JFK & BBIers old enough to remember.

The assassination
Oswald shot & killed on national TV
The JFK funeral

junior high was organized into 'periods' in those days. For me, 6th period was gym, and 7th period (the last) was math, and the teacher was named John something. In gym, there was a rumor that the president had been shot. I went into math class, and after we all sat down, another teacher poked his head into the classroom and said to our teacher, "It's true, John, he's dead."

Won't ever forget that.

we got sent home early because of it. I remembe my mom when I got home was crying and saying the rosary.

and my Grandmother was crying. I said why are you crying, and she said 'he's dead, he's dead'. Didn't have a clue what she was talking about...I just wanted milk & cookies...

In comment 16298609 Del Shofner said:

Quote:

junior high was organized into 'periods' in those days. For me, 6th period was gym, and 7th period (the last) was math, and the teacher was named John something. In gym, there was a rumor that the president had been shot. I went into math class, and after we all sat down, another teacher poked his head into the classroom and said to our teacher, "It's true, John, he's dead." Won't ever forget that.

I was also in 7th grade in a Catholic School in Queens.
We had movie afternoon on that fateful day.
The principal made two announcements…the first was to inform of the shooting the second was to ask us to pray for the soul of the president.
I still remember it so clearly.
Can’t believe it’s now 60 years ago.

I was in the dean’s office. I had been caught smoking in the boys room. I was waiting to see him when he came out, cursed at me and told me to go home. As I was leaving people were crying. That’s how I learned he has been killed. Terrible day. I’ll never forget it.

Someone came to the classroom door to tell Brother Shields that the President had been shot. A short while later the same person came to tell us that President Kennedy was dead.
I remember, that instead of taking the subway home to Washington Heights, I walked the 2 miles to think about what had just happened.
And then, two days later on Sunday morning on live TV, all watching saw Jack Ruby walk right up to Oswald and shot him in the gut.

Annie the cleaning lady came in and told my teacher she heard on the radio the President had been shot. She immediately dismissed class and told us to go home and pray for the President . My sister Ann was waiting for me outside . I remember people were standing around speechless and in shock. Very spooky. Something died that day that is hard to describe. Regardless of politics we all believed then and we all grieved equally.

My family went to DC in the summer of 64 to visit his grave and to pay our respects.

in a study hall and the teacher came in and said the president was dead, and my first reaction was "the president of what?".It was inconceivable that Kennedy was dead, nobody trusted Johnson, and we went home and just stayed glued to the TV the whole weekend (there was nothing else on). I don't really remember much of what we saw but I do remember Walter Cronkite. It was like the country was in a state of shock.

Principal made an announcement that the President was shot and asked us to pray for him.
It wasn’t until I got home that I learned he had passed away

mysteriously died if you know the story.

The teacher rolled in a TV and we watched the early news reports. Then lunchtime came and we went home and didn’t have to come back to school. It was announced that he died and we watched the “3 days” nonstop. The lying in state, the funeral procession, the flag draped coffin, the riderless horse, the eternal flame, Jackie and the kids, the book depository, Oswald arrest, the movie theater, J.D. Tippett, the Oswald assassination, Jack Ruby. It was the beginning of the TV era. The whole nation watching together. Unforgettable.

I was about 4 1/2. We were living down South at the time. My mother was watching "As the World Turns," which was her soap. I was probably playing on the floor.

I had a very specific memory of CBS interrupting a close-up of the character Bob Hughes, played by Don Hastings (who is still alive). Of course I knew the names of the characters, my Mom watched the show every day. I remembered them cutting away from Bob to a bulletin. Anyway, that's what I remembered. Then I saw a CBS replay of their first bulletin, it wasn't that at all. Oh well, I figured. I was a toddler, I misremembered it.

But a few years ago CBS did an online feed of the entire several days from 11/22-25/63 in real time. I tuned in and kept watching past the first bulletin. Then came that close-up and the SECOND bulletin. Exactly as I remembered it. The hair stood up on the back of my neck.

