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:

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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:

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..... 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:

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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:

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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:

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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:

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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:

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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:

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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:

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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:

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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:

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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:

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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:

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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.