush have done that have just left me scratching my head and wondering, 'WTF?!?!?!' but I don't think I attack them personally with the anger and venom that I have noticed coming from others.
~shoes~
Just stopping by to say hi, Shoes. All I know is he didn't deserve to be shot. I didn't know him, but he seemed like a pretty decent guy.
ReplyDeleteHello my friend... I hope things are going well for you... I've missed your witticisms around the different blogs that we both have frequented...
Delete~shoes~
Interesting. Could have been anyone wing as he amassed so many enemies.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving!!
ReplyDelete