60 years ago today (Re: 50 years ago today)

[Beebs52]

I remember my teacher saying, after the pa announcement, "now the shit's hit the fan," and we were stunned about the event and that our teacher had cussed. With that said, even tho no one in our immediate vicinity was a Democrat, everyone knew how horrible this was. You don't kill the prez of the US.

[Kazoo65]

I wasn't born yet.

I was a senior in high school when the 20th anniversary rolled around in 1983, and there was a TV miniseries about the Kennedy years, called "Kennedy" (starring Martin Sheen as JFK) which ran on NBC. I watched the whole thing-since I'm a big history buff. We talked about it in my government class.

In about a half-hour Tom Brokaw is doing a special which I am planning to watch. He has interviewed people who were around back then and their stories should be interesting-I saw a preview on the "Today" show and I was fascinated.

[Bob78164]

I was born during the Kennedy Administration so I'm too young to remember its end. --Bob

[silverscreenselect]

No, that's the impression I got from the post, too. Just because you disagree doesn't mean you would be happy about a death. I don't remember anyone thinking/saying that, or it entering one's mind.

http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/ ... ome_t.html

My father told me pretty much the same story about how a few of the soldiers he fought with in World War II cheered when they learned FDR died.

As a seventh grader, I and my classmates thought that Mr. Vickers, who was quick to mention his dislike of the Democrats in class (it was not a PC era back then), would go to town on that situation. The girl I was talking to before class and I said just about the same thing, and there was an air of anticipation in the room waiting for him to say something.

[littlebeast13]

No, that's the impression I got from the post, too. Just because you disagree doesn't mean you would be happy about a death. I don't remember anyone thinking/saying that, or it entering one's mind.

http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/ ... ome_t.html

My father told me pretty much the same story about how a few of the soldiers he fought with in World War II cheered when they learned FDR died.

As a seventh grader, I and my classmates thought that Mr. Vickers, who was quick to mention his dislike of the Democrats in class (it was not a PC era back then), would go to town on that situation. The girl I was talking to before class and I said just about the same thing, and there was an air of anticipation in the room waiting for him to say something.

Maybe I am just closer to my 7th grade years than most other people on this Bored, but I can totally see where SSS is coming from here. In fact, given the intensification of the political divide 50 years later, I would be surprised if most 7th graders today wouldn't expect someone who they know to be fiercely with the opposite party of the President to believe that the sudden death of that President would be good news to them...

lb13

[mellytu74]

I never liked Sister Agnes Loyola. She was our music nun and she was the nun who hit my left hand with a ruler when I couldn't coordinate my hands while playing the piano.

She came in and pulled Sister Julia Alexia aside. Sister Julie then announced the President had been shot. I looked across the aisle to Gerri Carroll, who had that beautiful Irish combination of black hair and pale skin. She was ashen. Chris Lindner was my seatmate. Her hands were shaking as she tried to get her rosary beads out of their little case. I don't think she ever did.

We were almost finished our rosary when Aggie came back back and told us the President was dead. I can't remember if we finished or not. They dismissed us; because it was Friday, some of us tried to do our Friday chores.

Mine was to dust the statues. Sister Albert Therese, who taught second grade, came over and gently tapped me on the shoulder. Her eyes were red. She told me to go home. I have no idea how long I was there but I know everyone had walked home already because the street was deserted.

TLAF was in her store with a neighbor. Both crying their eyes out. IIRC, she was waiting for me before she closed the store. THFD came home shortly after that.

So much of the weekend comes back to me in little bits and pieces:

Oh, God of Lovliness was one of the hymns at the funeral. It's one of my favorite hymns but, for years, I could never hear it without seeing the front of St. Matthew's Church.

How my Italian grandmother, Marietta, and her friends sat in the parlor behind Annie Caruso's tailor shop (Annie, her husband and their families were neighbors of Marietta's family in Montecorvino Rovello, Italy (make a left at Salerno)). All of them crying and speaking Italian. And crocheting and cooking.

How THFD cried when he saw the riderless horse.

My Uncle Gar (Aunt Ethel's husband and TLAF's brother-in-law) decided spur of the moment to drive to DC with my cousins Dennis and Hughie. I was jealous.

