Generation JKF About to Re-Live the 60's in Their 60's: Are You Experienced?

[McCamy Taylor]

There is something liberating about growing older. You lose the biologic imperative to reproduce. Meaning that sex is no longer the first, second and third most pressing thing on your mind. This gives you a chance to return to the days of your youth, when you had mental clarity, when you looked at a flower and saw a flower, not a path towards getting into someone's pants. When you saw a shiny, sleek, brightly colored car and saw a car, not the years of education it would take to get the job that would give you the salary needed in order to buy the car. When you dreamed about unicorns as unicorns without waking to scribble a pitch for a kid's television show.

What is Generation JFK? That is my name for those of us whose first political memory is the JFK assassination. I was four when it happened. I recall watching my ex-marine father sitting in front of the motel television bawling his eyes out. It was the first and last time I ever saw him cry. That made it a momentous event. Why was he crying? Because the president of the United States had been shot.

Over the course of the next decade, the members of Generation JFK watched a lot people get shot. We watched a lot of people refuse to be deterred by threats of violence. We watched as the young men we admired obsessed not over sex but over how to evade the draft. We listened as women learned to "roar". We were encouraged by our teachers to think for ourselves, to cast off the obsolete old and embrace a bright, new future of universal love and harmony. And we learned several important lessons, the most important being the truth of the Buddhist axiom: Attachment Is Suffering. For, if my father had not allowed himself to become attached to the notion that a single person, Jack Kennedy would save us from ourselves, his world would not have crumbled around him when JFK was taken away.

You can lose a person, a leader, a single battle. You can not lose love. You can not lose courage. You can not lose yourself. Entering your teens and twenties, when you suddenly discover "sex" and relationships, you can lose sight of yourself and courage and love. You may find yourself temporarily constrained by an almost overwhelming desire to fit in, to look cool, to conform--to procreate. But that too passes. And then you reach the calm years, the post reproductive years that William Faulkner celebrated. The years when you no longer give a damn about being "cool" or "buff" or "kissable."

If you are a member of Generation JFK, the 1960's formed you and continue to inform you. And, as Generation JFKers enter their 60s, they find the 1960s within.

Namaste.

[tibbiit]

1. excellent!

I agree about the growing older! It is liberating going back to elementary school mode (curious) vs jr. high (emotional). Playing field has been leveled and what ever has been... has been "good enough"!

I really appreciate the picture meme! Mutton chops and lots of dark hair. A good representation of the JFK Generation. I like it.
tib

[Kentonio]

2. Beautifully written.

[furtheradu]

3. Wonder FULL writing. .

ThankYOU for this!

[mnhtnbb]

4. I have found the irony of promising never to become my mother

who exclaimed--when I (aged 12) came home from school and told her that November day in 1963 the President had been assassinated,--"It's about time!"
to now wondering when and how Trump will be "taken out".

[pangaia]

5. I was 20 when JFK was assassinated .

In fact, I went to his funeral.

I was in Memphis when MLK was assassinated.

I also consider myself, in your terms, a GenerationJFK'er.

[Lonestarblue]

6. I'm a member!

Beautiful words. I was a sophomore in high school, and my social studies teacher broke the news to the class. My mother and I could not tear ourselves away from the television for days. She commented that it felt like losing a member of the family. With that event, the protests of the Vietnam War, and the huge cultural shifts of the "hippie" generation, I started questioning government policy and political party lines. Although I always voted, politics and policy took a back seat for years (life happens!), but I'm now starting to see a new generation (and some of the old generation) start to question again and to protest and work for change. That's a very good thing, and I hope it continues!

[Grins]

47. 10th grade. Me too.

I too was a sophomore in high school that day. I remember leaving school about 90-minutes later and walking to the exit, and down the entire length of that corridor my friends crying, an unable-to-stand level of crying.

I remember walking through my small town's (northern NJ) main street and no traffic was moving. Cars parked by the sidewalk had several people standing near them listening to the car's radio, all in stunned disbelief. Churches and synagogues filled up, stores, restaurants and movie theaters closed, the 405 in Calif. came to a complete stop because people could not drive. Traffic in Times Sq - the same. Complete gridlock and no one cared. Broadway went dark for three days, Times Square went dark. Completely. Dark. No store windows were lit unless it was to illuminate a subtle and sombre portrait of a youthful president Kennedy, a portrait that captured our loss. Black drapery in the background, and that portrait on an easel.

I seem to recall that JFK laid in state in the Capitol rotunda for three days. For three days and 24-hours each day, people passed in respect. When it was time to close the viewing to the public there were still THOUSANDS of people still in line waiting to pay their respects. In the dark, the remaining people in line to see him went down Constitution Ave.

All schools were closed. All of them. Everyone stayed home in front of their TV's watching. Watching Jack Ruby shoot Oswald on live TV! Watching Jackie, Robert and Ted walking down the street. Watching, and watching, and never forgetting a three year old boy - on his birthday - salute his father's passing casket. Try to imagine the collective slap to the head everyone in America - in the world! - felt seeing that. And this feeling lasted for many days after JFK was buried. You could not get it out of your mind.

