# Where were you?



## Kav (Jun 19, 2005)

45 years ago, today?
I was in school, 10 years old and reciting G.K. Chesterton's THE FISH as my choice poem for literature.
Mrs Seale, the girl's headmistress walked in ashen faced.
" There is a rumour on the radio President Kennedy has been shot."All students and faculty will go quietly to chapel immediately."
We entered church by class, but Father Murphy, 6'6" steel haired orangeman strode down, took me by the arm and whispered " irish together today lad."
I slipped into the almost never used alterboy kit and noticed he had tears flowing down his face as we conducted prayers.
The next days were a endless black and white television programme. 
We returned to school four days later to a different world.


----------



## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

I was in the 9th grade going through the lunch line when one of the cafeteria workers told us that the President had been assassinated. It had not been that long ago that I had stood on an overpass as his motorcade passed beneath me with him in an open convertible.

Cruiser


----------



## jackmccullough (May 10, 2006)

I remember it very well. I was in school (fifth grade) and we heard, first from the teacher and then from the television in the classroom, what had happened.

I was aware of the civil rights movements, but my knowledge of Texas was limited to what one could learn from TV westerns, so the image in my mind was of Kennedy and John Connally carrying picket signs, ducking down in the shelter of the kind of adobe building you might see in a western, pinned down by sniper fire.


----------



## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

My parents were getting ready for their wedding that Saturday. 

There were more mourners in the church than wedding guests. The priest tried to talk my mother into postponing, then told her she couldn't wear a white dress. My mother's grandmother, who lived eighty miles away, was too distraught to come.


----------



## PedanticTurkey (Jan 26, 2008)

I can tell you where I wasn't.


----------



## agnash (Jul 24, 2006)

*Generation Gap*

Kennedy, the assassination, and "Camelot" were all just stuff out of a history book, and not a particularly long chapter. My generation will remember when Reagan got shot, when the Chalenger exploded, the Berlin Wall, 9-11, and, for me personally Katrina. My children will not even remember those things.


----------



## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

agnash said:


> Kennedy, the assassination, and "Camelot" were all just stuff out of a history book, and not a particularly long chapter.


Of course it is, for those who didn't experience that chapter first hand. For those of us who did I think that the period beginning with the Kennedy assassination and probably ending somewhere around the time of Watergate made up one of the most significant periods in our nation's history. Our culture and indeed even the way we approach life were things that were significantly altered forever by the events that transpired during that period of time. If you didn't live it, it's hard to explain.

Cruiser


----------



## PedanticTurkey (Jan 26, 2008)

Indeed. But you can get pretty close to "living it" by just looking at your paycheck and wondering where all the money you earned went.


----------



## scwtlover (Nov 12, 2008)

Cruiser said:


> Of course it is, for those who didn't experience that chapter first hand. For those of us who did I think that the period beginning with the Kennedy assassination and probably ending somewhere around the time of Watergate made up one of the most significant periods in our nation's history. Our culture and indeed even the way we approach life were things that were significantly altered forever by the events that transpired during that period of time. If you didn't live it, it's hard to explain.
> 
> Cruiser


Agreed.

I, too, was in ninth grade, in a Boston suburb. All we knew, then, was that the President had been shot. We were dismissed early. By the time we walked home, we learned the unimaginable worst had happened.

Vietnam.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Bobby

Vietnam

Watergate

As a dear British friend of mine wrote me shortly after our recent election, only now do (some of us, at least) again feel the hopefulness for America that was so widespread before that fateful day.


----------



## obiwan (Feb 2, 2007)

Probably still in diapers as I was only 1.5 years old. For some reason though I can still remember seeing his son on T.V. at the funeral saluting as the hearse went by.


----------



## PedanticTurkey (Jan 26, 2008)

Probably because they play it over and over on television.


----------



## mrkleen (Sep 21, 2007)

PedanticTurkey said:


> Indeed. But you can get pretty close to "living it" by just looking at your paycheck and wondering where all the money you earned went.


The entire world and all of its history revolves around what is good and bad for you personally. How sad.


----------



## PedanticTurkey (Jan 26, 2008)

So you're saying that it only _feels _like I'm paying for it?