I figure I was playing with blocks or soemthing, as kids do, the first bulletin came on, mommy got upset, and I was looking at the TV trying to understand what had happened and why she was crying. I must have been looking at the screen when the second bulletin came on.

My father said he was in his car when he heard the first radio bulletin and figured he must be dead or they would have said he was alive.

News biz trivia: I'm just old enough to have worked with teletype machines at my college radio station, WCDB Albany. (I'm a Great Dane.) In the teletype era, there were three levels of alets that could come across the wire: "Urgent", "Bulletin" and "Flash." Urgents were important stories but you'd get a few a day. Bulletins were much more unusual. The bell would ring on the teletype machine for a bulletin. I was working in the newsroom (I was a sports reporter) on March 16, 1978, the day former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro was kidnapped, and Israel invated Lebanon the same day. Bulletins on both every few minutes. Teletype machine was ringing constantly. It was nuts

A Flash was/is a gigantic story. Flashes were and are extremely rare. Like, years go by without a Flash. The death of FDR was a Flash. A Flash rang the bell on the teletype multiple times. I never heard or saw a Flash. Aldo Moro, Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Bulletins, not Flashes.

The trivia is, you'd think that the first report of the Kennedy assasination woiuld have been a Flash, but it wasn't. It was a Bulletin — because the reports was "shots fired at the presidential motorcade," not "JFK assassinated."

"Just" a bulletin.

According to the accounts I've read, by the time it was clear he was hit, and then was reported dead, the moment for a Flash had passed.

was serving in the Army in Germany at the time. It was night time when we got the word. I was the CQ (Charge of Quarters) for the company that night, and got the call from the Battalion CQ of the news. He wanted me to come down and cover for him, while he had to check on the whereabouts of one of our guys. He wouldn't say who. By morning everyone was called
in and on alert.

Confirmed by Walter Cronkite when I got home. I’d urge anyone with interest to visit Dealy Plaza in Dallas. Looking up at the book depository and scanning the grassy knoll, brings much better perspective than what you see in the newsreels. The 3 Xs on the street are surreal.

The nuns herded all the classes into the Church next door, probably 700-800 kids total. The principal made the dreaded announcement, then we went into rosary mode as I remember and were sent home after that.

at Stuyvesant HS in Manhattan. We were playing football against arch rival DeWitt Clinton HS the next day, and holding a rally in the street outside school on Friday. We were told that school was cancelled and we should go home, but I don't think they told us why. I'm still waiting to read the non-fiction version of the Warren Report.

Southington Connecticut...elementary school.....I was on the living room couch watching a sketchy signal from nyc (we had a big rotating antennae on top of the house to pull in the ny stations including Sonny Fox and giants games).....mom was vacuming and splitting her attention between the tv and me, with our two dachshunds wrapping themselves around me as those very unusual and scary, quiet words cut in ..."We interrupt this broadcast for a special report"....and since we had just gotten through and were still afraid and gun-shy of the Russians threatening the country with nuclear attacks we were all afraid... and then the mention of president Kennedy (who my mom voted for in complete opposition to dad's Nixon preference) she shut off the vacuum,...her shock, pain and reflexive hand covering her mouth....they had just killed President Kennedy in Dallas Texas. "Those bastards, they killed him!"

in Yonkers, NY. Last period of the day, I was with my homeroom class in the library for study hall. Principal comes on the p.a. system with the word. And the world changed for all of us. A few days later I was sitting, eating my lunch off a snack tray while watching the weekend's developments on the t.v. Right before my eyes, as the police brought the suspect out to be moved to a different location, he's shot. Dead! WTF? Right then, for me, the world changed a whole lot more.

I think a good chunk here started losing their memory by then

I didn’t know such a thing so evil was even possible, it changed me. Something in me died that day too.

