Where were you 40 years ago When President Kennedy was shot?

[jediron]

I was in school I believe 6th grade and they anounced that the President had been shot. When they found out he had died they sent us all home. I believe that was the first time on all three networks that only the news was shown all day.

[chip anderson]

In the basement of the Medical Arts Building, fitting contact lenses or artificial eye.

When told, I asked: "Did they get Johnson." But alas, they did not.

It was a very said day in our history, not because Kennedy was shot, but Because Lyndon Baines Johnson/Ladybird became president. I still to this day believe Ladybird paid for the job.

Chip

[Jerry Thornhill]

I was in Korea at the replacement center eating breakfast. I was rotating home and in those days you were transferred by ship. I didn't get to see any news or read much of any thing about it until I got back to the states the middle of December.

Jerry

[Judy Canty]

I was at a Friday morning assembly for the 8th grade at Churchland Jr. High in Portsmouth, VA. I don't remember being sent home, but my band class was taught by my Dad. We were bussed, as usual, to the High School for band and I remember feeling much safer in my Dad's class and knowing that my Mom was teaching in the same school at the same time.

[hcjilson]

I had pulled an all nighter studying for a production management exam. After the exam I went back to my fraternity house (Sig Ep if there are any brothers here) had lunch and crashed. A brother came by banging on the wall, shouting that the president had been shot. I woke up went into the hall and shouted "Thats not funny Norm" He turned back with a wide eyed look and said he wasn't joking, that it was for real. I went into the common room where the TV was on.The camera was at the Dallas Trade Mart where the President was due to speak. There was a lot of bewilderment on the screen (it had been less than 10 minutes since it had happened.)You could see that no one knew what to say.The announcement of his death was made about 30 min later. We were all in disbelief. We had just seen him in Amherst in October and it just didn't seem possible. What a shock!

On Sunday I watched Oswald being transfered when he was shot by Jack Ruby. It was surreal-no one could believe the events of the past 3 days. Even today I can feel the shock.

[Bill Swain]

I was working in a lab as a benchman in Philadelphia, Pa.
What a sad day, the lab was so quiet that day, never saw anything like it.

[Diane]

I was in the 9th grade and going into Algegra class. There were several 10th grade boys who sat around me and teased me all the time, and told me and I thought they were still teasing me and didn't believe them. They said "President Kennedy has been shot.", and my response to them was "what with...a needle?". It came on the intercom right after that, and I felt terrible. It was a feeling of pure dread, and most of the people that I was around, wondered, what would happen to our country. We were also very supportive Kennedy people and worried about his family. I remember the whole weekend in black and white and a lot of rain. Seemed appropriate, somehow.

Diane

[chip anderson]

The thing that amazed me, was that here in the South, 90% of the people I know whould not have wasted the saliva to spit on John Fizgerald Kennedy. He was one of the most hated figures that had ever been in politics.

However, once shot he became a blessed martyr and so many people grieved heavily and began talking about what a great man he was.

Chip

[jediron]

Chip are you for real? On a post like this you have the audacity
to leave posts like that first one? Saying: Did they get Johnson too. I guess am to astonished too comment! :drop:

[hcjilson]

Jediron,

Indeed Chip knows both of his posts in this thread are way out of line. Its his way of being Peck's bad boy. He fails to realize how ignorant they make him look, to say nothing of intolarance. He would do well to delete them so I can delete this one. If he feels strongly about his stand, perhaps he could start a thread in that vein and see if anyone else will rise to the bait. Fact is no one will, and its no fun having a discussion by yourself. Best advice is to do what everyone else has done so far today, and ignore it!

hj

[chip anderson]

Dead serious on both posts. Went to school in the Republic of Texas and knew what a country under Lyndon Baines Johnson would be like. And yes most people in the south despised the Kennedy's a great many still do. But may of them who professessed to despise him, where carrying on about what a great man he was only minites after he was shot.

If you can't believe this you got a problem and it isn't me, you have had your outlook changed by all those democrats who wished to assend to power by riding his coattails espousing what a great man he was.

