JFK

[Birdie Num Nums]

I vividly recall this time of year, 50 years ago in 1963, when I was barely 9.

My family had just moved to Spokane, Washington, from San Pedro, California. It was cold--freezing cold. We kids would put our feet by the open kitchen oven. We'd have the radio playing in the kitchen while warming our feet by the oven--to popular songs of the day like "Sugar Shack" and "Deep Purple."

I recall the JFK assassination TV coverage that November of 1963--a week before Thanksgiving Day. I also remember seeing for the first time, that late 1963, The Wizard of Oz, in black and white on our TV: our family's only luxury, as we had no telephone or car.

Being on "welfare," my family had little food at the end of each month in those days. So, I fondly recall when a priest from the local Catholic Church came to our house that holiday season of 1963 to give my family a holiday food basket. Then, a bit later, the Salvation Army also gave us a food basket for Christmas. Oh, they were so much appreciated! (I distinctly remember to this day us cooking on the stove-top some Jiffy Pop popcorn that had come with one of those baskets.) To this day, I donate $ to the Salvation Army this time of year--in memory of those food baskets that had made me so happy long ago.

Today, when I look in my fridge, food pantry, and cupboards--to see lots and lots of food, compared to those hungry yesterdays--I am so very thankful.

 

[kyounge1956]

I have to question my memories of that day. I "remember" being in the second grade when JFK was shot, but when I count backwards from my high school graduation, or forwards from when my family moved from NY to the west coast, I have to conclude that I was actually in the third grade in November of 1963. We were sent home from school, and I remember that when I came into the house, my mother was standing in the living room with the vacuum cleaner, looking at the television, as if she had been cleaning the carpet with the TV running at the time the shooting actually occurred. But ISTM I once mentioned this memory to my mom, and it did not tally with her recollection of what she was doing at the time. Of the funeral, shooting of Oswald by Jack Ruby, and other related events, I remember nothing at all.

 

[MBAustin]

I was in Mrs. Malcolm's first grade class. I think the principal went to each classroom to tell everyone (it was a fairly small school). I think they let us out a little early. As I lived next door to the school (really!) I remember watching Walter Cronkite on TV not long after he had announced that JFK had died. Like many others here, the funeral procession, especially the riderless horse and John John's salute, is what I remember most in detail.

 

[W2R]

Like many others here, the funeral procession, especially the riderless horse and John John's salute, is what I remember most in detail.

Maybe it is because I was in high school, but my most vivid memory is of Oswald getting shot. It must have been on live TV, because we didn't know about it beforehand. One moment my entire family was leaning forward peering intently at him, trying to get a good look at who this horrible assassin could be, and the next moment suddenly he was shot in the gut right in front of our noses. We were just floored by it and left gasping with cries of "oh no, oh no!". In that one act, Ruby had blocked Americans from seeking justice in court and we felt robbed.

My second most vivid memory is seeing Walter Cronkite crying on TV. Then, little John-John and his poignant salute, and Caroline being such a good child and so brave, even though she had to be terribly upset too (not to mention upstaged by her brother).

At the time, I wasn't that impressed by the funeral and the backwards boot seemed contrived and "phony" to me. But then, I was a teenager and you know how teenagers can be. When I see footage of the funeral it now seems very appropriate to me so I don't know why I felt that way at the time.

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

All this weekend CBSNews.com is replaying its television coverage of that weekend 50 years ago--hour-by-hour. Today, Sunday, is the day Oswald was killed. Tomorrow, Monday, will be JFK's funeral.

It's fascinating, like reliving those days.

 

[Gumby]

. . . and the backwards boot seemed contrived and "phony" to me. But then, I was a teenager and you know how teenagers can be. When I see footage of the funeral it now seems very appropriate to me so I don't know why I felt that way at the time.

At my young age, I certainly couldn't think symbolically. I'm sure I didn't even notice the boots. I just knew that when horses got dressed up, people rode on them; when the horses were not wearing their clothes, they just ran around in the field. So here was a horse all dressed up and no one was riding it. It seemed very wrong to me.

 

[W2R]

All this weekend CBSNews.com is replaying its television coverage of that weekend 50 years ago--hour-by-hour. Today, Sunday, is the day Oswald was killed. Tomorrow, Monday, will be JFK's funeral.

It's fascinating, like reliving those days.

Thanks, I'll take a look at it. Much appreciated. I really enjoyed Tom Brokaw's show on NBC, on the 22nd. He did not seem to have any particular agenda or message, but instead simply did a great job interviewing a lot of people who were there, some of who were involved to some greater or lesser extent, and some not. Many of them are quite old by now.

(I, of course, have not aged a day since then... )

 

[cranberryjoe]

I was 5 years old. I was at my friend Timmy's house when my mom called his mom to tell her about the assassination. I think I went home right away and we watched a lot of coverage on TV the next few days. I knew who JFK was and I knew the death of a president was a big deal, but I didn't really understand the implications.