I didn’t know such a thing so evil was even possible, it changed me. Something in me died that day too.

Had the day off and was looking forward to going into town when all hell broke out. The base was closes down and had to report back for duty, it was a day you never forget.

Mom watching a soap,me in my bedroom reading a Superman Comic Book. Soap interrupted with a bulletin that JFK had been shot in Dallas.....and then they went back to the soap.Those 4 days were surreal,even for a 9 year old. Sitting in front of the TV Sunday morning,Mom yelling I'm sitting to close to the screen(Parents were concerned of radiation coming off the picture tube!) & then here comes JFK's alleged assassin,Lee Hervey Oswald to be transported out of the Dallas Police Department. Then,a brim of a hat appears,shoves a gun in Oswald's abdomen & on live TV,we see Oswald being killed. Monday was the funeral & little JFK Jr. saluting his Dad's coffin as it passed brought tears to all of America.

For the next 60 years,the JFK Assassination would become a historical event of great debate. For those who still have interest,Paramount+ has a new program called,"JFK:What The Doctors Saw" & Rob Reiner(along with Soledad O'Brien) has a new controversial podcast called,"Who Killed JFK?", where he says he will reveal the real assassins of JFK & what actually happened.

farts on here. I was in 2nd grade, Catholic school. 1st row, middle seat, head against the wall half dozing when Mother Superior came across the intercom with the news - talk about waking up! Yes Jack was a saint to the nuns. I think they did roll in the TVs to the classrooms. (Used to do that for NASA launches, too)

But yes, as with the rest of you I watched Jack("you son of a bitch") Ruby step out and shoot Lee Harvey Oswald. Dark days indeed. The whole procession to the Capitol with the caisson and the horse with backwards boots in the stirrups.

Funny that I remember the 1960 election as my Dad was a Kennedy guy and my Mom was for Nixon.

SF, interesting point on LBJ and Viet Nam. Maybe with JFK getting burned with the Bay of Pigs fiasco, he doesn't get involved. Of course there are those that believe Bay of Pigs was what really caused the assasination...where is Rod Serling?

Bishop Loughlin HS in Brooklyn. It was in the last class of the day (believe it or not, Latin!), when 2 PA announcements were made - the President was shot, followed by the announcement of his death. Everyone stunned. Quiet dismissal. Long subway (A train) ride home to Queens. Will never forget it.

As an aside, the NFL actually played that weekend, to widespread criticism. Believe the Giants lost to the then St. Louis Cardinals. 1963 was the last year of the 50's - early 60's Giant dominance. YA Tittle's last good year. Allie Sherman was a reigning "genius" coach. Sam Huff was traded after 1963 and the rest of the team finally showed its age. The wheels promptly fell off. Who knew?

But of course all the theories behind what happened obsessed me. After all the passing years to this day the only one that makes sense to me is the one about the Secret Service having the extra, loaded, high-powered rifle on the floor of the car trailing the Presidential Limo. The lot of them were out drinking late that preceding night at Ruby's club of all places. The newbie office is said to have grabbed the rifle when he heard the shots from the Book Depository, and I believe he accidentally discharged it and that is the shot that killed Kennedy. We all know how incompetent the Secret Service can be, and it sure explains the obvious government cover-up of the events.

In comment 16298720 jsuds said:

Quote:

..... The newbie office is said to have grabbed the rifle when he heard the shots from the Book Depository, and I believe he accidentally discharged it and that is the shot that killed Kennedy. We all know how incompetent the Secret Service can be, and it sure explains the obvious government cover-up of the events.

Whoa, I never heard that one before. So somehow hundreds of people wouldn't see the secret service agent stand up and shoot a rifle over his own car's windshield and 5 or 6 agents would cover that up?

The "Grassy Knoll" theory is the most plausible, but I don't buy that either. I am still an Oswald did it believer. The shots were not that hard or far.
But that is another discussion.

and they sent us home early. I remember my mom being fearful that the assassination would cause riots at my older sisters' school while they were still there.