----------



## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

You know, you could actually have skipped this.

I'm no fan of the Kennedy's either, but sometimes you can let people have a moment if you are not too full of yourself and your self-importance. The fact that lefties will probably do this on some anniversary that Reagan has does not make it right what is going on here.

I was in second grade. I was sick and home from school. My mother was ironing and she called me into the kitchen to tell me. 

My parents were Republicans and at seven, I did no political thinking. It's the last time a president has actually been assassinated, and it was a jarring moment even for a seven-year-old. If you were not alive then, you probably can't understand it. (Thank God, Hinkley was not successful with Reagan.)


----------



## mrkleen (Sep 21, 2007)

PedanticTurkey said:


> So you're saying that it only _feels _like I'm paying for it?


No, I am saying someone starts a thread to talk about a major event in our nation's history - and you are too self centered and bitter to add anything of substance.


----------



## PedanticTurkey (Jan 26, 2008)

Regretting the wasteful and destructive social engineering that followed the man's death is nothing of substance?


----------



## Kav (Jun 19, 2005)

When I watched my grandfather and uncles don their medals and place red creme poppies in their buttonholes on November 11, I sure as hell didn't shoot my mouth of about the failure of the West to stop the domination of Eastern Europe.


----------



## scwtlover (Nov 12, 2008)

forsbergacct2000 said:


> You know, you could actually have skipped this.
> 
> I'm no fan of the Kennedy's either, but sometimes you can let people have a moment if you are not too full of yourself and your self-importance. The fact that lefties will probably do this on some anniversary that Reagan has does not make it right what is going on here.
> 
> ...


Thank you.


----------



## Beresford (Mar 30, 2006)

I was in second grade. The announcement came over the intercom that the President had been assassinated.

The teacher started crying. We didn't really know at first what was happening. After she stopped, she explained the President had been killed and then asked us children what we thought would happen now.

Being well-trained, we all replied "the Communists will take over," and then all the children started crying.

That memory is seared in my brain. Remember, this was in the days of air raid drills, air raid sirens, and elementary students being escorted into the underground bomb shelter in training for a nuclear attack.


----------



## Kingsfield (Nov 15, 2006)

Whether Kennedy democrat or Regan republican, hope is an American value. The promise of a better tomorrow.


----------



## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

Where was I? I wasn't even born yet.Just about 11 years away from being born.


----------



## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

Was pre-born Howard that isolated from current events?


----------



## MichaelS (Nov 14, 2005)

I was in second grade. The teachers started whispering and sent us home to let our parents try to explain to us. It was a different time. Although most of the people in my family were strong republicans, they were quite saddened. My grandfather, the retired general who never voted democrat in his entire life, was saddened by this act and would never have said any of the things that one forum poster has said here. Of course he was a gentleman through and through. He spoke what he believed and didn't parrot far right or other propaganda. He spoke from his heart, his conscience and brain. 

I wish many of our politicians today retained some of the humanity that was present in those days.


----------



## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

MichaelS said:


> I was in second grade. The teachers started whispering and sent us home to let our parents try to explain to us. It was a different time. Although most of the people in my family were strong republicans, they were quite saddened. My grandfather, the retired general who never voted democrat in his entire life, was saddened by this act and would never have said any of the things that one forum poster has said here. Of course he was a gentleman through and through. He spoke what he believed and didn't parrot far right or other propaganda. He spoke from his heart, his conscience and brain.
> 
> I wish many of our politicians today retained some of the humanity that was present in those days.


I wish that, too. (On BOTH the left and right)


----------



## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

P. Turkey has apparently left the building.​


----------



## PedanticTurkey (Jan 26, 2008)

Yes, yes, you'll have to forgive my impertinence. This is not a good time of year for me.


----------



## jpeirpont (Mar 16, 2004)

Kav said:


> 45 years ago, today?
> I was in school, 10 years old and reciting G.K. Chesterton's THE FISH as my choice poem for literature.
> Mrs Seale, the girl's headmistress walked in ashen faced.
> " There is a rumour on the radio President Kennedy has been shot."All students and faculty will go quietly to chapel immediately."
> ...


