There are certain events and dates for which you can remember exactly where you were, what you were doing, and how you felt. These moments are seared into your brain so vividly, it’s as if they happened yesterday.

For example, 9/11 is clearly one of those dates for anyone born before 1993 (i.e., they were at least 8 years old on September 11, 2001). For those of us who are a bit older, the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy (JFK) on Friday, November 22, 1963 is another one of those dates. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, 95% of Americans who were at least 8 years old in 1963 (born in 1955 or before) remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard that JFK had been shot.

Reading various articles last week about the 60th anniversary of JFK’s assassination put me in a very self-reflective mood. Incidentally, I was 8 years old in 1963, but reflecting on that tragedy and the impact that it had on many of my generation, it feels like it happened yesterday. Here’s how an 8-year-old second grader processed the events of that day and the days that followed (and please excuse my 2nd grader naivete and lack of knowledge):

It was around 1:45 PM Eastern Time on November 22, 1963. An announcement abruptly came over the speakers at St Bernard’s Catholic School in Mt. Lebanon, PA that President Kennedy had been shot in Texas. Since he was the first Catholic president, there was a photo of him in every classroom. Our teacher, Sister (?), started crying. We all stood up by our desks and said prayers for the president. About 30 minutes later, another announcement: the president was dead. School was dismissed, and we were told to go home.

I remember walking the eight blocks home crying and very confused. Why was the president in Texas – wasn’t he supposed to be in the White House? How could he be driving in Texas – wasn’t Texas a desert entirely filled with sand? My 8-year-old movie-obsessed brain pictured the assassin as a bandit with an ammunition belt draped across his chest – why would a Texas bandit want to kill our president?

When I arrived home, my parents, like most Americans that afternoon, were glued to their small black and white TV sets in shock and amazement. All three of the major news channel (NBC, ABC and CBS) replayed the final moments of the president before the assassination over and over again. Personally, watching the news coverage, I was surprised to see that Dallas was not a desert but an actual city with roads and cars.

And it was Walter Cronkite, the famous CBS news anchorman, who announced to millions of Americans in a tearful voice later that afternoon that President Kennedy had died.

Shortly afterwards, we watched Lyndon Johnson take the oath of office on Air Force One with Jackie Kennedy at his side.

It is hard to imagine what Jackie Kennedy must have been experiencing in that moment. It was years later that I learned that she was only in her mid-30s when JFK was killed! I can now admire what she did. According to historian Steve Gillon (host of the History Channel podcast), Jackie Kennedy “went out in her blood-stained suit and stood next to Lyndon Johnson. Despite these horrible circumstances, she was willing to stand for a photo because she understood what it meant for the nation to have continuity in government. She understood that she had a role to play in helping the nation transition to a new president.”

(Quick aside: Interesting contrast with the problems we are now having with the “peaceful transition to a new president.”)

For the 72 hours from Friday afternoon to the morning of Monday, November 25th, all three news stations cancelled all commercials and presented non-stop coverage. I don’t remember my Dad ever leaving his chair for those three days.

If all of this turmoil wasn’t enough for an 8-year-old, I remember sitting in my Dad’s lap that weekend (I think it was Sunday) watching Lee Harvey Oswald (JFK’s assassin who didn’t look at all like the bandit I had imagined) being escorted by armed guards in the basement of the Dallas Police Headquarters when suddenly Jack Ruby sprang forward and shot him dead on national TV!!!!

JFK was laid to rest that following Monday at Arlington National Cemetery. We watched on television as a 3-year-old John Jr. gave a final salute to his father, and the young widow, Jackie, laid flowers on her husband’s grave.

Those four days in November 1963 represent one of the most defining moments of the 20th century, especially for an 8-year-old trying to process what was happening in America.

 

 

Header Photo by History in HD on Unsplash

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