I was at sea on a DD in the north Atlantic. The CO came over the 1MC with the news.
All were on full alert I think.....
All were on full alert I think.....
56 years ago...
- Thread starter BLACKHAWKNJ
- Start date
I remember it well. Even Walter Cronkite had to wipe a few tears from
his eyes as he gave the news. We was also watching a live broadcast,
two days later, when they were moving Lee Harvey Oswald from the
basement of the Dallas police station to a more secure location. Jack
Ruby, owner of a local strip joint, stepped foreward and fired a single
shot, from his Colt Cobra .38 Special revolver, fatally wounding Oswald.
his eyes as he gave the news. We was also watching a live broadcast,
two days later, when they were moving Lee Harvey Oswald from the
basement of the Dallas police station to a more secure location. Jack
Ruby, owner of a local strip joint, stepped foreward and fired a single
shot, from his Colt Cobra .38 Special revolver, fatally wounding Oswald.
Bozz10mm
US Veteran
I was a sophomore in high school. Lunch period was just about over. I saw girls crying outside on the steps. That's when I found out what had happened. I don't remember the school making any special announcements over the PA system or anything. IIRC we just finished out the day as normal. But that was 56 years ago so I could have just forgotten.
Reminds me of another day. April 12, 1945. I was 10. When I got home
from school I found my mother crying. FDR had died.
from school I found my mother crying. FDR had died.
mmb617
Member
I was in the 7th grade and they dismissed us early. Ordinarily getting out of school early would have been a good thing to us kids, but not this time.
Sistema1927
US Veteran
In 2nd grade at P.S. 39 on Staten Island. I was confused as to why we were being let out, and why all the teachers were crying. Walked home to Ft. Wadsworth, extra security on the gate. At home, Mom was crying, and the TV was on the news.
lawandorder
Member
6th grade in North Arkansas.
Remember the teacher pulled her car up close to building so we could open the classroom windows and listen to the news on the car radio.
Then there was the live homicide broadcast.
Remember the teacher pulled her car up close to building so we could open the classroom windows and listen to the news on the car radio.
Then there was the live homicide broadcast.
I was in K-Mart in Rapid City and some guy came running into the store shouting " They killed Kennedy ". The police locked the store down, found the guy and cuffed Him, and were leading Him out when it was announced on the radio that Kennedy had been shot. The cuffs came off.
Ivan the Butcher
Member
I also remember the funeral procession, but what is forever etched in my mind is young Jon Jon standing there saluting his father!
Ivan
I am 58, so I don't recall it at all. I remember the next one though. Interesting to hear all of your recollections of the event. I am sure it was a solemn time.
Sistema1927
US Veteran
By "the next one", I am guessing you mean Bobbie Kennedy.
While I lived in NYC at Ft. Wadsworth when JFK was killed, we were living in London, England when RFK was shot. Dad was working for US Army Group UK in civvie clothes on Oxford street just down from the Embassy.
I was on a school trip to an opera, and when we came out the newspaper vendors were announcing that RFK had been killed. Interesting how these details are burned inro your memory so ma ny years later.
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Was in college in Texas, left government class and went to the snak bar and heard the first somewhat confused news reports.
For the Texas hating Colorado person above, there was no cheering heard anywhere I was, & I was in two different towns later that day. Where were you?
rayb
For the Texas hating Colorado person above, there was no cheering heard anywhere I was, & I was in two different towns later that day. Where were you?
rayb
I was born in April of '65 so I have no memory of it. It happened on my sisters 2nd birthday and she can remember my Mom crying.
I have a book by Secret Service Agent Clint Hill called Five Presidents. He was Jackie's personal Secret Service Agent and he is the one you can see in the Zapruder film jumping on the back of the limo after the first shot was fired. It is a fascinating book and I highly recommend you read it.
Jim
I have a book by Secret Service Agent Clint Hill called Five Presidents. He was Jackie's personal Secret Service Agent and he is the one you can see in the Zapruder film jumping on the back of the limo after the first shot was fired. It is a fascinating book and I highly recommend you read it.
Jim
I was a high school senior in San Antonio. The day before we had been released from class so that we could view the motorcade as the President and his entourage drove by.
There was no cheering. It was a very somber time.
There was no cheering. It was a very somber time.
carpriver
US Veteran
I was in 10th grade just completing Gym class when the news came across the PA system. the Lockers room was so still you could here a pin drop. We dressed and I when to silence class until we were dismissed. My mom and dad took the event pretty hard, they had voted for him and saw him as the one to bring real social change, he was of their generation.
bulletslap
Member
That was pure unadulterated bull spread by Dan Rather.
Just after Mr. Barker told CBS viewers nationwide that the president had died, "they immediately took it back to New York, and Cronkite, my dear friend Walter, said, 'You know, that ain't us, folks. That's a hotshot saying he's dead. It's not CBS saying he's dead.'"
Mr. Barker bore his place in history with a journalistic perspective.
"I don't think it's a question of being proud of being first, or regretting that I had such news," Mr. Barker told The News on the 40th anniversary of the assassination. "I always thought of it as, 'Here's a story, I'm a reporter, and we're trying to get news of what happened.' It was a helluva thing to have to tell people, and you had to have some dignity in how you said it. It's kind of a strange thing to be remembered for."
Clash with Dan Rather
Mr. Barker wasn't through butting heads with CBS News, which brought 32 people to the KRLD newsroom in Dallas after the assassination.
"Tempers get a little ripe and everything else," Mr. Barker recalled for his oral history.
The local and network news teams reached a boiling point when CBS regional bureau chief Dan Rather filed a story saying Park Cities elementary school children were joyful after the assassination. Mr. Barker, whose children attended University Park Elementary, said he told Mr. Rather the story was not accurate.
"He told me that he was going to drop the story, that they were not going to do anything with it," Mr. Barker recalled. When the story did air, "I jumped him and told him to get the hell out of that newsroom."
Mr. Barker had heard that the children cheered when they learned they were going to be sent home early that day.
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memtb
Member
I was 6th grade, sitting behind Jean Anne! 
memtb
memtbI skipped classes that morning so I could see his speech in Ft Worth that morning. After he had departed I returned to my dorm room and was preparing for a afternoon class when word of the shooting came over the emergency intercom. JFK was NOT popular in a large part of Texas, so the tragedy never took hold for many of us. The real tragedy was getting LBJ as a replacement.
sigp220.45
US Veteran
Not true. There are many first person accounts of school kids cheering that day, apart from whatever Dan Rather had to say.
I would link the articles, but they deal with the late President's religion, a verboten subject here. You can find them if you look.
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