Friday Nov. 22nd , 1963 - Where were you ?
 

It's amazing to consider that the % of our current US Population who were alive on this sad date is now but a small segment .

Where were you that day and what were you doing when you heard the news of the tragedy in Dallas ?

I was in 8th grade and age 13 . It was the last period of the school day which was Homeroom -- a study or activity period .

It just happened that my Homeroom teacher was also my American History teacher and in the latter years of her career . Her best friend was our Math teacher who managed the Homeroom right next door and was also an older long time teacher .
I was just sitting close enough to the door to see the Math teacher call out our History teacher into the hallway . I heard a loud gasp and then a loud " No ! NO ! My God NO !"
Our entire room came to an immediate halt and into total silence .
All eyes were on the doorway . When our much loved teacher came into the room she was covering her face and managed to choke out " The President has been killed ". She then sat at her desk and sobbed .
A few minutes later the Principal came on the speaker system and announced the same news and also that all activities were cancelled and that most likely school would resume on Tuesday .

I was 12 and in the 8th grade in a parochial school, St Clement's. Suddenly the intercom system came on and we could hear the mother superior flipping through radio stations. We all started to giggle thinking she flipped the switch by accident. Then the news anchor announced the President had been shot. We were told to gather our things and head for the church. While we were in the church praying it was announced that President Kennedy was dead. I remember not walking home with friends as usual but going to the nearest bus stop to ride home and that everyone on the bus was crying. Several days in front of the TV with my parents, seeing Oswald shot and the funeral with the riderless horse and young JohnJohn saluting will always be very clear memories for me.

I was a 13 year old in Scotland. I had gone to a First Aid class in the basement of our church. It was about 7pm (7 hour time difference from Texas) when the church minister, suddenly came into the room, face flushed and obviously disturbed. He announced that President Kennedy had been shot and was dead. We were all shocked.

The one thing that I feel on reflection, is that was it was not just the US that lost it's president, but the world lost a champiion for those who were oppressed and treated unfairly.

I was 12 in Miss Ritz' 7th grade French class. I don't remember much else of the day.

I was 13 in 8th grade at Southside Jr. High in St. Petersburg. I had just finished PE and was in the locker room when the coach came in with the news.

I was a 17 YO high school senior walking down our street when Freddie Fasano's mother came out her front door and told us "They shot the president!"

My only frame of reference at that moment was the scene of the guys who tried to shoot Truman at the Blair house.

Played golf that afternoon then spent the next 3 days in front of the old black and white TV watching everything unfold...including Ruby killing Oswald live on TV.

Shaped our whole life!

I was 11, in 6th grade in Torrance, California. I mostly remember the most popular boy in class breaking down and crying when we heard the news. I also remember watching the tv for the next 3 days.

I was a sophomore or junior in high school. We were in English class--young teacher whom nobody particularly cared for. Someone came to the classroom door, spoke with her. She came back in and coldly taught the rest of the class without saying a word to us.

When we found out after class, we were thunderstruck that she would do this. Now I wonder if she was told not to say anything. Can't remember what the other teachers did.

I was in 12 grade in Advanced Trigonometry and Finite Element class. The announcement was made over the PA system. It was the good Brother of Holy Cross (Think the Brothers that run University of Notre Dame, a Catholic all boys school at the time.)ended class and we all said group prayers.

A day a president I will never forget.

VG

I was 21 and working at my job as an editorial assistant in NYC.

I was a sophomore in high school in Plainfield, CT and school had just been dismissed for the day. As I left my homeroom, a teacher came running down the hall yelling that the President had been shot. When I got home turned on the tv and was glued to it for the next three days. What a sad, sad day.

I was 4 (born 2-24-1959) and have not the foggiest idea what I was doing when JFK was shot in Dallas. My mother was sick with a flu when she was pregnant so I had a very hard journey with speech and co-ordination problems. I was even in a camp for the mentally retarded as they unfortunately called us in the early 1960s. These hurdles still did not stop me from getting four degrees including a JD from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1989.

When I was looking for a job after getting my MA in Librarianship and Information and Information from the University of Denver GSLIM, the American Library Association had its convention in Dallas that Summer of 1984. We toured around downtown Dallas and I remember one of the recent library school grads who was from the Dallas area pointing out the Book Depository, the grassy knoll, the various other places that became part of history on November 22, 1963.

