53 years ago today

[milagros317]

November 22, 1963.
The end of innocence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy
One of the saddest days through which I ever lived.
It will never be forgotten. I was 13 years old at the time and was in a Junior High School classroom when the speaker in our classroom went on without notice, tuned to a radio station. It soon became obvious what the radio announcer was taking about. Most of the students were soon crying.


Note: This has been placed in General Discussion, not in the P&R Forum. If you wish to discuss the politics of JFK, then please start a thread for that purpose in the P&R Forum.

 

[Bugman]

I'll never forget. I was in the fourth grade, we were in the midst of a geography lesson. The principal walked into the room and whispered something in Mrs. Fairfields ear. She turned white as a sheet and tears began streaming down her face. We were told the president had been shot, but nothing else; there was a short prayer and we were sent home. I walked the six blocks to our house, arriving in time to see Walter Cronkite deliver the news to a shocked nation.

 

[Mrcool]

I was not born yet, but I still do give my respects to those who were

 

[Libertine]

Second grade, Toronto. Mrs. McCaulden's class, late morning, EST. Our principal made the announcement over the PA system, saying that President John F. Kennedy had been shot and killed in Dallas. I went home for lunch to find my mother extremely upset.

And yet, at that age (seven) the whole thing meant very little to me. I mainly recall being annoyed that my cartoon programs had been cancelled. Different now, of course.

 

[rdhd]

Think I was in third grade. My dad was in the Air Force, and we were then stationed in Japan. For some reason, I was awake quite early that day, and the phone rang. I thought, Dad's gonna say "Bell hell". And, he did. And after answering the call, we knew why - the President had been shot, and the military was on alert (those with a military background know what that means).

 

[Mitchell]

One of the worst days in our country's history, It was six years before I arrived into this world.

As a history major, I have read about this tragic event extensively.

Those who were already on this Earth, who I have discussed the President's murder with, tell me it was one of the worst days of their lives.

 

[pseudonym]

November 22, 1963.
The end of innocence.

I can understand the "end of innocence" line for those who were children, but I've seen it applied to the whole country, adults (at the time) included. For example, here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-jfk-assassination-when-america-lost-its-innocence/

I don't get it. You didn't have to be too far into adulthood to remember the Great Depression, WW2 and the Korean War. How innocent can you be with those memories?

And for older adults: there were still WW1 vets under 70 years old at the time.

 

[paracarl44]

I remember the day and the TV stations stayed on the air through the night.

 

[milagros317]

I can understand the "end of innocence" line for those who were children, but I've seen it applied to the whole country, adults (at the time) included. For example, here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-jfk-assassination-when-america-lost-its-innocence/

I don't get it. You didn't have to be too far into adulthood to remember the Great Depression, WW2 and the Korean War. How innocent can you be with those memories?

And for older adults: there were still WW1 vets under 70 years old at the time.

The last assassination of the POTUS before Kennedy was President William McKinley on September 14, 1901. As of 1963, in the more than six decades that had passed since then, Americans had come to innocently believe that we were immune to the kind of political upheaval caused by assassinations in many other places.

 

[paracarl44]

The last assassination of the POTUS before Kennedy was President William McKinley on September 14, 1901. As of 1963, in the more than six decades that had passed since then, Americans had come to innocently believe that we were immune to the kind of political upheaval caused by assassinations in many other places.

^Then there were the assassination attempts on Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.^

 

[rdhd]

But those were after Kennedy.

 

[milagros317]

^Then there were the assassination attempts on Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.^

But those were after Kennedy.

Correct, both after Kennedy.
But there was one attempt before Kennedy (and after McKinley) but almost nobody remembers it. It was an assassination attempt on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, on February 15, 1933, in Miami, Florida. Five other people were hit by the gunshots fired by would-be assassin Giuseppe Zangara. One of those five died. Anton Cermak, the Mayor of Chicago, died of a stomach wound.

Justice was swift in those days. Zangara was quickly tried and was executed in the electric chair on March 20, 1933, just 33 days after he fired the bullet that killed Mayor Cermak.

Zangara said [to Florida Judge Uly Thompson] after hearing his sentence: “You give me electric chair. I no afraid of that chair! You one of capitalists. You is crook man too. Put me in electric chair. I no care!”

 

[pseudonym]

Correct, both after Kennedy.
But there was one attempt before Kennedy (and after McKinley) but almost nobody remembers it. It was an assassination attempt on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, on February 15, 1933, in Miami, Florida.

There was also an attempt on the life of President Truman in 1950:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Harry_S._Truman

 

[milagros317]

There was also an attempt on the life of President Truman in 1950:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Harry_S._Truman

I had forgotten that one.

 

[paracarl44]

There was also an attempt on the life of President Truman in 1950:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Harry_S._Truman

^That was quite a shootout at Blair House.^

Milagros might have fun getting around NYC with the Trump family living there.

 

[kopfhorer]

I was in 4th grade. I was in school. It was recess time.

The school's PA system crackled to life with a radio broadcast about the assassination.

They let us out of school early.

I was scared, and sickened...