JFK

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R . . . 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Birdie Num Nums 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBAustin 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Birdie Num Nums "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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERhoosier ...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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ncbill 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