What Do You Remember?
It was November 22, 1963 at 12:35 p.m when President Kennedy was shot. We were in sixth or maybe seventh grade. I was standing in line, waiting to go to the next class. We were in the basement of the school as we were leaving shop or maybe drafting. Mr. Jenkins (vocal music) walked by and announced, "The President Has Been Shot!!"......I remember commenting, rather loudly, "Duh, What President?"....(Yes, I was an idiot in those days).....Mr. J snapped, "President Kennedy!!"......Stupid replies, "Duh, Oh......" 

We went upstairs and we took a test. I would guess it was an English test. I was struggling with it as I was not prepared, as usual. I remember writing on the test, "I am having trouble concentrating on the test because of the terrible news about the President." (Yes, not only was I stupid, but quite a liar, too)......It did not work, I failed the test.

School was let out early, I would guess around 2 or 2:30. I rushed home and turned on the news. In those days, it was not 24 hour cable or news shows. Nothing was live. You had 3, maybe four stations and usually one of them came in snowy. I watched Walter Cronkite try to explain what happened and he really had no clue. I was under the impression that gunmen fired from on top of a highway bridge, down at the President's car. It was not until evening that you started to hear that they had someone in custody. A guy named Oswald.

On Saturday, news slowly trickled out who this Oswald guy was. A former marine sharpshooter who defected to Russia, a communist. On Sunday morning, I was out shooting baskets, working on my one handed, twirl a whirl dunk shot, (oh, did I mention I was a liar?) when my brother yelled out the window that this Oswald guy was going to be on television. I was standing in front of our TV, with my basketball under my arm as I watched Oswald escorted to another jail. It was the first time people had seen him, and the last.  I was stunned, as live, on my TV, Jack Ruby jumped out of the crowd and shot Oswald in the stomach. On MY Television!! Geeze.....The world was shocked, too.

Monday, there was no school (which always made me happy) as it was the President's funeral. It was the most watched televised event in history. 97 percent of TVs were tuned into it. Like most, I watched. We had school the next day. It was really a defining moment in our lives and in history. Not until 9-11 and the trade centers has anything come close. The older generation would say Pearl Harbor. Events like these really do change history and not necessarily for the better....anyway, that's the way I remember it.......d.tryon