45 Years Ago Today

[madmax-im]

Nov 23rd 1963...a date most of us will never forget...Where were you when you learned of JFK's asassination?I was in 6th grade...the announcent came in the afternoon announced over the schools P.A. system.Two days later I saw Jack Ruby shoot Oswald on national tv as he was escorted out of Dallas Police HQ's Iwas 11 yrs old.

[exquized1]

LOL

Still not born!

It wouls be almost another 11 years.

[gnevelesx08]

November 22, 1963

It was Friday, Nov 22 1963 @1230pm. I was 7 years old in the first grade. We were probably at lunch time recess when it occurred. I don't remember exactly, but I think Mrs Hanson siad "something terrible has happened to the President". I remember watching the news reports all afternoon. The day I remember the most vivid is Sunday, Nov 25th, the day that JFK was burried. It was a very very sad day. It was my birthday!

Grandma had all the family photos on her mantle, grandpas picture in his WW1 uniform was by the front door. Two pictures hung side by side on another wall by themselves. Jesus and John F. Kennedy (even before he was assinnated). If that don't tell you where grandmas heart was, I don't know what would.

My birthday kind of sucks all the time becuase I always remember. Hey I'm 52 years old on tuesday and I still get teary eyed. I'm such a baby emotionally!

It will be a good day to ride!

[Jerry]

6th grade, remember the day well. Images of students and teachers crying in the hallways....

Really to young at the time to realize the significance, but knew that politics would change forever after that, and it did.

Not convinced kennedy was that great a president, though. Despite the Cuban missile crisis and going to the moon, he also ratcheted up involvement in Vietnam and the Bay of Pigs fiasco set the tone for the US - Cuban relationship that lingers till this day. Also set the modern precedent for using military force in 'regime change' efforts. His legacy is a mixed bag.

[tarzan]

I was 2 months old probably laying in my crib trying to figure out how to crawl.

[Ken Talbot]

I think I was in grade 3, and didn't really understand what it was all about. Here in Canada, we were sent home for the rest of the day.

[fredintoon]

The day I remember the most vivid is Sunday, Nov 25th, the day that JFK was buried. It was a very very sad day. It was my birthday! - - -
My birthday kind of sucks all the time because I always remember. - - -

Hi Dan,
not to upstage the effect that JFK's funeral has on your birthday but my wife's birthday is the 11th of September. You can well imagine the effect that seeing the towers fall on TV has on a birthday party.

[gnevelesx08]

I concede

I bow to your wifes painful memories. I am not worthy to feel sad! I always say if you think you got it bad, all you have to do is listen to other peoples situation. We can take comfort in the blessings that we have. You don't have to look far to find them, but sometimes we just can't see them until we take the time to stop and think about it.
.. and while I am being so philly, I'd like to say, Enjoy life to it's fullest, you never know what oportunities are lost, or knowledge that could have been gained by stopping and listening to someone elses story. I work in a retirement home ( not a nursing home) and many residents have great stories to tell. One of our residents was the first women to drop a bomb in WWII. I think she was flying B17s state side. One man had applied for a patent for the first electric screw driver/drill his was all inline and we all know the gun type configuration, his lost out.

[xsilerating]

I too, was 11 yrs. old when Kennedy was shot... well actually, it would be the next day that I turned 11.

I was in grade 6 at the time and the teacher I had was also the schools Principal. We had the schools PA system in our classroom and the Principal had the tuner locked onto the news casts. We spent the rest of the afternoon listening to the various news feeds and commentaries, not to mention the detailed explanation and clarification given by the teacher.

In one sense, we were fortunate to have 'lived' through the assassination and subsequent events, in the other, this time of the year has the 'haunting' effect of reliving history over and over again.

As Jerry said, we were "Really to young at the time to realize the significance, but knew that politics would change forever after that, and it did."

[gnevelesx08]

politics

Nov 22, 1963
I am not a political scientist or sociologist, however "politics being changed forever" I don't understand. What has never changed is the fact that, All power or authority to govern a state or people, given legitimacy through free election, succession of the crown, etc.. or illigitimately by coercion, subversion or other means, nor all the gun control in the wolrd, can not stop a well aimed assassins bullet. What did change forever was the way heads of state get from one place to another.

[wa407mpp]

I was a junior in high school and sitting in Art class when the Principal announced it over the P.A. Elvis died on my wife's birthday, and being English and a Beatles fan, it really burns her to have to listen to all the Elvis songs on the radio on her birthday.

[egsols]

November 23, 1963

I was in a warm and secure place with no worries, totally innocent, no preconceptions of politics or anything for that matter. I was to be born 17 days later.

[TADracer]

I think if you were alive it is a day everyone remembers vividly.

Although I did not follow politics and didnt really care a the time I knew who the president was. I was sitting on the steps outside the library at Metairie Junior High in Metairie, Louisiana eating a sandwich for lunch. The announcement was made over the schools PA system. Still, I remember the mood of the day had an abrupt change to very somber.

[madmax-im]

This is not about politics

Just where were you at the time...I will say that at age 11 I was not into politics.What changed in the world?Well politics aside JFK was one of the most revered Presidents of the 20th century.What changed was that America's innocence was lost forever."The day the music died" as Don McClean sang in American Pie

[latexeses]

Mrs. Seigler's first grade class. She was very upset and sort of took it out on anyone who even looked like they were having a good time for the next few days.

Rodger