I tell my friends who were too young to know that date that it is, still, to this day, the one event that truly shattered America, the one event I will never forget. Not Reagan, not Vietnam, not Watergate - not even Sept. 11th - not so many other things; but that one day.

It's too hard to explain to those who did not live though it, but if you are one of those and get a chance, pick up Robert Caro's "Lyndon Johnson, the Passage of Power", and read the chapter that deals with that day and the days following. It's terrific!

[Butterflylady]

7. I'm a member of

The " I like Ike" generation.

[riverbendviewgal]

8. I was a junior in high school in USA when JFK was assassinated

Going on 16. I was horrified. We had off from school and I watched the TV night and day. It changed me. I became anti war. My family and I were at odds with each other. Six years later I voted with my feet and was accepted by Canada with husband. He was a resistor, protestor, CO claimant (denied), draft dodger, deserter. He took Carter's ammesty. He went to the Pentagon to appeal his other than honorable.it was Denied.

I had hatred of the US government but never have I hated the US government like I do now. When Obama was elected I had such high hopes.
Before Trump I visited relatives and been a snowbird and traveled 40 states. Since Trump I have decided to never return, not even to see relatives. I cut the Trump lovers off. Their hatred and racism was too much to bear.

These memories of my youth overshadow any of my personal memories. I can visualize these events as if theyare happening today. Events up to age 26.
Desegregation, joe McCarthy, JFK election, MLK, JFK and Bobby Kennedy Assassinations, viet nam on tv every night, Eichmann trial, race riots, moon landing.Kent state, Mai Li, watergate. Missile Crisis. Hiding under my desk for air raid drills.

Constant hatred and war in the "Greatest Country" in the world. I have read The Ugly American and Confessions of an Economic hit man.
So much more since I was 26. Never stopping. Ike was right. Naomi Klein is right. Corporations have corrupted the country. My US history teacher taught the class that empires implode within from corruption.

Seeing the protests after Trumps election have given me hope. But Today I read some cable news said the protests are done, that people now accept Trump.

Please don't give up. Vote, protest. Never be silent.
Read Howard Zinn to your children. In America a strange "nice" version of US History is taught. Not the truly horrible real history.

[The Wizard]

9. I was 16 years old

When innocence departed. And it went downhill from there. But it wasn't all bad. I returned from Vietnam forever changed, but lucky enough to walk in my front door upright.

[calimary]

10. I'm a member. In 5th grade when JFK got shot.

The world changed that day.

I find I like my age. I'm comfortable woth it, and I've seen a lot and it gives me a historical perspective that only many years can provide.

One of my favorite quotes is something I read in Barbara Walters' book "How to Talk to Practically Anybody About Practically Anything." She recalled hearing it from a friend who said it was a good trick for when you're preparing for an event or meeting or introduction, to help you stay grounded: look in the mirror when you're getting ready and tell yourself "I am the way I am. I look the way I look. I am my age."

It works!

Mighty nice essay, McCamy!

[lastlib]

12. (But the initial premise is false.......

I'm pushin' 50 (not gonna say which way!), but I ain't losin' nuttin! )

Most of the rest is valid. I was in first grade when JFK was assassinated, and wasn't real aware of the world until about the moon landing, so, yeah, I kinda fit into this narrative.

[ancianita]

11. Oh yes. Graduated HS in '66. If the mountains crumble to the sea, let it be. It ain't me.

A good version with excellent art.

[riverbendviewgal]

13. Good read about Cape Breton for Americans

Great article. It is cold in winter but imagine Scotland for the other seasons.

I been to Cape Breton 3 times. Very beautiful.

If you are thinking of leaving USA. Read this.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/cape-breton/?utm_term=.0189467a4c0c&wpisrc=nl_most-draw8&wpmm=1

[LeftInTX]

14. I had been living in Japan without TV until August 1963

Our contact with the US was Life Magazine and pictures sent from relatives in the US.
I felt a bond with the Kennedy's, especially Caroline and John due to those Life photo shoots.

I was 7 in Nov 1963.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

15. Love the name, Generation JFK...

I was 11 years old. We were a house full of raging Democrats. My parents were in a battle with the "Birchers". Political engagements were just another course filling the table at dinner time. Learned much that stayed with me theses many years.

The funeral, all that could or would be shown on tv or talked about on radio, was a constant companion the following days. My mom and dad were crying it seemed to me all day. I remember that was the first and only time I saw my dad cry.

It was the first time I saw a person get murdered in front of my eyes. The Oswald "perp walk" was on the tube. My mom was fixing dinner in the kitchen, I was alone watching tv. Saw Ruby lunge forward and shoot Oswald. I screamed to my mom, "They shot him", that vision is as clear to me today as it was then.

Changed my life.

[TuxedoKat]

21. Yes

I saw it live on tv with my dad. We were watching and my dad exclaimed to my mom (also fixing dinner in the kitchen) "they just shot Oswald live on tv". l remember asking my dad about it afterwards.

