JFK

[W2R]

I am terribly disappointed with how little coverage the JFK assassination is getting on TV. I thought it would be on all channels all day long; guess again! I suppose that people don't care any more, people other than me, that is.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I am terribly disappointed with how little coverage the JFK assassination is getting on TV. I thought it would be on all channels all day long; guess again! I suppose that people don't care any more, people other than me, that is.

Maybe the main news people are too young to remember?

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Maybe the main news people are too young to remember?

Everybody is too young to remember or care, except a few old folks like me.

[Bikerdude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I am terribly disappointed with how little coverage the JFK assassination is getting on TV. I thought it would be on all channels all day long; guess again! I suppose that people don't care any more, people other than me, that is.

Not to mention the lack of coverage for Garfield and Mckinley.

[W2R]

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Originally Posted by Bikerdude Not to mention the lack of coverage for Garfield and Mckinley.

Right, no big deal, it happens every day. Almost a US tradition, dontcha know.

[steelyman]

It's a matter of respect for the President.

I am no Presidential scholar, but I respect them all, with one exception.

There has been steady coverage on The History Channel around here today, W2R.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by steelyman It's a matter of respect for the President. I am no Presidential scholar, but I respect them all, with one exception. There has been steady coverage on The History Channel around here today, W2R.

Thanks! They have "Pawn Stars" on for the next two hours, but then they do have some coverage. I appreciate the tip and will watch it, thanks again.

[ziggy29]

I wasn't even conceived until almost 14 months after the event, but yeah, my parents recounted it well and my eldest siblings were just old enough to remember fragments of it.

Today I had to fill in at the usual post office where I provide relief. It wasn't until after I got in, handled all the incoming mail and sat down at my computer (this was about 9:30; we open at 8) that I saw an e-mail that said we were supposed to put the flag at half mast today. Sure enough, three customers quickly come in and it wasn't until almost 10 that I was able to lock everything, quickly run out and do that.... for two hours, until we closed at noon and I took the flag down.

[marko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I am terribly disappointed with how little coverage the JFK assassination is getting on TV. I thought it would be on all channels all day long; guess again! I suppose that people don't care any more, people other than me, that is.

The History Channel did an awesome "24 hours after" at 4 to 6 pm tonight EST. A minute by minute showing of what went on immediately after the shots were fired. It was fascinating on the chaos and confusion going on.

Absolutely amazing how Jackie handled herself (I was never a big fan but her grace won me over this afternoon)

[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?

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I am terribly disappointed with how little coverage the JFK assassination is getting on TV. I thought it would be on all channels all day long; guess again! I suppose that people don't care any more, people other than me, that is.

We have watched 3 documentaries on it this week, including Nova and Frontline. BBC America this evening also devoted a big chunk of their evening news to it. We were amazed watching the Frontline documentary when we saw someone we actually know and talk to every week being interviewed. He had a face to face confrontation with Oswald in New Orleans in 1963 and then debated him on local radio there. We've known this couple for several years and know that they left Cuba to escape the Castro regime but had no idea.

Our friends in England tell us it that it has been very well covered there as well.

I have no memory of the event itself. I was only 8 and a continent away. I do clearly remember exactly when and where I was when I heard about Bobby Kennedy's assassination.

[robnplunder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I am terribly disappointed with how little coverage the JFK assassination is getting on TV. I thought it would be on all channels all day long; guess again! I suppose that people don't care any more, people other than me, that is.

It's on cable TV channels - CNN, History, and others. They have been playing various JFK related stories for days now. I am watching one now.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan We have watched 3 documentaries on it this week, including Nova and Frontline. BBC America this evening also devoted a big chunk of their evening news to it. We were amazed watching the Frontline documentary when we saw someone we actually know and talk to every week being interviewed. He had a face to face confrontation with Oswald in New Orleans in 1963 and then debated him on local radio there. We've known this couple for several years and know that they left Cuba to escape the Castro regime but had no idea. Our friends in England tell us it that it has been very well covered there as well. I have no memory of the event itself. I was only 8 and a continent away. I do clearly remember exactly when and where I was when I heard about Bobby Kennedy's assassination.

Sounds like it's just the mainstream broadcast TV channels that aren't covering it.

[Mulligan]

Born a year after the assassination, I of course have no memory of this. However, I watched a show on CNN about it yesterday. What struck me as odd was the close interaction between the media and police. It just seemed odd the police paraded Oswald out for a press conference with the media within hours of capturing him. Of course he proclaimed his innocence and blamed a mark on his head from a policemen beating him. Then the live footage of Oswald being shot while in police custody was just plain bizarre.

[sheehs1]

I was 8 and in the third grade. We were all told the buses would run early and take us home. We did not know what happened until we got home. It was probably the first time I realized the "entire" world was not as safe as "my world". Even at that age, it took some innocence away. Entire family stayed glued to the T.V.

[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]

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Originally Posted by MBAustin 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.