In comment 16298611 gogiants said:

Quote:

we got sent home early because of it. I remembe my mom when I got home was crying and saying the rosary.

This is exactly what I experienced.

For a long time, I wanted to think it was a conspiracy. The idea of a loser like Oswald killing someone of historical significance like JFK doesn’t feel right or add up. But the more I read and watched, I think it was solely Oswald.

I was in geography when Paul Combs the gym teacher stuck his head in the door and said: "Jack Kennedy has been shot." I wondered what Kennedy brother is that as the president was John to me. Within an hour we'd been sent home and the rest is history.

In comment 16298722 section125 said:

Quote:

In comment 16298720 jsuds said: Quote: ..... The newbie office is said to have grabbed the rifle when he heard the shots from the Book Depository, and I believe he accidentally discharged it and that is the shot that killed Kennedy. We all know how incompetent the Secret Service can be, and it sure explains the obvious government cover-up of the events. Whoa, I never heard that one before. So somehow hundreds of people wouldn't see the secret service agent stand up and shoot a rifle over his own car's windshield and 5 or 6 agents would cover that up? The "Grassy Knoll" theory is the most plausible, but I don't buy that either. I am still an Oswald did it believer. The shots were not that hard or far. But that is another discussion.

In the chaos it's easy to imagine no one was watching anything but the presidential limo. Or they were running for cover. It's not like the agent stood up, took aim, and fired. It was an accidental discharge. Obviously that happens all the time in this gun crazed country. No other "theory" makes sense to me besides this one. The more you think about it the more sense it makes.

In comment 16298733 SFGFNCGiantsFan said:

Quote:

For a long time, I wanted to think it was a conspiracy. The idea of a loser like Oswald killing someone of historical significance like JFK doesn’t feel right or add up. But the more I read and watched, I think it was solely Oswald.

Paramount+ has a really good documentary called JFK: What the Doctors Saw, that details the Parkland Doctors analysis along with the FBI's intervention post death. It's really fascinating.

It's been 60 years and nothing has ever come forth, with any validity, to dispute what the Warren Commission concluded. Not everything they said was probably correct as they went into a lot of items not really connected to the shooting, but they got the actual shooting/shooter right.

*Oswald firing a rifle from the 6th floor of schoolbook depository bldg got off 3 shots
*First shot missed or ricocheted off something
*Second shot went through Kennedy's throat and went onto strike Govenor Connally sitting in front of President
*Third shot was the fatal head shot
*Several witnesses spotted Oswald in the window above and immediately gave his description to police
*Oswald fled the bldg and later was spotted shooting/killing a policeman trying to detain him
*The police found a rifle with Oswald's prints on it and later matched the bullet fragments to that rifle

No other shots were fired in Dealy Plaza that day. And no one has ever produced anything to dispute the above facts.

The lone nut assassin isn't as interesting to many that are looking for a conspiracy to discuss and research but, in this case, that's all there is from that fateful day 60 years ago.

In comment 16298758 aimrocky said:

Quote:

In comment 16298733 SFGFNCGiantsFan said: Oswald alone....

Maybe Oswald was skilled enough to use that shitty rifle to kill Kennedy. It just seems too convenient that he is killed before the investigation can occur. And why on earth did the government go to such lengths to cover up virtually all the details of the assassination? To protect themselves from their own incompetence? That theory has way more weight to me than a lucky shot from Oswald.

In comment 16298733 SFGFNCGiantsFan said:

Quote:

For a long time, I wanted to think it was a conspiracy. The idea of a loser like Oswald killing someone of historical significance like JFK doesn’t feel right or add up. But the more I read and watched, I think it was solely Oswald.

