22 Nov 1963

[Okiepan]

Hard to believe it’s been 61 years for that fateful day in Dallas .

[Diego Kid #4631]

I remember those days. 

[Widder, SASS #59054]

I was in the 7th grade, in Mrs. Harville's 'Civic' Class.

 

She walked in the room to tell us all about it.   At the time, I didn't know what "assassination" meant.

 

As my older brother would say...... "it was a bad day at black rock".

 

..........Widder

 

[Eyesa Horg]

4th grade, Mrs. Hawkes. Came over the PA system and we all got to go home! In forty grade,that was best part!

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

I recall that black day.

[Blackwater 53393]

I was on the playground at Warren G Harding

elementary school in Kennilworth, NJ.  My 5th grade teacher, Mr. Shields, came and got us too early and some of the kids were complaining loudly as we walked in line back into the school! The teacher turned to the loudest of those and yelled at him that the president had just been killed and to shut his mouth!

 

It was announced over the intercom system shortly after we reached our classroom and we were dismissed after that.

[Rye Miles #13621]

I was in 10th grade. I was in the print shop. Sad day in America 🇺🇸

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I was in Senior English, the assistant Headmaster, Mr Pappathan came in and told us.

[Rip Snorter]

Freshman year of college, in the Student Union playing bridge.  It came over the radio on the sound system.  At first we thought it was a gag - workers in the place could voice over and played pranks.  Quite a shock when we understood it was real, particularly since the night before we had been in a bull session about assassination as a political tool. I even called the cartridge.  The one foreign student in our group carried his passport around for a week and wondered if he should fly home.  I recall it was less of an impact than 9-11.

[Rattlesnake Slim]

There is a series on streaming TV, HULU I think, called 11/22/63. It's about a guy who travels back in time to try to stop the assassination. Very interesting, and not too sci-fi.

[Rex M Rugers #6621]

I was  21 yrs old , working on a West Texas drilling rig. We were on the daylight tour , 8:00 am - 4:pm. When the relief crew got there , they gave us the news.

It was hard to believe , we thought they were joking at first. Back in those days there were a lot of Kennedy and Johnson jokes , it took a few minutes to soak in.

Made for a quiet hour and a half ride home.

Rex

[Subdeacon Joe]

1st grade.  Mother Superior came into the classroom, stood at the door, announced "The President has been shot, there will be a Rosary in 15 minutes in the church."  Then she left, we all stood up, lined up, and went to the church.

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth]

 

 

 

 

[Yul Lose]

I was in third grade, Minatare, Nebraska and it was lunchtime and we were playing football on the playground before we went back to afternoon class. A tearful teacher came out and herded us all back into the cafeteria where the announcement was made that he’d been shot. We were sent home then and found out he had died when we got home. We were glued to the tv for a number of days after that. Lee Harvey Oswald getting shot on live tv by Jack Ruby is something that I’ll never forget.

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

I was in the second grade living in Fort Worth.  JFK had been in Fort Worth the day before with lots of news and TV coverage.  But nothing like the ongoing coverage after the assassination, the capture of Oswald, his murder before his trial shown on TV, then JFKs burial procession.  I do not believe the Warren report that Oswald was the lone gunman.  Not sure we will ever know the real truth of the assassination.

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

I was working on the Apollo Program and in 2 weeks I would raise my right hand and swear to defend the USA........I was drafted.

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

I was at work, at my desk, when an older friend came in and told us "Kennedy has been shot!"

It was hard to believe. A couple of the ladies in the office started to cry.

 

[Cypress Sun]

 

I was almost 4. I don't remember ***t....probably blissfully playing with building blocks.

 

Living in Fort Myers at the time, I do remember the constant sonic booms during the Cuban situation. Go figure.

 

 

[Trailrider #896]

Third year of college. I was outside of the off-campus house I shared with several other guys. I was loading my car with my .22rf target rifle, getting ready to lead the AFROTC cadet rifle team to the National Guard armory.  Two of my housemates came out and said that the President had been shot. I said, "Don't even joke about such a thing!" They replied that it was true and we went up to the 3rd floor where the TV room was, and watched the coverage. We will never know how many lives might have been saved had Kennedy lived and elected not to get fully involved in 'Nam. 

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

I was 15, in 10th grade.

 

It was a bad day, and the harbinger of many to come in the ensuing few years.

[Cactus Jack Calder]

I was 22 YO. Third year of college. We had half day classes on Wednesday. I was walking to a bus stop on the way home. Passing a local bar a woman came out, running down the road, waving both arms above her head shouting, “They shot the President, They shot the President.” I thought she was drunk.
 

When I reached the bus stop everyone was really quiet. Then I knew something was off and maybe that woman wasn’t drunk. So I asked and someone there confirmed what I’d heard on the street. That was the quietest ride I’ve ever had on the bus. The route went past a parochial school. They had let the kids out to go home. Many regularly road the bus. I’ve never seen a big group high school kids so quiet. Many of the girls were crying and I could tell some of the boys were having trouble holding it together also.