Another little known fact: Kennedy and Johnson hated each other. But God knows how many things LBJ got passes in memorial to "John Fitzgerald Kennedy."

Chip

P.S.

I may be intollerant but never a hippocrite. I despised Kennedy and Johnson as much as anyone I never met personally. This does not mean that I was opposed to all aspects of civil rights or did not see the need, but I despised the way Kennedy and Johnson went about everything.

[BobV]

trying to post to this thread.

[hcjilson]

1. Chip went to school in the State of Texas, not the Republic. Is has been a state on and off since March 1, 1845

2. Kennedy/Johnson took 52% of the popular vote of Texas during the 1960 presidential election, proving that "most" texans did not hate them..........some texans hated however, because the week before the shooting, a group of them took out a full page "JFK wanted dead or alive " ad in the Dallas newspaper.

3. If you really want to know how most southerners felt in 1960 go here-

http://www.uselectionatlas.org/USPRE...rametextj.html

It will give you the election results state by state. If you want to see it-put in the year (1960) and when the results come up, go to the bottom of the page and you will find a map which will show you how southerners really felt.

4. Kennedy / Johnson was a marriage of convenience. It is true that Bobby Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson "hated" each other but I've seen no evidence that John Kennedy hated Lyndon Johnson. They both served in the US Senate together for many years and when Johnson was majority leader, he was the most influential politician in the country. Many tthought he had made a mistake giving up that position to run as Vice President.

Readers may disagree on their opinions concerning the events of Nov 22 1963, but should try to confine the justification of their opinions to the FACTS.

[jediron]

Unbelievable Chip! A man was shot in COLD Blood and the only thing you have to say is after 40 years you still hate him! :drop:








You have got bigger problems then we can solve on this board. Maybe you should try psychiatry.com? You keep living with hate and it will eventually eat you alive. I real feel sorry for you, but hate can do that to a person.

[BobV]

Here we go again with name calling...I'll go on Chip's side because he is entitled to his opinions, right or wrong. Same as everyone else that posts on Optiboard.

Now, back to the original concept...I was in third grade when Kennedy was shot. School was dismissed through the funeral. Like Harry, I too watched as Jack Ruby was able to push his way through to silence Oswald.

Chip, novel thought. I would never had thought that Lady Bird could be implicated in the shooting. I DO believe, however, that LBJ was involved. There is a paper from LBJ to be opened 50 years after LBJ's death that may shed some light on this.

Several years ago there was an excellent book written about the murder. The title was "Best Evidence". I have forgotten the author's name, but he brought forward some fantastic observations. The book is now out of print.

One observation was about a nurse at Parkland Hospital washing Kennedy's body prior to the autopsy. Speaking as a former mortician, this would not be proper procedure. All medico-legal cases, i.e. murder, suicide, etc. are left in their present state as not to disturb evidence. Only after the autopsy is complete may the body be washed for embalming. I am sure vital evidence was lost during this procedure.


Sorry, Jediron and Harry, I've never been a fan of the Kennedys or Johnson. Would I wish ill will on them? No. But, politics be politics, and everyone to their own opinion.

Bob V.

[hcjilson]

This may come as a surprise to some but ,no autopsy was performed in Texas. The body was removed directly to Air Force One against local ordinances which required autopsy. It never happened. The autopsy was performed at Bethesda Naval Hospital the night the Kennedy's body arrived. Among other sources I could name, this may be confirmed by reading The Death of a President by William Manchester (1964) and available I am sure at your local library.

I didn't mean to name call, but when I hear something as rediculous as the statement that all southerners hated Kennedy I just had to set the record straight.