This is where you landed in 2023? lol.

and said the President's been shot. Everyone was in shock. No phones or social media then. I rushed home to watch the TV. Everyone loved him. It was a different era. Watched the assassination over and over on the news which was constantly on. Saw the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald on TV by Jack Ruby as he was being escorted to a vehicle to appear in court . Permanently ingrained in our heads for those that saw it.

pj, no. I landed on that years ago. And don’t be an ass.

In comment 16298780 SFGFNCGiantsFan said:

Quote:

pj, no. I landed on that years ago. And don’t be an ass.

you're the one who put that out there, so don't complain when people comment on it.

In comment 16298771 jsuds said:

Quote:

In comment 16298758 aimrocky said: Quote: In comment 16298733 SFGFNCGiantsFan said: Oswald alone.... Maybe Oswald was skilled enough to use that shitty rifle to kill Kennedy. It just seems too convenient that he is killed before the investigation can occur. And why on earth did the government go to such lengths to cover up virtually all the details of the assassination? To protect themselves from their own incompetence? That theory has way more weight to me than a lucky shot from Oswald.

They covered up all the details?

In November 1964, two months after the publication of its 888-page report, the Warren Commission published twenty-six volumes of supporting documents, including the testimony or depositions of 552 witnesses and more than 3,100 exhibits making a total of more than 16,000 pages.

In comment 16298713 varco said:

Quote:

Bishop Loughlin HS in Brooklyn. It was in the last class of the day (believe it or not, Latin!), when 2 PA announcements were made - the President was shot, followed by the announcement of his death. Everyone stunned. Quiet dismissal. Long subway (A train) ride home to Queens. Will never forget it. As an aside, the NFL actually played that weekend, to widespread criticism. Believe the Giants lost to the then St. Louis Cardinals. 1963 was the last year of the 50's - early 60's Giant dominance. YA Tittle's last good year. Allie Sherman was a reigning "genius" coach. Sam Huff was traded after 1963 and the rest of the team finally showed its age. The wheels promptly fell off. Who knew?

I’m a BLMHS guy too, class of ‘74. It seems like there are a lot of folks on this board who went thru the parochial school system. Explains some things. 😎

the tension between the U.S. and the USSR, now Russia, was very great. The threat of global nuclear war was much greater than it is today. There were times when I'd go to sleep wondering if I would wake up the next morning.

JFK was popular with Americans, but not with Congress. He got very little done when alive. The Moon landing was an important exception. After his death the Congress (because of his death and public opinion) started to put into effect the legislation that JFK wanted but couldn't get passed when alive.

In comment 16298785 pjcas18 said:

Quote:

In comment 16298780 SFGFNCGiantsFan said: Quote: pj, no. I landed on that years ago. And don’t be an ass. you're the one who put that out there, so don't complain when people comment on it.

WTF are you talking about? You falsely derived that I landed on that conclusion in 2023 & yes you’re being a jackass.

In comment 16298805 SFGFNCGiantsFan said:

Quote:

In comment 16298785 pjcas18 said: Quote: In comment 16298780 SFGFNCGiantsFan said: Quote: pj, no. I landed on that years ago. And don’t be an ass. you're the one who put that out there, so don't complain when people comment on it. WTF are you talking about? You falsely derived that I landed on that conclusion in 2023 & yes you’re being a jackass.

derived? I asked if that's where you landed there in 2023.

seems like you are pretty touchy on your views on the topic so maybe you should have avoided it.

When you comment on a public forum and get all bent out of shape when someone asks you a question on your comment - and then you project on someone else for being "an ass" for asking, maybe it's you.

The school let us out and I walked home from school in shock. I had JFK photos all over my bedroom wall during the election….in which my older brother counterbalanced with photos of Tricky Dick on his wall.

On a side note….No one has still yet to convince me it wasn’t a conspiracy and Oswald wasn’t a pasty.

pj, get off that being a serious ? when you put ‘lol’ after it. It was a snarky post on your end IMO.

Anyways. Have a great Thanksgiving.

