But us gray hairs ALL remember the day that President John Fitzgerald Kenned
y was murdered in Dallas, Texas. It was 42 years ago, November 22, 1963.I was in 4th grade at Oak Forest Elementary School in Houston. We heard something about it before school let out at 3pm. (the concept of television and radio, much less computers, in schools, had not entered the thought processes yet). My Mom picked me up that day and I remember telling her something like, "Good, he's dead."
OK. OK. I was an immature kid and was brought up in a fiercely Republican household. My parents didn't like Kennedy, so I didn't either. I didn't conceive of the magnitude of what had happened. But as the next few days passed, I saw the tragedy and how it unfolded. The networks covered all the events round-the-clock. I think this was the first time a news event was broadcast live for many hours.
Where were you that fateful day?
5 comments:
I was in my crib taking a nap. Needless to say, I don't remember much.
I was in the hallway outside my High School library when I heard about Reagan being shot. I was in my apartment changing my jeans(on my way to a Student Government event) when the Challenger blew up
At that time I was a 2 years and 9 days old. I honestly remember sitting on a box in what was my parents living room - we had just moved into my childhood home a couple days earlier - watching the news. I remember my mother crying. I remember my father being upset. I remember my siblings being upset. I actually think this is my very first childhood memory. I can not remember anything before that. Weird.
On another note, I was sipping coffee in the early AM when I heard on the radio about JFK jr. plane going down. I will never forget that. I was glued to the T.V. I remember calling older sister #1 up right away even though I believe it was a Saturday morning. She wasn't pissed at me for calling so early. Usually she would be pissed.
I SEE YOU,
JJ
It was a great meeting last night!
I was 6 months old in Bay City, TX when Kennedy was shot. Obivously too young to remember it. I know it was like the world stopped...for just a minute. I don't really remember living in Bay City either. I guess that's a good thing! Have you ever been to Bay City?
And where was I when Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot? I wish I remembered.
The principal came over the PA system and announced that the president had been shot, announced that the buses would be there soon to take us home. Then he just let the TV audio continue to broadcast into each classroom. We sat in Mrs. Ferguson's class and listened. The girls began to cry and I thought that was weird, that they were too young to understand what was going on. When I got home Dad was sitting in the darkness of our basement family room in front of the TV. He and I stayed there for the rest of the weekend, watching every minute. I remember when Jack Ruby shot Oswald, we saw that live. Then there was the funeral, the riderless horse and John John's salute as the procession passed.
Shortly afterward I made a scrap book for Cub Scouts. For the frontispiece I chose a full page cartoon of the statue of Lincoln from the Lincoln monument with his head in his hands.
It seems like this was the beginning of the end of the innocense of my childhood. The radical change of the 1960s were just around the corner.
I was in the 1st grade, Ms. Chandler's class, at Lone Oak Elementary School when the principal announced that the President had been shot. I read So's comments on what else happened that day at the same school I was attending but all I remember is the teacher crying, ppl around me being upset and me, having only just turned 6 two days prior, wondered what the big deal was. Other than that I don't remember any other details.
It is always interesting to hear my brother Scott's memories on things like that that happened in our childhood. Bless his heart, his memory is soooooooooo much better than mine, not to mention he is just a tad bit older than me so he was more aware of things before me.
Lisa
Post a Comment