A bit more than twenty years from my mothers womb.


----------



## perryw (Sep 22, 2008)

jpeirpont said:


> A bit more than twenty years from my mothers womb.


I asked mom where she was 45 years ago today. I could tell she was trying to do math in her head, so I said 1963, then JFK was assassinated. She immediately said "Junior English class. I can remember the teacher running out of the room crying."


----------



## SimonTemplar (Feb 3, 2008)

I was 10 years away from being born, lol


----------



## Asterix (Jun 7, 2005)

I came into being 7 years after the event. 

Gentlemen, I would hope that we can respect the sad but historic event the OP was trying to somewhat honor/remember on this thread without impinging it with negatives due from our political ideologies or differences.


----------



## balder (Jan 23, 2008)

As someone rrom the other side of the pond,I was at a dance in Edinburgh(because of the time difference)and the singer of the band stopped the band and announced what had happened.I don't remember what happened after that.


----------



## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

mrkleen said:


> No, I am saying someone starts a thread to talk about a major event in our nation's history - and you are too self centered and bitter to add anything of substance.


While you apparently think that I've advocated bringing a hooker or the groom's ex-girlfriend to a wedding, I'm going to disagree with you again.

Kennedy's death put LBJ in office. We'll never really know what would have happened with Cuba, or Vietnam, or civil rights, if Kennedy had lived. Or if RFK had been the nominee in 1968. But those of us who value small government and self-sufficiency think that LBJ's "New Society" has had negative effects on our culture ever since.

On Friday night, I ran into someone I recognized at dinner and said hello. He seemed to recognize me too, so he said hello as well. I had to ask the restaurant staff who he was... he was the manager of the Atlanta Saks Fifth Avenue store for many years, and had previously been at the Palm Beach store. He was there in November 1963 and helped Rose Kennedy select a dress to wear to the funeral.

They say that losing a child is the worst thing that can happen to a woman emotionally. Maybe back in those days, with higher infant mortality, it had less of an effect, but I can't imagine what a strong woman Rose Kennedy had to be. She lost one son in WWII and two more were assassinated very publicly.


----------



## TheGunther (Nov 7, 2008)

I was 23 years from being born


----------



## KenR (Jun 22, 2005)

Fourth Grade. The teacher told us to bow our heads and pray for him.


----------



## Des Esseintes (Aug 16, 2005)

Nondum conceptus, in legal terms.

dE


----------



## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

forsbergacct2000 said:


> Was pre-born Howard that isolated from current events?


No, I just didn't learn about JFK's death until later in my life.


----------



## Laxplayer (Apr 26, 2006)

My parents remember what they were doing when JFK was killed. I will always remember the Challenger and 9-11-01. Sept 11 is pretty obvious, I was in college when that took place. I was young when the Challenger exploded, but I distinctly remember watching the launch and realizing that 7 astronauts had died.


----------



## ajo (Oct 22, 2007)

I was in kindergarten and we awoke to the news, being a mick it hit my family hard as my parents and a lot of other adults saw in JFK the promise of bright future not only for the USA but for the world. 

Watching their reactions as we all crowded around a black and white Astor TV I knew something monumental was occurring, if you ask me from a historical perspective thats when the future went pear shaped.

As for Laxplayer's comments on Challenger what I found appalling was that after listening to it on the radio on the way to work this waiter queen was running around the restaurant cracking jokes about it and this at 7.30am!


----------



## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

I'll always remember some of the events that took place after I was born,like Richard Nixon's impeachment,The September 11th tragedy,Ronald Reagan getting sworn in as president and the WTC bombing of 93'.


----------



## mrkleen (Sep 21, 2007)

Miket61 said:


> While you apparently think that I've advocated bringing a hooker or the groom's ex-girlfriend to a wedding, I'm going to disagree with you again.
> 
> Kennedy's death put LBJ in office. We'll never really know what would have happened with Cuba, or Vietnam, or civil rights, if Kennedy had lived. Or if RFK had been the nominee in 1968. But those of us who value small government and self-sufficiency think that LBJ's "New Society" has had negative effects on our culture ever since.