In comment 16298819 SFGFNCGiantsFan said:

Quote:

pj, get off that being a serious ? when you put ‘lol’ after it. It was a snarky post on your end IMO. Anyways. Have a great Thanksgiving.

you are correct, my apologies for the snark, your view is the opposite of where most people land IMO, so that is why I was surprised.

and they still wont declassify & release everything to the public due to vital "sources and methods".

60 year old sources and methods. hmmm?

that if JFK lived, the US involvement in Vietnam is different. JFK was elected by essentially being tougher on communist aggression than Nixon was. During his time as president he escalated US involvement in Vietnam. Maybe he reverses course from what LBJ did, but I don't see any reason to believe he would have - if he even was re-elected in 1964 which is not a given.

His assassination was a national tragedy, but this idea that the US would have become a utopia of peace and harmony had he survived simply isn't realistic at all.

add in Ruby's mafia connections and I tend to lean towards that theory: Oswald the fall guy and Ruby killed him to cover it up

In comment 16298868 Mike from Ohio said:

Quote:

that if JFK lived, the US involvement in Vietnam is different. JFK was elected by essentially being tougher on communist aggression than Nixon was. During his time as president he escalated US involvement in Vietnam. Maybe he reverses course from what LBJ did, but I don't see any reason to believe he would have - if he even was re-elected in 1964 which is not a given. His assassination was a national tragedy, but this idea that the US would have become a utopia of peace and harmony had he survived simply isn't realistic at all.

LBJ committed the most consequential escalation. I think it's reasonable to question whether Kennedy would have done the same. LBJ took the most destructive course.

I remember watching ‘The Fog of War’ and McNamara stated he thought JFK would pull out of Vietnam but not until his second term. But we’ll never know.

It is a fascinating ‘What if?’

& I believe LBJ reversed JFK’s order the weekend after the assassination to bring home American personnel by the end of ‘63.

7 years old. The nuns had us praying when the news came in that he was shot. My parents were shocked. They loved JFK.

For those interested, watch the new documentary, "JFK:What the Doctors Saw" on Paramount+. All the trauma room MD's attest that Kennedy's head wound was a result of a shot from the front.Same with the neck wound, from the front. Watch it and determine for yourself what to think regarding a conspiracy.

This documentary was recorded in 2013 and not shown until 11-14-23.

Mrs. Fitzgerald came in in tears and told us. We were sent home, my mother was besides herself by the time I got home. That's when it hit me. The events thereafter are ingrained in my head forever.

In comment 16298786 nygiantfan said:

Quote:

In comment 16298771 jsuds said: Quote: In comment 16298758 aimrocky said: Quote: In comment 16298733 SFGFNCGiantsFan said: Oswald alone.... Maybe Oswald was skilled enough to use that shitty rifle to kill Kennedy. It just seems too convenient that he is killed before the investigation can occur. And why on earth did the government go to such lengths to cover up virtually all the details of the assassination? To protect themselves from their own incompetence? That theory has way more weight to me than a lucky shot from Oswald. They covered up all the details? In November 1964, two months after the publication of its 888-page report, the Warren Commission published twenty-six volumes of supporting documents, including the testimony or depositions of 552 witnesses and more than 3,100 exhibits making a total of more than 16,000 pages.

Sure. If you're willing to be believe in that piece of fiction...

football and non-football topics Speedy.

But RFK's is burned into my memory, because even as an 8-year old, he was my guy. I can still hear his last words in my head, "Now it's on to Chicago and let's win there."

got sent home early because President was "sick".

Pennsylvania. Hard to believe, but while the United States of America was in the process of trying to send men to the moon, my school still had wooden desks that were attached to the ones in front and behind in long rows (bolted to long wooden slats, not to the floor) and there were inkwells in each desktop, darkened by decades of spattered ink...

