This is a thread only for “old crotchety” Pixies over 45 at the minimum .

Another place on the board asked a question about a vivid memory for only those that were there at the time. “ASSASINATION” was something that just DIDN’T and COULDN’T happen in America. The ones that weren’t here before that time won’t understand it anymore than those of us that were, can forget it.

Tell us not just where you were, but what was your “personal” thoughts or reaction at the moment you heard JFK had been killed.

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Pantyfanatic,

I was in a boarding school up in the Usambara Mountains, which lie between Tanzania and Kenya. I felt very lonely and scared. Later, I was angry that such an exciting period had been switched off. Lyndon Johnson’s administration would never measure up to Camelot.

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Eudaimonia

I'm allowed here! I'm just + on the age meter! So *raspberries*! Oh shit.......wait! *checks to see if I'm "crotchety"* Yep! I have a crotch! OK.....here goes..........

I was in elementary school ( I had just ridden in on my dinosaur and parked her in the bike stand). They wheeled TV's in and our teacher's aide was crying. I watched the other students and the teachers and aides more than I watched the television. Soon, we were being put on a bus and sent home. My house seemed different somehow. It was a feeling....not a physical change. The TV was on there too. The only person that actually uttered the word "dead" was a reporter. "The President is Dead" were his exact words..........and then I finally understood what was happening. I sorta just knew, instinctively, NOT to ask, "Why are we going home?, Why is everyone sad?", and I guess the adults just assumed us children understood what was happening. I was sad......before I even knew why I should be sad. That's the kind of day is was for me!

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Minds are like parachutes. They only work when they are open.

~Thomas Dewar~

*almost post*


checks qualifications . . .

*runs off to smut games*

I remember walking home from school just after a rain. When I got home Mom was crying while watching tv reports of the worldwide respnse to the murder. At my young age I just couldn't understand why anybody would kill the leader of our country. Truthfully I still can't.

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As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will. He will be sure to repent - Socrates

Love is not looking in each other's eyes, but looking together in the same direction - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

I was in 10th grade in High School. Room 201, Choral class. The announcement came over the PA system, and the pricipal put a radio near the microphone and we listened to the announcer telling us that our President had been shot in Dallas. They turned the PA off at that point. We really didn't have it in us to do any singing so we just sat in stunned silence. Then the PA came back on and we were informed that the President had died.
We were immediately dismissed for the day. You could have heard a pin drop in the normally noisy hallways.

I recall walking home with two of my best friends, who just happened to be African-American. We all cried, but they were not only crying over the loss of the President, but also for the uncertainty facing the African-American community with JFK gone. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was still in Congress and it's passage without Kennedy to push for it was by no means certain. It wasn't certain with him either, but without him it was even more doubtful.

When I got home the Television was on, and it remained on for the next 4 days. My mother and I sat and absorbed every detail, The coverage was nowhere near as good as it would be had it happened today. Considering the available technology at that time, I would have to say that the coverage of JFK's assassination and funeral, including the world's first televised live murder, that of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby, was Televison's finest hour.

That first day, and I think the second day as well, you could not get a telephone line to make a call. The whole country was on the phone...trying to reach relatives and friends, sharing our grief...trying desperately to make sense of something utterly senseless.

Some years ago I visited Washington D.C. with my husband. We visited the U. S. Capitol Building, and made a point of seeing the Rotunda. I just HAD to stand in the center, to stand where JFK's coffin had laid for dignitaries and every-day people to pay their last respects. Some people stood in line well over 24 hrs just to walk past the flag-draped coffin.

I don't know about anyone else that lived through those days, but I still get teary-eyed when I see the Zapruder film of the actual assassination. Not just because of what happened, but because we'll never know what might have been.

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I worked at a department store in Decatur and was on my break at a place in the shopping center. When I went back into the department store, I saw people crying and couldn't understand why. When I heard it was because Kennedy had been shot and killed ... I had to sit down. I couldn't believe it. I can't remember crying just then, but I know I was close. At the time, I loved Kennedy's speeches but hadn't been a big fan of his policies. Still, like Big Bear, I couldn't believe anyone would kill him.

I was in Mrs. Costello's French class......eighth grade.
We also sat there in stunned silence.
I remember the long sad look on her face. I guess we were too young at the time to realize the impact.

You don't forget such things.

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"Old age and Treachery will overcome Youth and Enthusiasm...Everytime!"

I was 10 and home sick from school and my grandmother yelled up to me that President Kennedy had been killed by a sniper....

Being only 10 I had visions of some animal attacking him from a tree......I guess I wasn't too far off the mark though considering how the event took place.
Since I was so young I could only really relate to the fact that a "Daddy" had been killed, but I do credit that historical event as somehow instilling in me a love of history,world politics and current events for I was, as my parents, glued to the TV set to learn about what had happened. In retrospect it made me aware that there was a world out there.....