 

CJ

[watab kid]

i remember the nuns coming back from lunch in tears to make the announcement - then i recall thanksgiving week TV coverage of the public viewing , the  funeral , the sceens at the cemetary , 

the coverage of jack ruby shooting LHOswald in the parking garage , 

all on a B and W console TV 

[Smokin Gator SASS #29736]

I happened to be home from school, sick I guess. 10 years old, 5th grade. Just watched at home. 

[Will Kane]

I was in Mrs. Elizabeth Allen's 6th grade class. We had just started a lesson after the lunch hour when one of the principal's office secretaries stuck her head in the door and asked Mrs. Allen to step out. About 3 or 4 minutes later, Mrs. Allen came back in and told us President Kennedy had been shot. she didn't say anything about him dying. Joyce Lyles, one of my classmates, lived not more than 40 yards from our classroom. She got permission to run home and bring a B&W portable TV. We spent the rest of the school day watching the television coverage. That's when we learned the president had died. The next week or so was pretty surreal. I remember the news media got on this kick of comparing circumstances surrounding JFK's assassination to circumstances surrounding Abraham Lincoln's assassination.

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

Seventh grade, Xenia, Ohio.  Home from school sick in bed with the flu.  Ma walked in and angrily announced "Your Texans just killed the President."  Tact and diplomacy were definitely not her strong suits; she softened quickly as the newscasts were updated.  And a few short months later we moved back to Texas.

[Coyote Kid, SASS#54714]

I was on a Guided Missile Frigate on a Med cruise, Let's just say were on high alert for a while.

 

 

[Big Gus, SASS# 66666]

 In third grade in a reading circle. School secretary came in told the teacher Mrs. Russ. We had a prayer. He was buried on my birthday Nov 25. 
 

BigGus

[Cypress Sun]

 

I went to a community "garage" sale today at a large trailer park, I mean mobile home park.

 

A lady of about age 55 had a page one newspaper in a Ziplock bag from the day after the assassination for $10. I said to her "How ironic, it happened yesterday, 61 years ago you know."

 

She said "What happened yesterday?" She picked up the paper for sale and said "Oh, I didn't know".

 

From what I understand, a bunch of folks in Florida thought that the situation was going to go nuke, mainly due to the Cuban Crisis and that Castro had threatened Kennedy in the past. Many believed that Castro was behind it.

 

Interesting the stories you hear from the Florida natives, including all of my family, over the years. 

 

 

 

 

[Yul Lose]

56 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said:

 

I went to a community "garage" sale today at a large trailer park, I mean mobile home park.

 

A lady of about age 55 had a page one newspaper in a Ziplock bag from the day after the assassination for $10. I said to her "How ironic, it happened yesterday, 61 years ago you know."

 

She said "What happened yesterday?" She picked up the paper for sale and said "Oh, I didn't know".

 

From what I understand, a bunch of folks in Florida thought that the situation was going to go nuke, mainly due to the Cuban Crisis and that Castro had threatened Kennedy in the past. Many believed that Castro was behind it.

 

Interesting the stories you hear from the Florida natives, including all of my family, over the years. 

 

 

 

 

My step dad really disliked JFK for some reason and I remember some of the comments he made back then seemed celebratory, to and 8 year old kid.

[bgavin]

I was in the 8th grade in an art class, that I can no longer remember the male teacher's name.

[watab kid]

there are still a lot of speculations and conspiracy theoroes out there since the government has kept things so much under wraps for so long , 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

Junior in college and stocking shelves at Davis Food Mart, my after school job.  I was stocking B-in-B canned mushrooms (I have no idea why I remember that) when the boss, Marv Davis,  told us about it over the store's speaker.  A checker named Joann broke down and sat down right on the floor sobbing, customers were crying and a few were praying.  Marv kept the store open until the regular closing time and told us not to come in the next day.

 

The next two days are still a blur but I remember every second from the time we heard about to murder and the next morning's breakfast.

[watab kid]

this very much reminds me of the 911 attack , but i was much older then , i had both the TV on in my office as well as the radio , common back then , i was always a news junky , it was before anyone else got there that morning [i was always there a couple hours early]i had it pegged at terrorism shortly after it was first reported , 

 

i believe the kennedy assignation was part of a much bigger plot we may never really hear the real story of 

[Wrangler Rich SASS #42157]

I was a Freshman in High School, just returning from lunch and the Principal came over the loud speaker informing us of the assassination.  I hope to live long enough to hear the truth........

 

WR

 

[Sixgun Seamus]

Seventh grade and was with some others kids working on some project in the first floor hallway. A girl came down and said Kennedy was shot. We all thought is was the opening line of a joke. We were told to go back to our rooms. We were sitting at our desks in silence when our teacher, a staunch Democrat, came in and quickly wrote "JFK IS DEAD" on the front blackboard, then left the room in tears.