November 22, 1963...

[NYadgal]

Posted: 11/22/10 at 4:44pm

Another anniversary.

If you've not yet read it, treat yourself to reading The Kennedy Detail

Fascinating account of the events that changed history written by the Secret Service agents who were assigned to protect the President and Mrs. Kennedy.

Do any of you remember that day? I recall the sadness in our house that week. And the haunting images on the black and white TV of the funeral cortege. I wasn't yet 5, but the memories are very clear. It's hard to imagine that it could happen...





The Kennedy Detail

Updated On: 11/22/10 at 04:44 PM

[WOSQ]

Posted: 11/22/10 at 4:53pm

I was 13 and in the 8th grade. In retrospect I realize that this day was the day my childhood receded and adulthood really moved in.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/22/10 at 6:05pm

I was 7 years old--Caroline's age. I felt as if I were losing my father too.

The principal came in and told us we could go home if our parents or older siblings could come get us. It felt as if we had done something terrible and were being sent home as punishment. My sister walked me home. Neither of us spoke, which was rare for my sister. We lived in a largely Irish-Catholic neighborhood, and it was deathly quiet.

We watched the black-and-white console television with my mother until my father came home. When Walter Cronkite announced that the president had died, the were cries from apartments all over the neighborhood. Keening. As if they had lost one of their own. They had. We all had.

We stayed glued to that television all weekend, and things got more and more surreal: an assassin assassinating the assassin, the president's body being flown back to Washington and the vice president becoming the president, the funeral procession with the horse with no rider and one backward boot, John-John saluting the coffin, Jackie and Bobby and Teddy lighting an eternal flame.

And a few days later we went up to Aunt Edie's for a Thanksgiving that was just not the same.

They never were, after that.

Updated On: 11/22/10 at 06:05 PM

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 11/22/10 at 6:11pm

I was only two months old at the time, though my brother and sister told me that they were sent home from school as well.

[uncageg]

Posted: 11/22/10 at 7:12pm

I have the book on hold at the library.

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 11/22/10 at 7:34pm

I was in my 4th grade science class when the principal, Sister Mary Loretta came to the door and announced that the president had been killed. To this day I can see the pictures on page 39 of our workbook, which now seems frozen in time. It was one of those seminal moments, even at a young age. We didn't go home early, but we did go to the church our school was connected to for an impromtu prayer service, People from the neighborhood kept pouring in, even non-parishioners. We rode the bus home in silence. It was a tragic, jarring event and it seemed on that day that the whole world had gone askew.

The book is beautifully written and absolutely compelling. Be mindful when you pick it up that it will be very hard to put down.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 11/22/10 at 8:08pm

We had a TV while many of our neighbors didn't, so I remember people crowded around. And then the sobs and cries when the news came that the President had died.

Dad arrived home shortly after that, and looked stricken. It was as if a member of the family had died. In a way, that's what happened...

I remember so clearly the shock of Jack Ruby gunning down Lee Harvey Oswald. The week became surreal, and it was as if the world had gone mad.

The assassinations of the 1960's were a horrifying trend.

Even at my young age, those memories are crystal clear. I remember feeling frightened for the first time...

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 11/22/10 at 9:17pm

I was in first grade and we were tracing our hands and making Thanksgiving turkeys (which I still have). Mother Mary Austin came on over the loud speaker and made the announcement and Sister Paul Catherine began to cry.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/22/10 at 9:56pm

Here is the trailer for the book The Kennedy Detail:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYhS4skJmVc

And here is the preview for the Kennedy Detail documentary on Discovery, which airs Thursday, December 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-VlK7Uvp3U

[wexy]

Posted: 11/22/10 at 10:19pm

I was seven. Our class was lined up in the hall when my teacher came out of the classroom crying.
They sent us home. I remember two girls skipping up Snyder Avenue singing "President Kennedy's dead."

A couple of days later I saw Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald live on television.

The one I really remember is the drumbeat of the funeral procession.

[wexy]

Posted: 11/22/10 at 10:20pm

I was seven. Our class was lined up in the hall when my teacher came out of the classroom crying.
They sent us home. I remember two girls skipping up Snyder Avenue singing "President Kennedy's dead."

A couple of days later I saw Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald live on television.

The one I really remember is the drumbeat of the funeral procession.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/22/10 at 10:21pm

The drumbeat starts at 1:39

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N-KSF5FeOY

[madbrian]

Posted: 11/22/10 at 10:53pm

I was a toddler, so too young to recall anything. However, I think it's appropriate to share one of the greatest TV performances ever broadcast, Judy Garland's performance of The Battle Hymn Of The Republic, sung in honor of JFK.
Garland

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/23/10 at 1:21am

John John saluting the coffin of his father.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz5waH25x4U

It always reminded me of the moment in To Kill a Mockingbird when the entire balcony stood up as Atticus walked by, and one of the elderly black people said softly to to Scot, "Rise up, Miss Scout. That's your father passing."

[sabrelady]

Posted: 11/23/10 at 2:00am

Funny old world innit? I was in grade 2 in CANADA and I remember being in school, they made the announcement over the loudspeaker that President John F. Kennedy had been shot and classes were suspended for the rest of the day. I didn't really know what a president was ( hey I was pledging "alligance to the flag" a few yrs b4 on Romper Room!) but i knew all the adults that made up my little world were very upset and uneasy and on some primal level I was afraid how that would effect me. I remember whispering alot so not to upset anyone any more than they were and telling my younger brother just be careful. We were all scared and didn't understand why what was happening was happening.
And there;s those who understand too well.

[bdwaygirl]

Posted: 11/23/10 at 2:35pm

I remember leaning up against the chair my dad was sitting in, watching the funeral. I had no idea what was going on, but I do remember keeping my eyes on John, who looked to be about my age.

I recently came across The NY Daily News from Saturday, November 23, that my Dad saved all those years ago.

[wexy]

Posted: 11/23/10 at 3:07pm

Joey, its amazing how I still remember that...drum

[Scripps2]

Posted: 11/23/10 at 3:24pm

Thank you all for sharing.

This thread helps me to understand the sorrow of loss and fear of uncertainty that these extraordinary and awful events engendered.

I was going to post something about how uncertain the world must have seemed back then - but then I realised that so much still is uncertain.

[Broadwayboobs]

Posted: 11/23/10 at 3:25pm

I was 5 months older than John-John, so I wasn't in school yet. I remember laying in my living room coloring in my coloring book and watching the T.V with my mom sitting on the couch behind me crying. I couldn't figure out why Mom was crying, but I knew it had to do what was on the Television that was causing her to. I remember at oen point getting up and giving her a hug...it seemed the right thing to do.