I was in the fifth grade.It was recess and I was on the playground.The teachers told us to quickly return to class so they could tell us about the tragedy.That was Friday 22 November 1963.Lee Harvey Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby on my 11th birthday.Foot note to history,the prolific writer of Brave New World..Aldous Huxley passed away at the same time of JFK's assassination.

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Sex is one of nine reasons for reincarnation.The other eight are unimportant...Henry Miller

Flight Line---Pease AFB.We were put on immediate Alert Duty.I was in the Strategic Air Command.My first thoughts were selfish!
My parents were visiting that night & taking my girlfriend(now wife)out to a resturant.I had to call the base,every 1/2 hr.,& confirm my location.(I was on a team that had to have extra bags
&tools packed & had to have innoculations,to go any place in the
world.My first thought was that I was "pissed" because my
personal plans were screwed up.I was on what was called
"Mobility"!They(the Govt.)didn't know if it was a plot against the
USA. Irish P.S. I was in from 17-21 yrs of age)I graduated High
School at 17 & enlisted (approx)2 mo later.

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Irish---Better to be dead & cool,then alive & uncool!
(Harley Davidson & the Marlboro Man)

Come on PF.........your turn!

You just want to hear me say “STARK-FUCKING FEAR and CONFUSSION so the kids can laugh at the old guy Bibi. lol I was so frightened I had diarrhea for two days.

Actually I’ve been thinking about my own situation and thoughts since I started this thread. (What the hell was I thinking. ) I never had to summarize the complete situation before.:dizzy:

The news was stared for me with the blaring of a horn that we knew was not part of the routine. I got very spotty coverage of the whole thing for quite a while.

Bad Tolz, Germany, U.S. Army, 10th Special Forces Group.

We fell in for what seemed more than drill. After each Detachment reported, Fst. Sgt. Worley read from the bulletin “just received”. It was something like this.

“This unit and all U.S. forces are now in a state of full alert and will remain at ready until further notice. All leaves and passes are canceled and all personnel will report to their units or the nearest military installation immediately. The President of the United States of America, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was killed today in Dallas Texas. You will receive further orders and information as it is made available.”

An eternity of DEAD silence was followed by him saying “All units will secure their full ready gear from the Supply Room and each man will pickup his weapons from the Arms Room. You may write a maximum of two letters that will be held, and turn them into the Mail Room. Remain in your quarters until further notice. You have two hours. Dismissed!”

That was my full coverage for the next two days. Nobody slept that night and EVERYBODY talked a mile a minute and I’ll bet not one man can tell you one thing that was said. The only thing we knew (and it was never actually said by anybody) was that the “COMMIES” did it. The inevitable “shit-house rumor” flashed by every few hours. “The 3rd Detachment is loading up”. “The 4th said they are moving the planes”. “Just heard it was the Chinese”. “Somebody shot the guy that shot the President and we’re going to Pakistan.” LOL We didn’t move! It was actually three days before we “officially” told that we were not at war. It ALL scared the hell out of this 19 year old kid.

We saw pictures of the funeral in the Stars & Stripes and read all the stories, but I had nothing to relate it to and none of it made sense. It was actually years before I saw the Zapruder films on TV. I think the only thing worse than too much coverage is not enough. LOL Very confusing time for a very young man.:dizzy:

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Well I was in a bar in Galveston,Texas with my grandmother having a cool one, The TV in the bar was on when the attack happened. We all just sat there listening and watching the news stories as they came out. I had voted for him, my first time to vote and I was not happy. Back then I was the crying kind but then I was a young man and had been taught men didn't cry, but I did tear up a bit. I also was not a bit happy that it occurred in Texas, much less that it happened at all. I couldn't figure out why for years, then I finally got it. Knowing didn't help much either!
As we left the bar I noticed a lot of women were crying, and men were cursing the person or persons that did it. The one thing I did notice was no one was smiling or smirking, I knew not every one voted for him and I also knew there were a lot of folk that really didn't care for him as President. I've heard all the conspiracy theories, and doubt we will ever be sure of what happened that day. BUT I do know that a man was killed before his time, and he was morned by many millions. Not just as President but as a man, and his family too. I have to say that I am not happy about the so called revelations that have come out since then, I say let the man lay in peace and let his last child alone.

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Thanks PF Your reply reminded me of how in the coming days we were told that if we heard a siren we were supposed to take cover.......under our desks at school, under our beds at home and just lay on the curb quietly if outside. LOL What advice to give. Just sit there and wait to be vaporized pretending your desk shall save you! It reminds me of the thread about the tinfoil helmuts to ward off aliens.......

BTW.......I am so glad I was too young to realize the true implications of what was happening or I am sure to have intestinal distress too. I just wandered around waiting for the sirens to start......

OMG I just remembered we had a drill in school....the fire alarm went off and we had to go under our desks! Seems so ridiculous now, but I guess that is a prime example of people grasping at straws........in the event of disaster. Something like plastic and duct tape.........