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Silvertwinky · 11-24-2003, 12:34 AM

Where were you forty years ago on Nov. 22?

I was at school in the third grade class room that day. Our class was listening to the news about J.F.K. on the radio. I can remember how our teacher was up-set as the news was being announced.

I'm sure that the younger generation will remember 9/11 as we can remember so clearly what happened in 1963.

Pahaska · 11-24-2003, 07:00 AM

I was in the hallway at the IBM Boardman Road location in Poughkeepsie, NY. There were first some rumors floating around, then there was a PA annoncement. Not much work was done the rest of the day.

zduke4x · 11-24-2003, 07:39 AM

Mrs Morris, a tough old bird, was called out of the room and came back in with tears in her eyes and told us the news...it was last period and we just sat there til the bell rang to go home........

Have been watching the History channel special this week and it is disturbing the information that is being put out there after all the rumors over the years.....jem

Pick · 11-24-2003, 07:52 AM

I had just gotten home from school, and turned on the TV, and saw the news. I rode my bike across the street to my aunt and uncles house, where I knew my mom was visiting my aunt. They were both sitting in front of the TV crying.

markjoandall · 11-24-2003, 09:30 AM

Mr Reed, aka Zippy. They turned on the PA system, the girls cried and he just sat there looking stupid (nothing new for him). We had an early release.

Those were interesting times!

norbert · 11-24-2003, 11:48 AM

checking out the girls....

.....then the shockwave hit.....now its even more shocking to find out its a vast right wing conspiracy...

WayWard Wind · 11-24-2003, 02:54 PM

I was at a customer's door , trying to get a past due utility bill payment, when they broke the news on the tv. I went inside & sat & listened for quite awhile then just left & went home. I had a very sick & unbelieving feeling at the time. Still do, when ever I think about it, as I don't think we'll ever know the truth. FWIW, my son-in-law just finished up a 5-1/2 year stint on his presidential protection detail station, (or PPD as the SS calls it). What a worry it has been. I was so worried the day of 9-11, as he was spending a lot of time on the roof of the WH, whenever the Man was in resident. They have since replaced that position with a dedicated unit, but the concerns continue.---As words to an old song goes " when will we ever learn, when will we ever learn "
Best,

Silvertwinkie · 11-24-2003, 03:05 PM

I was a twinkle in my parents eyes that wouldn't be acted upon for another 7 years!

Eric

InsideOut · 11-24-2003, 03:44 PM

I was a bit over 4...I remember my dad coming home from work early, which he NEVER did...and sitting in front of the TV watching the same images of a car over & over...

I remember chaos, everybody being very sad and my mom & dad "shushing" me...I clearly remember trying to make sense of it all, knowing something was definately wrong...but not quite comprehending what was going on.

I also remember the funeral and seeing John who was about my age standing there looking so proper and again knowing it was a moment in time that changed everything...

Shari

CanoeStream · 11-24-2003, 07:12 PM

9th Grade, Lamar Junior High; Bryan, Texas. First heard about the shots about 12:45PM. By next class (English) we heard he'd died. School let out early and Mom picked me up -- quiet ride home.

Friday was stunning -- watching TV all day and listening to news updates. I'd thought the space program was the only exciting thing until this!

Porky Pig · 11-24-2003, 07:20 PM

I had just turned 13 ... 8 days earlier ... was attending a Catholic grade schol in Inglewood, California. I was in the 8th grade .. the principal was our teacher ... she had a door to her office in the back of the room.

I remember her secretary coming into the room and pulling our teacher into the office. In a few minutes she came out and announced to the class that Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. I had never experienced an emotional shockwave before.

About 30 minutes later, she announced on the intercom to the whole school that Kennedy had died. We were absolutely devasted ... very hard to go home and throw my paper route that afternoon.

garry · 11-24-2003, 07:28 PM

Keesler AFB 24 yrs old on smoke break outside class room when someone came out and broke the news. We were told to go home or barracks and be prepared to get called in depending on what happens next.
Hard to believe that was 40 years ago. VERY sad day.

Garry

Davydd · 11-24-2003, 07:48 PM

I was getting ready to take a 10 question calculus test in a classroom a half level below grade at the University of Cincinnati (second year) and overheard the conversation outside as legs and feet were passing by. I signed my name (worth 10 points), turned to quiz in and walked out.

Back at our apartment, our roommate from Ossining, NY was frantic and screaming that it was a right wing plot. He left for NY. My other two roommates (Ontario, NY and Springfield, OH) headed out for Springfield. I lit out for Indianapolis (my home) spent the night at home, visited friends, and then drove over to Springfield the next day and spent the night there. TV was intermittent news reports and funeral dirge music. We watched it almost all Sunday morning and then decided to head back to Cincinnati. We were no more than 5 minutes on the road when we heard Oswald was shot. So I missed that bit of history that was on live TV.

My reaction was to drive and drive I did for well over 400 miles in my 1958 gas guzzling Pontiac Bonneville.

KIMILI · 11-24-2003, 09:51 PM

My mother cried that day as did my father and they were oceans apart. Many years later, I shed the same desolate, incredulous tears.

The whole world was devasted by his loss and many still miss him today.

God Bless.

qqq · 11-24-2003, 10:16 PM

And we are still unsure about who ordered it...

Hart

dscluchfc · 11-24-2003, 10:54 PM

I was age 7, home from school with the mumps and running a temp. My Grandmother, dad's side, was tending to me that day because I was home from school sick. Mom was at work at the office.
We had just finished lunch, and it was 12:30 and time for Grannie's soap, "As the World Turns", when they broke in with Walter Cronkite, and the news bulletin about the President's Motorcade being shot at in Dallas. They never did get back to the soap opera as sketchy details began to straggle in bit by bit.
I watched it all live as it came over the tube for the next 3-4 days because it was on 24/7. Everyone slept only in little naps.
My dad, a criminal attorney, had been headed off on a deer hunting trip from Lubbock to between Dallas and Abilene with a couple of other men and a car full of rifles and ammunition. They got the news on radio and came back home.
I saw Oswald shot live on TV 24 hours later.
I remember it all like it was yesterday...not 40 years ago.

ARGONUT · 11-25-2003, 05:31 AM

I was in the 8th grade, in the school library reading a book on Charles Linberg for a report when the broadcast came over the
P. A. system. Don't remember much before or after that day.

85MH325 · 11-25-2003, 05:43 AM

I was in third grade. It was my parent's 10th wedding anniversary. They just celebrated their 50th this week. They were having friends over that evening. I remember that the anniversary celebration was pretty somber that night.

In retrospect, it was the the end of Camelot. It was a defining moment in history, not just of U.S. history, but the history of humanity... it heralded the arrival in earnest of the Civil Rights movement and all the social and political upheaval and unrest to follow. It was not only the assasination of a President, it was the event that for better or worse, marked the death of innocence in the U.S.

Roger

joe hall · 12-05-2003, 01:03 PM

My father had an electrical contract on Lower Monumental Dam, one of the big hydro-electric projects along the Snake River that were built in the 50's and 60's. We lived in the little village of Kahlotus, Washington, for a couple of years. 12 grades under one school roof; located in a quaint God-fearing community. It felt like the end of the world on that particular day.

Silvertwinkie · 12-05-2003, 01:34 PM

I suppose I could start to imagine what it must have been like being old enough to know the weirdness when Reagan was shot. He was a very popular leader, perhaps not like JFK, but I do recall an uneasy feeling as a 14 year old the day Reagan was shot.

I can't even believe they are considering letting Hickley out for unsupervised visits anywhere...

Eric