17 and a senior at New Richmond Senior High in Wisconsin. Social Studies 'large group' when announcement came over PA. School cancelled for the rest of day and first basketball game of our season cancelled as well. Some vivid memories that left lasting impressions on my life.

I was sleeping in my barracks at Wurtsmith AFB in Michigan after coming off an all night emergency repair effort on the B52/KC135 (POL) fueling system. Went on alert immediately.

Onboard USNS Daniel Sultan between Japan and Hawaii.

I was 6 years old and in first grade. I remember Sister Grace Anita crying and telling us the President was killed. We went home early. When I got home, my Mom was crying and told me about the President.

In high school Chem class. I thought we'd be at war in the morning.

I was 20 and in Germany. I couldn't believe what I have heard but it was still on the TV (black/white). I went to my room and cried. Hours later I called home.

Was riding home on the NYC subway and had no contact with the outside world. When I walked into the store my mother/father owned. My father informed me that President Kennedy was shot. I remember saying, stop kidding around as he was a practical joker. The he said he was serious. I ran upstairs to our residence and turned on the television. Shortly therafter, he was pronounced dead.

I also remember having Sunday dinner at 1 PM, when our tenant rush in, to inform us Oswald was just killed by Jack Rudy. We were all stunned, that something like this could happen. Glued to the television the whole weekend.

Watching little John John, salute his father, is something I'll never forget.

He also was gone from us too soon. :(

I was 7 years old and in the 2nd grade. My teacher was Miss Schadwall, a stout, no nonsense individual. Prior to this happening, I remember her stoic demeanor, spanking people over her knee in the front of the classroom...

The Principal came to the room and knocked on the door and asked Miss Schadwall to step out into the hallway. When she came back in I could tell she had been crying.

She walked to the chalk board and wrote that the President had been shot and killed . Then she sat down and cried, she just sobbed and sobbed.....it made a quite a impression on me as a 7 year old. I rode the school bus home and found my mom in tears... At 7 years old I was not sure how to process all of this so I ran about a mile down the road to my Grandmothers house and told her, she began to cry, I was really scared at that point and I will never forget that moment....

Thirteen -- physics class. An announcement over the loudspeaker that the President had been shot. At lunch the word spread that he had died. First class after lunch we were sent home. Most of us stayed glued to a television the remainder of the weekend. So much sadness, so much fear as to what would happen next and, of course, tremendous admiration for Jackie, Caroline and John-John.

Thank you everyone for sharing . I hope that many more join in .
Those black and white TV images are seared into my memory . I do believe that I did not miss a minute of it and as the scenes unfolded each was very poignant and moving .
I grew up in a area which was basically a county of very small towns . I just recalled that all of the radio stations stopped their typical music selections and played classical music of what seemed to be of funereal nature .

I was at a pep rally playing clarinet in the band when the announcement came over the school PA. I remember feeling entirely alone and abandoned as I went back to the band room to put my instrument away, though I must have been surrounded by the swarm of students who were always there. I can't believe how I can invoke that feeling across so many years.

I remember like it was yesterday
 

I was 8 years old and in the 3rd grade. My class was walking down the hall in double file, the teacher stopped us and told us what had happened. I remember everyone being in such shock and crying. My family gathered together and we had relatives that came down from Mass. to watch the funeral in unity. The sadness was unforgettable, but I will also never forget the strength and comfort of being with family at this time of devastating loss.

Memories of these devastating moments are never lost - such as when the Pope was shot, the news of Elvis' and Princess Diana's death and 9/11 are engrained forever.

I was in the US Navy stationed in Virginia and waiting for my new bride who was flying through Washington and be held up as she watched from the plane the unloading of JFK's casket

Here's more response from 2012.

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...sinated-65690/

I was 13, in junior high in Niagara Falls NY. They announced that the president was shot, and there was a sense of subdued but shocked chaos. Then they sent us home.

It felt like the world was a different place from that moment. We learned that real life didn't always have a happy ending, and even heroes were vulnerable. It was the first time (other than the Bay of Pigs) that I remember watching TV news so seriously.