My teacher, gray-haired Miss Karper, also served as principal of our K-6 school, so she had a phone on her desk at the front corner of the room. It was extremely rare for the phone to ring during class, so I still remember the look of shock and horror on her bespectacled face when she heard the news (presumably from the school secretary) and announced to the class, "The President has been assassinated." It was, of course, surreal because the only such thing we kids were aware of, was the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, seemingly in ancient times. I remember a girl in the front row raising her hand and offering to walk classroom to classroom to deliver the news, as there was no intercom or internal phone system in the school.

Others have described the ghostly, cinematic nature of the weekend, spanning the first reports and speculation, and more: the killing of J.D. Tippett, the discovery of the sniper's nest, the capture of Oswald, the parading of him into the police station (with the presumed murder weapon held overhead by a detective), and on Sunday morning the live-on-TV murder of Oswald in plain sight by some old guy who bounded into the picture wearing a hat. For many of us, I suspect, the still photos of Jackie Kennedy wearing the blood-stained suit bore as much emotional weight as anything else. (For you youngsters, understand that color photos of all this wouldn't be available until the weekly newsmagazines were published a few days later. The black-and-white images were more than sad enough. Haunting.) Frames of the the Zapruder film, and others, wouldn't be published for a week or two, either, and at first they were only black-and-white images. The public wouldn't see a moving version for many years, I think. (Wikipedia backs me up on this.)

Marshall McLuhan and other academics have said that TV sets became the family fireplace, the "electronic hearth," replacing radios as the thing that brought folks together in the 2nd half of the 20th century. There's no question that the shared experience of the weekend, culminating with the funeral procession on Monday (following the assassination on Friday), brought the entire country together in horror and mourning. Even the millions of people who neither liked nor admired JFK shared the feelings of grief and disbelief at his untimely death. In that moment, the country was briefly united, and we all felt it.

I've veered away from personal recollection, except to say that my own experience was similar to that of everyone else during that first Everybody-is-seeing-the-same-thing-at-the-same-time event in the history of the United States. On Friday night, though, along with tens of millions of Americans, my parents (who didn't vote for Kennedy) took to me to our local church for a special service to honor the fallen President. At that time of year the days were short, and the feeling of darkness spread through the dimly lit church, and I daresay across the country, as we struggled to comprehend the tragedy of losing our young and vigorous leader. Even for a 10-year-old it was emotional to sing the Navy hymn, which I suspect most churches chose to honor JFK's service and his heroism on PT-109 – popularized in a big-screen movie that had been released in the summer, only a few months before.

Perhaps I'm romanticizing my recollections, but I don't think so. Regardless of one's opinion of JFK, there's little question that the entire country was shaken by the events. Confidence in the system and faith in the future were undermined if not shattered, and only the moon landing in 1969 helped to restore a measure of those lost feelings of hope. And then Watergate, the mess of Vietnam, and the energy crisis made the '70s an ever more discouraging time for the U.S.

For those of you remember those days, I hope I'm not exaggerating when I say that the assassination weekend seemed like a clear dividing line between Before and After. Regardless of our individual experiences, we all shared a collective, common one – and it didn't feel good.

Kennedy was killed by Oswald and Oswald alone with a magic bullet

CS s01e10
Facts - ( New Window )

Over the past year I've read the Warren Commission report (just the report, not the thousands of pages of attached documents of course) and the Posner book. I also listened to the "Solving JFK" podcast, and am listening to the Rob Reiner pod on iHeartRadio that's going on right now.

My personal belief is it didn't go down the way the Warren report said it did.

I was 5 yrs old, at the bus stop with my mother

and the war machine lives on 60 years later :(

.

See Operation Northwoods

Oswald was silenced by mob affiliated Ruby.

Occam's Razor.

In comment 16298733 SFGFNCGiantsFan said:

Quote:

For a long time, I wanted to think it was a conspiracy. The idea of a loser like Oswald killing someone of historical significance like JFK doesn’t feel right or add up. But the more I read and watched, I think it was solely Oswald.

