39 years later....it's still painful

11-22-2002, 02:32 PM

Today marks the 39th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. I was in the 4th grade at the time when we received word of the shooting. Along with the events of 9/11/2001 this event has to be the most profoundly tragic event of my generation! All these years have gone by and it's still hard to fathom....

[ 11-22-2002, 05:17 PM: Message edited by: Shane S ]

Straydog · 11-22-2002, 04:07 PM

Whoa..... thanks for the reminder Shane.

I was in 3d grade. That is one PA Annoucment I will never forget...... :depressed:

roundbelly · 11-22-2002, 04:25 PM

working in the packing house at bear creek. JFK had campained in medford that summer, so a lot of the gals packing started to cry. real mess, some days your just don't forget.

GutshotApe · 11-22-2002, 05:15 PM

I was a HS sophmore and the announcement was made during a school assembly. However, my hoodlum pals and & I had skipped the event, were out riding around in a car, smoking cigarettes! Heard the news on the radio. The following monday we had no school on account of the official funeral in DC - and it was also the last day of extended buck season. I had an unused tag but my parents wouldn't let me go hunting - we were supposed to be mourning, after all. I was already a Republican, I guess, and thought I could reflect on JFK just fine out in the woods instead of sitting around home watching the funeral on TV.

kenai · 11-22-2002, 07:25 PM

4th Grade, catholic school, I'ts the only time I ever saw nuns crying, I had always thought they were immune to anything. My mother being Irish catholic suffered for months and wept about it years later. The most profound day in my memory. The country changed that day.

STGRule · 11-22-2002, 11:15 PM

4th grade, tramatic.

1pump · 11-22-2002, 11:28 PM

My mom told me I saw Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald on live TV. I don't remember 'cuz I was only 2 at the time. I was sitting on her lap in front of the TV while she watched Ruby suddenly step out the crowd and pop a cap in Oswald.
Too bad the Dallas police were so careless. Maybe someday we'll know what really happened. :depressed:
JFK, RFK, Chappaquidick, Michael Kennedy, then JFK Jr. Not to mention Joe Kennedy Jr.
That family is one non-stop tragedy.

[ 11-23-2002, 12:36 AM: Message edited by: 1pump ]

Dipnet · 11-25-2002, 08:12 PM

8th grade for me. We were in an assembly when they told us the news. Such a sad day for everyone. I still have a scrapbook of most of the clippings from the Oregonian. I look at it every once in a while and the sadness is still there. :depressed:

SteelieSteve · 11-26-2002, 05:07 AM

8th grade for me too. Watched all the news sitting in class. The teachers cried. My mom saved the front page from the newspaper for 37 years. She'd voted for JFK. I wonder if anyone really knows who was behind it.

Straydog · 11-26-2002, 05:57 AM

Steelie,

I wonder if we really want to know....... :whazzup: :depressed: :whazzup:

Wright Angle · 11-26-2002, 07:26 AM

I was in the 3rd grade, I remember they announced that he was dead over the P.A. Then they sent us home. Even at that young age it was devastating, I could not believe that it had happened.

crabbait · 12-01-2002, 01:19 PM

Seventh grade for me, and no, we don't want to know what really happened.

12-01-2002, 01:32 PM

We would probably be shocked if we knew the real truth.

GutshotApe · 12-01-2002, 01:32 PM

I always thought Fidel Castro was behind killing JFK. After all, Kennedy had tried to kill Castro, and more than once.

In retrospect, I wonder how the '60s would have gone if Kennedy had lived. He began the Vietnam buildup - and was very popular. By 1968 (would have been the end of JFK's 2nd term) the nation had a bellyfull of LBJ and Vietnam. How would Kennedy have handled things? :whazzup:

bllelk · 12-01-2002, 06:23 PM

Well I was in the basement at SAC headquarters at the time. I can tell you there was plenty going on. We were locked in, the base was locked down and the flying headquarters for the SAC commander was launched. We were pretty sure we would be at war. It was a pretty tense time for all in the military especially after having gone thru the Cuban missle crisis only the year before. Fortunately these are somewhat calmer times with Russia and the Chinese on a friendlier basis.

RichH · 12-02-2002, 05:56 AM

I was still gestating in my mothers womb, wouldn't be born for another 6 months. For me its all something that happened before I was born, like WW2. Its interesting for me to hear what others perceptions of that time were. 9-11 will be similar for the current generation.