I was in the 3rd grade. We were sent home from school. I spent the day at my grandfather's country store, Short Lane in Gloucester, VA. All the men sat around the coal stove and talked of the shock that this could happen. I will never forget that feeling.

I remember that I were in history class. As a 10 yr old I did not grasp everything but knew it was bad they roll in a tv to the room then sent us home early very sad time in our country Remember the feeling and I had the same feeling on 9/11

I was 19 and working in the accounting department of Automatic Canteen Corp in the Merchandise Mart in downtown Chicago. Was eating lunch in the first floor restaurant and watching the news on TV. I still have the desk calendar page from that date with a short memorial that I wrote about the event.

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When Jack Kennedy was assassinated I had finished my day at Sacred Heart High School in Waterbury Connecticut and was working my after school job at Bauby's newsstand and cigar store in downtown Waterbury. Provided curb service, pull up and get newspapers and cigars delivered to the car. Heard of the assassination and quickly told to pull all of the afternoon Waterbury papers from the display. First EXTRA EDITION I ever saw came out a short time later and sold like hot cakes. Strange and depressing day!

I was 22 and working at North State Bank in Amarillo, TX, as the switchboard operator. Someone came running in the front door telling us that she had just heard it on the radio. Our bank president had a radio in his office, turned it on, and confirmed what the lady was saying. He brought it out into the lobby so all could hear.:sad:

After a class I was walking over to my fraternity house on the UNM campus. Two crying coeds were approaching me on the path from the other direction. I asked them what was wrong and they told me. I got to the house, stayed there and watched it unfold on TV.

I was a 12 year old at Sacred Heart School in Manitowoc WI. I remember our Prinicpal on the intercom announcing our President had been shot .We all went in to the church and we started to say the rosary led by our parish preist. Soon afterward it was announced that Kennedy had died. Every person sobbed and we were all in shock, adults and children alike that this could happen. School closed and we were all sent home to our mothers.. who were also sobbing. A very sad day for us all!!!!!!!!!

3rd grade detention cleaning chalkboards with my friend for talking in class. The office put it over the PA system for the teachers since most of the kids had already gone home.

I was in my mother's womb..... don't remember much.
But I do teach the terror and bewilderment from that day.

Weird day for me. I was working for an amusement company in the deep south. I had made my rounds collecting coins from all the pinball machines, juke boxes, and cigarette vending machines all over town. When I returned to the business, all the men who worked there and those who hung out there were hooting and hollering...celebrating. I had no idea what they were so happy about, and my role there was speak when spoken to...they were all a rough bunch, and I rarely even made eye contact with them. I turned in the coins and left to go back to my college dorm. I stopped at a junkyard to scrounge some parts for my hot rod and that's where I found out what had happened in Dallas, but didn't even connect the assassination to the men's behavior. It didn't click until a few years later, while in the military, I read in the Stars and Stripes that my boss, the owner of the amusement company had been charged with murder and was the Imperial Wizard of the KKK in my state.

I was in my first year at college in New York City. I was walking down 5th Avenue and saw a lot of people holding portable radios and crying. The people were sobbing and cryng out that Pres. Kennedy had been shot and killed. It was beyond belief.

I had just finished my last morning class as a freshman at the University of Missouri. I went to the cafeteria for lunch and someone shouted out that the President had been shot in Dallas. I ran back to my dorm room and turned on the radio and my reel-to-reel tape recorder to capture the broadcasts. I was going home that afternoon and when I met my ride, one of the other riders said that his professor had come into class, where a big test was scheduled, and sadly announced the President had been shot, then told the class to go home, that they would all be receiving an A for the test. I went home and watched all the news broadcasts, including the live broadcast on Sunday, when Jack Ruby jumped out of the crowd to shoot Oswald. Jack Kennedy was the first political hero in my life and I felt a visceral reaction to the loss, for myself and more importantly, for our country. It is too bad, but understandable, that a little loser and coward like Oswald is remembered as a prime figure in history.

I was 11 years old and had just returned home from school. A neighbor boy ran up on the stoop to tell me that President Kennedy had been killed. I went into the house where everyone was glued to the TV set. It was the first time I saw my grandfather cry.