I am not a conspiracy theorist at all. The JFK situation is the only one I actually believe. Have you been to Dealey Plaza? Each time I'm in Dallas I go there. Each time I'm there I'm more convinced that there's no way Oswald was the lone shooter.

.

my teacher Mrs.Eddieback came in the room crying out of control....enough said

Three well placed shots within a small number of seconds, at that distance, with a WW2 surplus Carcano bolt action rifle, fitted with a poor scope. I don't know. Maybe? Someone would have to be a champion marksman.

Perhaps someday the full report will be issued. RFK Jr. has petitioned for release of the remaining documents.

In comment 16298995 bc4life said:

Quote:

got sent home early because President was "sick".

Really ? Where was that ? I was in the 2nd grade public school in Manhattan. The principal interrupted classes to announce over the public address system that President Kennedy had been shot and seriously wounded. The teachers and all the adults were visibly agitated. A little later the principle had announced that President Kennedy had died. Back then we always studied "Current Events" and were aided by a four page handout called the "Weekly Reader" Typically it was a colorful paper with large easy to read print to accomodate grade schoolers. As I remember, the next day we read a special edition of the Weekly Reader. It was in somber black and white with much smaller print and more detail then usual. For us second graders, this was the most serious event in our lifetimes, even more than the Cuban Missile crisis. When I look back I am grateful that the adults were as frank and open about it as could reasonably be expected. Where I was, they did not attempt to sugarcoat it.

Thats why I am surprised to hear that you were told that the President was "sick". That sounds more like the 2023 way of doing things rather than 1963.

In comment 16299114 Sky King said:

Quote:

Oswald was silenced by mob affiliated Ruby. Occam's Razor.

This is the exact opposite of Occam’s Razor. You are suggesting a conspiracy involve numerous people where thousands of things could have gone wrong and didn’t.

Occam’s Razoe would suggest Oswald acted alone. That is the simplest explanation.

I was 10 at the time and playing touch football at my neighbor's house on Viola Drive in Glen Cove on Long Island--Giants were having a great season (with a 17 year playoff absence on the horizon) with Tittle, Shofner and Gifford running up scores. My friend's mom came out and said that President Kennedy had been shot. I went home and was very upset--his election in 1960 had been the first one that I understood, and I remembered waking up the day after election day and asking "who won?" and being very happy that he beat Nixon. Kennedy did a great job managing the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 (we used to "hide" under our desks at school during the nuclear attack alerts). Not sure if things would've been different in Vietnam but Kennedy also deserves credit for starting the ball rolling on the ong overdue Civil Rights and Voting Rights movements which Johnson ultimately delivered.

In comment 16298771 jsuds said:

Quote:

In comment 16298758 aimrocky said: Quote: In comment 16298733 SFGFNCGiantsFan said: Oswald alone.... Maybe Oswald was skilled enough to use that shitty rifle to kill Kennedy. It just seems too convenient that he is killed before the investigation can occur. And why on earth did the government go to such lengths to cover up virtually all the details of the assassination? To protect themselves from their own incompetence? That theory has way more weight to me than a lucky shot from Oswald.

Oswald was rated as a midtier sharpshooter. He had skill. Was it enough to land a head shot at that range with that gun? I'm not expert enough to say. Maybe others here have insight.

it came on the news.

from the schoolbook depository building you should watch the Peter Jennings report on “Beyond Conspiracy” on YouTube. It recreates the setting and shows how and where the bullets originated and landed.

There is no conspiracy.

In comment 16299452 nygiantfan said:

Quote:

from the schoolbook depository building you should watch the Peter Jennings report on “Beyond Conspiracy” on YouTube. It recreates the setting and shows how and where the bullets originated and landed. There is no conspiracy.

I remember watching a show a while back that made the lone gunman theory seem more than plausible. Maybe that's the one. I'll check it out. Thanks.

Amazing stories that held my attention like few things these day. Exemplifies why this is a special site.