Mike - you know that wasn't at all what I was suggesting in the wedding thread, but that one is over.

As for your post above, I have no problem with taking exception to the policies of JFK and LBJ, when you also convey a story of your recollection of the time, and a nice remembrance of the Kennedy family and their great loss.

But if someone asked, where were you the day Ronald Regan died. It would be classless to use that as an opportunity to take a shot at the man.


----------



## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

mrkleen said:


> But if someone asked, where were you the day Ronald Reagan died. It would be classless to use that as an opportunity to take a shot at the man.


Unfortunately, so many did.


----------



## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

> But if someone asked, where were you the day Ronald Regan died.


He died in 2004,I was in my father's car when I heard the news.


----------



## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

Howard said:


> He died in 2004,I was in my father's car when I heard the news.


I don't remember. The death of a former president in his 90s isn't that shocking.

I _do_ remember that my grandparents picked me up from school one day and we went to the mall. When we came back, one of our neighbors ran across the lawn to tell us that Reagan had been shot. The circumstances when the Pope was shot were exactly the same.


----------



## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

Miket61 said:


> I don't remember. The death of a former president in his 90s isn't that shocking.
> 
> I _do_ remember that my grandparents picked me up from school one day and we went to the mall. When we came back, one of our neighbors ran across the lawn to tell us that Reagan had been shot. The circumstances when the Pope was shot were exactly the same.


Didn't the guy who shot Reagan was sent to jail?


----------



## a4audi08 (Apr 27, 2007)

Miket61 said:


> Kennedy's death put LBJ in office. We'll never really know what would have happened with Cuba, or Vietnam, or civil rights, if Kennedy had lived. Or if RFK had been the nominee in 1968. * But those of us who value small government and self-sufficiency think that LBJ's "New Society" has had negative effects on our culture ever since.*


not to sidetrack the thread too much - you can answer in PM if you like - but could you explain this statement? thanks


----------



## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

Howard said:


> Didn't the guy who shot Reagan was sent to jail?


John Hinckley, Jr., who claimed that he got the idea from the movie _Taxi Driver_ and did it to impress Jodie Foster, has been in a mental hospital ever since. He occasionally makes the news when they increase his freedom - I think he has been on several unsupervised trips to visit his parents for the holidays.


----------



## Arnold Gingrich fan (Aug 8, 2008)

Miket61 said:


> He occasionally makes the news when they increase his freedom - I think he has been on several unsupervised trips to visit his parents for the holidays.


Hope he doesn't try to shoot Reagan again :icon_pale:


----------



## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

a4audi08 said:


> not to sidetrack the thread too much - you can answer in PM if you like - but could you explain this statement? thanks


I'll answer publicly... Some people think that JFK would have gotten us out of Vietnam much more quickly, and JFK was more politically conservative than today's Democrats. During LBJ's era, people began doubting the wisdom of the government, while it expanded its role in everyday life.


----------



## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

Arnold Gingrich fan said:


> Hope he doesn't try to shoot Reagan again :icon_pale:


Believe me,he won't, Reagan's already dead.


----------



## Man of a certain age (Nov 12, 2008)

Called at a friends house (we were going to the local dance hall) when the newsflash came on the TV. (early evening UK time) I was just coming up to my 16th birthday, can't say the news had much impression on me at the time. 1963 Heady days


----------



## Stephen M (Nov 15, 2007)

I was 11 years old and in grade school. The principal came into our classroom and said that the President had been assassinated and asked all to bow our heads for a minute of silence. Something that those of us who remember will never forget.


----------



## trentblase (May 14, 2008)

I was a twinkle in my father's eye.


----------



## jackmccullough (May 10, 2006)

Miket61 said:


> I'll answer publicly... Some people think that JFK would have gotten us out of Vietnam much more quickly, and JFK was more politically conservative than today's Democrats. During LBJ's era, people began doubting the wisdom of the government, while it expanded its role in everyday life.


It's impossible to know what Kennedy would have done had he lived. The tragedy of Johnson's administration is that the war, which he escalated even as he knew that it was unwinnable and not worth the fight (listen to the tapes), was what prevented him from being a truly great president.


----------