[BackInTex]

No, that's the impression I got from the post, too. Just because you disagree doesn't mean you would be happy about a death. I don't remember anyone thinking/saying that, or it entering one's mind.

http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/ ... ome_t.html

My father told me pretty much the same story about how a few of the soldiers he fought with in World War II cheered when they learned FDR died.

As a seventh grader, I and my classmates thought that Mr. Vickers, who was quick to mention his dislike of the Democrats in class (it was not a PC era back then), would go to town on that situation. The girl I was talking to before class and I said just about the same thing, and there was an air of anticipation in the room waiting for him to say something.

the death of JFK was one of the worst things that has happened to this country. Aside for the badness of murder, assassination, assassination of our President, when he died LBJ became president. LBJ did harm to this country that we may never recover from.




Maybe I am just closer to my 7th grade years than most other people on this Bored, but I can totally see where SSS is coming from here. In fact, given the intensification of the political divide 50 years later, I would be surprised if most 7th graders today wouldn't expect someone who they know to be fiercely with the opposite party of the President to believe that the sudden death of that President would be good news to them...

lb13

[mellytu74]

I never liked Sister Agnes Loyola. She was our music nun and she was the nun who hit my left hand with a ruler when I couldn't coordinate my hands while playing the piano.

She came in and pulled Sister Julia Alexia aside. Sister Julie then announced the President had been shot. I looked across the aisle to Gerri Carroll, who had that beautiful Irish combination of black hair and pale skin. She was ashen. Chris Lindner was my seatmate. Her hands were shaking as she tried to get her rosary beads out of their little case. I don't think she ever did.

We were almost finished our rosary when Aggie came back back and told us the President was dead. I can't remember if we finished or not. They dismissed us; because it was Friday, some of us tried to do our Friday chores.

Mine was to dust the statues. Sister Albert Therese, who taught second grade, came over and gently tapped me on the shoulder. Her eyes were red. She told me to go home. I have no idea how long I was there but I know everyone had walked home already because the street was deserted.

TLAF was in her store with a neighbor. Both crying their eyes out. IIRC, she was waiting for me before she closed the store. THFD came home shortly after that.

So much of the weekend comes back to me in little bits and pieces:

Oh, God of Loveliness was one of the hymns at the funeral. It's one of my favorite hymns but, for years, I could never hear it without seeing the front of St. Matthew's Church.

How my Italian grandmother, Marietta, and her friends sat in the parlor behind Annie Caruso's tailor shop (Annie, her husband and their families were neighbors of Marietta's family in Montecorvino Rovello, Italy (make a left at Salerno)). All of them crying and speaking Italian. And crocheting and cooking.

How THFD cried when he saw the riderless horse.

My Uncle Gar (Aunt Ethel's husband and TLAF's brother-in-law) decided spur of the moment to drive to DC with my cousins Dennis and Hughie. I was jealous.

OK. I just got an email from Dennis.

HE says the band was playing Oh, God of Loveliness at the Capitol as he and Hughie and Uncle Gar were in line. So, I don't know if they played it at the funeral. But that hymn -- along with The Navy Hymn -- are the two pieces of music that I associate with the funeral.

[jarnon]

We still miss you, Jack.

[ne1410s]

I was in our high school cafeteria taking the standard tests for our senior year. Frank Baxter, my now wife’s first cousin, came to the door and motioned our proctor, Rich McKillip, to come over. “The president has been shot.” Mr. McKillip relayed the news to us. There was never a thought that the tests should be stopped. Later, Frank came in and announced that President Kennedy was dead. We went back to filling in bubbles with #2 pencils.

[earendel]

I was in the 6th grade in Oklahoma City. My teacher, Mrs. Thompson, was called out of class and when she returned, she told us that the president had been assassinated in Dallas. We went to the school auditorium, where the TVs (used for over-the-air teaching) were tuned to one of the local stations, which was covering the national feed. My wife remembers that when her class was told about the assassination, someone asked, "What does 'assassination' mean?"

[SportsFan68]

It was a miserable weekend, starting with one of my classmates, who had just moved to Colorado from Texas, sobbing on her desk. It really knocked my grandmother for a loop -- she sat down and zoned out. Mom had to finish kneading and baking the homemade bread Grandmas had started. Then our half-grown kitten died Saturday night. He'd been ill with what was probably feline leukemia. We never found him.