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

Just a reminder: CBSNews.com right now is replaying the entire JFK funeral procession/ceremony from that Monday, 50 years ago today.

As you watch, and notice Black Jack, the riderless horse, read his story here.

 

[MBAustin]

As you watch, and notice Black Jack, the riderless horse, read his story here.

Thanks for posting this link - very interesting details.

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

Thanks for posting this link - very interesting details.

Note that Black Jack came from Oklahoma to Fort Myer (in Arlington Cemetery) on a Nov 22, and was interred in Summerall Field, just a stone's throw west of JFK's grave site.

Also notice Secret Service Agent Clint Hill, the one who climbed on the back of the limousine in Dallas, still by Mrs. Kennedy's side throughout the funeral ceremony of this day. Talk about a guy being in the middle of history.

 

[jon-nyc]

I just stumbled across this - listen to this audience's reaction to the news of the assassination.


Hear The Moment This Audience In Boston Found Out JFK Had Been Shot.


Quick thinking on the part of Leinsdorf. I'll never hear that fugue again without thinking of this.

 

[ERhoosier]

"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

In an early 1970s college English class, we were told that this quote from JFK's Inaugural Address actually came from an old poem. It's been 40 years since, so I'm foggy on the details. It might have been an old Irish poem, if it indeed was from some old poem and not original with JFK (or his speechwriter Ted Sorensen).

Anybody else ever hear this?

I've also heard the line was inspired by Kahil Gibran's The New Frontier, although some think it was Kennedy's words which inspired a later translation of Gibran's work.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AKhalil_Gibran

IMHO- More likely is that JFK speechwriter Sorenson borrowed from a famous 1884 Memorial Day speech by Oliver Wendall Holmes where he said "...we pause to become conscious of our national life and to rejoice in it, to recall what our country has done for each of us, and to ask ourselves what we can do for the country in return."
HOLMES' 1884 MEMORIAL DAY SPEECH

In any event, while the notion of national service above self clearly predated JFK it was JFK's powerful delivery that etched those words into the national consciousness.

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

...IMHO- More likely is that JFK speechwriter Sorenson borrowed from a famous 1884 Memorial Day speech by Oliver Wendall Holmes where he said "...we pause to become conscious of our national life and to rejoice in it, to recall what our country has done for each of us, and to ask ourselves what we can do for the country in return."
HOLMES' 1884 MEMORIAL DAY SPEECH
...

Interesting. And the grave site of Oliver Wendall Holmes is also in Arlington National Cemetery, a few steps from JFK's.

 

[jon-nyc]

Unrelated, but interesting fact about Oliver Wendell Holmes. He met John Quincy Adams as a boy, and met JFK as an old man. It speaks to how young our country really is.

 

[Car-Guy]

It's been 56 years.

Just reviving an old thread so " we don't forget".

And yes, I remember exactly where I was when I heard . (The lunchroom in elementary school.)

 

[audreyh1]

I was just old enough, barely 4, to remember seeing the scenes on TV and my parents being distraught with grief.

We were living in Germany at the time. Our German neighbors were beside themselves and actually brought the TV over for my parents. They made a big fuss over us.

 

[Car-Guy]

I was just old enough, barely 4, to remember seeing the scenes on TV and my parents being distraught with grief.

We were living in Germany at the time. Our German neighbors were beside themselves and actually brought the TV over for my parents. They made a big fuss over us.

I was in the 6th grade but I still didn't really understand the significance. I did over the next few years.

Over the years I've continued to keep up with the "historical event" as the government releases more and more of once classified documents. (Many still redacted). I understand the next release of documents is scheduled for October 2021.

 

[pb4uski]

I was in 3rd grade and was home with a cold.

 

[HFWR]

Mrs. Johnson’s fourth grade class...

 

[Another Reader]

I was in fifth grade in a new school. I vividly remember being at recess and being called in early. The teacher's eyes were red from crying. She told us the president had been shot and we were to go home for the rest of the day. She did not tell us he was dead.

I walked home (about 20 minutes) and my mother was watching TV. She had been crying as well. I saw the pictures of Jackie in her blood covered suit and then later LBJ being sworn in as president on Air Force One.

 

[ncbill]

You people are old.

Anyone else not alive when it happened?

 

[pacergal]

2nd grade. I remember the Principal announcing it on the intercom. Teacher crying, the entire classroom silent. The hushed tones all around for the next several days, news on constantly.
I don't believe we have yet to uncover the full story and I watch/read any "new" information.

 

[Aerides]

You people are old.

Anyone else not alive when it happened?

Yes, but one day we'll be talking about where we were on 9/11 and someone will call us Old, too.

 

[Car-Guy]

There are only a few world events in my lifetime that are so burned into my memory, that I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when it happen.


11/22/63
07/20/69
07/01/70
01/28/86
09/11/01
11/08/16