OT: Where were you on November 22, 1963

[EdSaid]

Less than 25% of today's U.S. population was alive when President Kennedy was killed in 1963. Everyone seems to remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news.

I was two weeks shy of my third birthday. I couldn't comprehend what happened, but I remember my parents and older brother and sister were glued to the TV all weekend. Years later they all said I was a pain that weekend. I wanted to play.

 

[Checkmate 2.0]

Elementary school, 3rd or 4th grade.

 

[Citrusdog]

Less than 25% of today's U.S. population was alive when President Kennedy was killed in 1963. Everyone seems to remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news.

I was two weeks shy of my third birthday. I couldn't comprehend what happened, but I remember my parents and older brother and sister were glued to the TV all weekend. Years later they all said I was a pain that weekend. I wanted to play.

Funny, I was two weeks shy of my third birthday as well. (Pearl Harbor day)

 

[eebmg]

Sub Atomic Particles ?

 

[CajunHusky]

6th grade in a Catholic elementary school, in the cafeteria for lunch.

 

[pacific 44]

I was asleep in the barracks on the island of Okinawa when a sargeant came running through the barracks yelling,"THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF HAS BEEN SHOT," over and over again(around 3-4 a.m.). We all ran to the day room to see the news and we were all devastated by this. In fact everyone i encountered in the entire 173rd airborne division could talk about little else for quite a while. Sad day in American history for sure.

 

[Cornell Lt]

I was crawling around in diapers at 9 months old

 

[huskeynut]

Junior high school - 7th grade.

I was in math class when an announcement came over the pa that at the bell we would all report to homeroom. Principal came over the pa and made the announcement.

 

[Sifaka]

Sitting in a gymnasium, bass clarinet in hands. It was a rehearsal for the Nassau County, N.Y. All-County band. A woman approached the conductor, tapped him on the arm while we were playing. He stopped. We stopped. She whispered to him. The woman disappeared. The conductor stared at the floor. Total silence.

A minute later the woman came back to the conductor. Her face was pained. She whispered in his ear again, then left. He, choked up, spoke to us in a soft voice,
"The President has been shot. He's dead."

Sometime later—I don't remember how long—somebody told us the rehearsal was cancelled, we were to return to our buses. Most of us, high school students, were crying. For the half hour trip back to our high school there was absolute shock and silence.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I was in the 10th grade, had just finished a gym class and ducked into a Boys Room before the class bell which was about to ring. I walked out into the hallway and it was pretty chaotic and an announcement kept repeating "return immediately to your home room." As I headed to my home room, still unaware of the assassination I came upon a teacher crying in the hall.

 

[oldude]

At school in the 3rd grade. School was closed early and we were all sent home.

I had seen JFK a year or so earlier. I have no idea why, but he flew into the small airport in Stratford, CT, and then his motorcade drove north on Main St. My mom and my Aunt Jean gathered all of us kids, we walked over to Main St, where thousands of people had gathered to catch a glimpse of JFK as he drove by.

A glimpse is about all we got, as his motorcade went speeding by. JFK was clearly visible however. He was riding in the back seat of a convertible sedan, just like he was a year or so later in Dallas, TX.

 

[pspr11]

Was doing my senior traiming at Slade jr. high school In New Britain, Ct.

 

[Jingo]

I was in a chemistry lab for JP Stevens in mid-town Manhattan. We were testing chemicals on fabrics for 'wrinkle-free' cotton pants, chinos. When the news came in, my boss' first thought was, "How is the [stock] market holding up?"

 

[rbny1]

I had enlisted in the army a couple of months earlier and was at Fort Polk, Louisiana, in infantry training. Our unit was in the barracks after lunch when a sergeant suddenly came in and ordered us to go outside and stand in formation. He was obviously distraught, although none of us knew why. Once we were outside and lined up, he began crying as he announced that President Kennedy had been assassinated. I was in shock, as were most of my fellow trainees. I couldn't imagine something like that happening in our nation. I'll never forget that day.

 

[Centerstream]

A day I will never forget. Middle of the afternoon, getting ready to leave for the day, and sitting in 5th grade in Western Massachusetts. Somebody, the school Principal I believe, came in and whispered into my teacher's ear and she began crying uncontrollably. They then told the class and most everyone was crying even though at 10 yo most of us didn't really realize what had happened.
However, our lives were changed forever.
Cue up The End of the Innocence

 

[Centerstream]

No political correctness at work. Middle schools are for grades 6-8. Jr HS is for grades 7-9.

In 1963 and beyond, our Jr. HS was grades 6, 7 and 8.
Grades 9 through 12 was HS.
Once they built a new school building, grades 6 through 8 were in Middle School.

 

[BBallF]

In 8th grade at Sacred Heart School in Newark, NJ. We all went into the church to pray which was on the same street that I saw him in motorcade while he was campaigning 3 years before.

 

[Pre-3]

Radio "A" school San Diego, CA. USN. Military town, everything changed. Air was full of aircraft, unusual activity all over the base. Ominous feeling for sure.

 

[MTHusky]

Junior in Ansonia High. Was in a Mechanical Drafting class. Teacher allowed the radio to be on during class.

 

[Jackcatscal]

I was coming out of a freshman English class at Fordham College. There was a guy in a white convertible with the top down outside the building, and he had the radio on, and said the President’s been shot.

If you haven’t yet heard it, you should listen to Bob Dylan’s take on the Kennedy assassination and its affects on America. The song is called “Murder Most Foul.” (That’s a line from Hamlet.) Listen on YouTube. .

 

[Bama fan]

8th grade, Home from school sick that day. Heard it on radio.

 

[Scud49]

It was Friday, I was 14 and in our school's auditorium. Toward the end of the assembly, I noticed our principal walking up on stage. I thought he was going to wish us a good weekend and perhaps say something about Thanksgiving, which was the next week. Instead he told us the President Kennedy has been shot, and is now dead. The kids were all shocked, totally silent for a couple seconds, then a girl shrieked and started crying......we walked out in very hushed murmurs, then we boarded our school bus...and rode home in total silence. The shock was intense and overwhelming to everyone.

 

[huskyd]

Good question. I was driving home from my teaching job in Georgia when the news came over the radio. The rest of the trip flew by, as I was mesmerized by the unfolding of the details of the shooting. What I don't recall was the exact moment the president was declared dead, but he died shortly after the shooting, so I must have known before I got home. Terrible day.

 

[TheFarmFan]

-21 years old.

 

[Centerstream]

Good question. I was driving home from my teaching job in Georgia when the news came over the radio. The rest of the trip flew by, as I was mesmerized by the unfolding of the details of the shooting. What I don't recall was the exact moment the president was declared dead, but he died shortly after the shooting, so I must have known before I got home. Terrible day.

If my memory serves, Walter Cronkite was the person who announced the death of JFK to the television world (and maybe the whole world). I think my parents DVRed it .