It was also said in this thread that

"
It was a very said day in our history, not because Kennedy was shot, but Because Lyndon Baines Johnson/Ladybird became president.
"

As if the entire country was not in a state of shock. I am here to say the the entire country....Kennedy detractors and all.....were definitely in a state of shock. If anyone cares to disbelieve them, I would have them check the archives of their local papers, magazines of the day, the myriad of TV specials which have been occuring over the past weekend. I would be willing to bet even money that everyone who heard the news that weekend was shocked, regardless of what they profess today. Its a lot easier to become a hard *** in retrospect, but most of the older of us were in our twenties in 1964 and I do not know one of my contemporarys who was blase` about this shooting, regardless of what they say today. If you don't believe me, ask some people you know well who were alive then. You will get a sense of what we ALL felt at that time.

I send my apology to my friend Chip for using the word ignorant as it appears above for, he is any thing but ignorant. It was written in the heat of the moment after reading his untrue, and ill advised post.If he still maintains that he was not shocked by the events of November 22, 1963, I am here to say that he is the ONLY American I have heard of, that was not SHOCKED, and disgusted by this assasination.

hj

[BobV]

Harry,

you're right about the autopsy not being performed in Dallas. The circumstances surrounding the washing of the body and the "mystery bullet" or whatever it was called astounds me to this day. This reeks of conspiracy, no matter how you look at it.

Bob V.

[jediron]

BobV said: This reeks of conspiracy, no matter how you look at it.

What about the audio triangulation they did of the shots? They played back a tape of the incident and audio analyzed the different frequencies and concluded there was at least three shots fired and possible four. By triangulation of the entry and exit
of the bullets they were able to conclude that at least one or two
shots were fired from the grassy knoll or from the sewer grate along the street. Now that is a conspiracy.

BobV if you review my posts there is no name calling at all, just giving the facts.:drop:

[Diane]

All Southerners didn't dislike the Kennedy's and Johnsons.

I maintain that it was a sad day in our history, and also agree that everyone may be entitled to their opinion.....

My husband's family (Southerners) loved the Kennedy administration as well. It was a tough time for us all, and at the time, it seemed like it may bring the country together. Now, it seems like we aren't all together, yet.


:( :( :(

Diane

[Foveator]

I was in 4th grade. Some kids had gone home for lunch (it was a small very local elementary school) and came back speaking of the president being shot. Like Diane, my first thought was that he GOT a shot with a needle.

When I got out of the car from the ride home, the driver told me that the president was dead.

As I walked up the driveway, I looked into the clear cloudless (I still remember that!) sky and thought that the Russians would be bombing soon. We had, after all, practiced hiding under desks in case of attack at school.

It was a very cold November here in CT during the procedings of the next few days. With all of the TV stations covering the tragedy, there wasn't much else for a 10 year old to do except watch. The headlines in all of the papers were the largest I'd ever seen.

I do recall wondering, even then, why was the President in Texas in the first place? I recall thinking that it wasn't a very safe place. And the thought that Chip brought up concerning Johnson's rise to power and possible involvement also surfaced, although I had completely forgotten it until he brought it up. How strange recollections are 40 years later.

[JennyP]

Jediron:
Considering Chinese astrology, are you born a dragon?
I wondered because I was also in the 6th grade when we were given the horrible news of the shooting and death of the president.
I had seen Kennedy in an open car motorcade in Nashville earlier in his presidency. I didn't see him very long, but I remember thinking "That's the President of our whole country."
When we got word of the tragedy in Texas, as a military brat, my second gut-wrenching reaction (after sorrow for his family,) was that the U.S. had also been attacked, not just the man holding the office.

[jediron]

JennyP said:
Jediron:
Considering Chinese astrology, are you born a dragon?

I don't believe so I was born on Jan. 31 1951. From what my mom said a very good year.

:bbg: :D

[Night Train]

I wansnt born yet....not until 1966.

As for the Kennedy's....I see in them a remarkable resilliance. despiite the tragedies they have endured, they still rise up and desire to better our country. God bless them

Dwayne

[Cindy Hamlin]

I was 7 months old and fat, sassy and oblivious to it all in my crib.

[BobV]

Foveator,

where in Ct were you born? I was born in New Britain, but worked for funeral homes in Rocky Hill, Deep River, Clinton, Madison and Old Saybrook, the last four belonging to 3 brothers. Never worked optical in CT.

Bob V.