[hamsterjill]

16. Another proud member here!

I was five that horrible day in November. I heard it on the television and ran to tell my parents. They couldn't believe that I had actually heard it.

Lots of losses as we grew - as you so well illustrated in your OP. We are a caring group because we know what loss feels like.

We are strong because we learned to fight back.

Namaste!

[oldcynic]

17. 1963-1968... there was hope, then there was not

Texas loves you

Oh Johnny Boy,
the smiles and waves,
sunny knolls across the street,
just past noon in Dallas.
Oh Johnny,
brains on the seat,
blood stains on designer pink,
one o’clock in Dallas.
Oh John,
we were young
when it was noon in Dallas,
so old an hour later.

[Granny M]

18. I was 9,

sitting in my fourth grade classroom at my Catholic school. I think someone came in from the office, and a radio was turned on. There was a lot of praying that day, and bewilderment and tears.

[mantis49]

19. I was 10.

I remember the funeral, Caroline and JFK Jr. Mom was crying for days.

We lived near an Air Force base, our babysitter was married to a serviceman. I remember he got called to base immediately. Living near the air base, seeing the B52 bombers flying low above our house, the base on red alert, the fighter jets.

It was terrifying, hope to never live through that again.

[Demtexan]

20. I remember it.

Went from 6 to 16 years old.

I was telling a young friend about that time.

At least we have the internet now.

I told my young friend to get ready for
a wild ride.

[WinkyDink]

22. Thread title could use editing.

[BadGimp]

23. What a wonderful post!

Thank you..

[struggle4progress]

24. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom,

it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us"

[Maeve]

25. Actually, my first political memory was his election

We had a pretend vote in kindergarten--I was 5. Since I was the first in line, I got to count the votes--Kennedy won (my parents, I'm sure, were Nixon voters, but...hey, I got to be first in line!). His assassination was a shock--and we got sent home early from school, so it had to be important.

I didn't really give much of a damn about politics until Bobby was killed. I carried his picture in my wallet for years afterwards...

[DFW]

41. Mine was the Democratic Convention where he was nominated

My dad was sent by his paper to cover the convention in L.A., and he took the whole family, combined it with a trip to Disneyland, which to 8 year old me was much more important.

At the convention, I met several candidates, NOT including JFK, whom I never met personally. When there was a reception for Hubert Humphrey, who was an old family friend (my dad's mother raised funds for his first Senate race in 1948), my dad told me to tell him, "hope you get the nomination." I asked my dad what in the world was a "nomination?" He said he'd explain later, so I said it to Humphrey, who beamed, recognizing instantly I had no idea what I was talking about.

At the hotel where we were staying, my dad recognized Groucho Marx, whose name I did know, even if I was too young to fully appreciate his films. I went over to him to say hi, and was told, in essence, "go away, kid, yer bothering me," which I'm sure I was. Ah, show business!

[2naSalit]

26. I was in school and we heard the news over the new, hi-tech PA system...

then we were all sent home. We were almost all military kids and the school was close to a large military housing complex where we lived. My dad came home and watched the teevee and cried. My mom was really upset.

We had recently returned to New England from Key West where we lived during the Bay of Pigs/missile crisis thing... my family was an open political family where politics were openly discussed at any time. And my dad's family were personally acquainted with the Kennedy family, the family estate was not far down the shore from the K-Compound in Hyannis. I grew up with politics and can recall the Kennedy/Nixon teevee debate as well as a couple broadcasts of Ike while he was in office. I knew what nuclear bombs were and did the "duck&cover" crap at every school until I was in 6th grade, I think.

Yeah, getting older has some benefits, I guess they balance out the stuff we can no longer do.

[Canoe52]

27. okay, okay, i was in 5th grade when kennedy...etc...

But your statement "You lose the biologic imperative to reproduce". Like when are you saying that happens???

I'm 64 and my wife is 70 and we are still going at it like energizer bunnies. Is this something that will happen in our 80's, 90's???

Just curious.

[DFW]

30. My wife and I are both 65

Greetings from another pair of energizer bunnies!

[BigOleDummy]

36. Lol,

Well, I'm divorced but still enjoy a little hanky panky when I can. Just not as often sadly.

Remember the school announcement vividly, the shocked faces on the teachers, the sense of loss, of whaaaaat!?

We all thought we could change the world back then and I guess we did in a manner of speaking. My real political awaking was the anti-war demonstration at the state Capitol in 1970. I'd never seen so many people together at the same time before, lol and yes I remember the SDS (or undercover police agent provocateurs) walking down the sidewalks (while the rest of us were in the streets) chanting "the Pigs serve the rich, ain't it a bitch" to try and start a riot. Didn't happen. Hundreds of thousands of "us" united and in the street making our voice HEARD. It was a beautiful day.

[Canoe52]

43. Lol

[waltben]

28. I was 19 and on home a pass from the Air Force

But I still remember the shock I felt. And while Viet Nam had already begin, this was also my first 'political moment'.

[Silver Gaia]

29. I was 10 years old and in 4th grade.

The principal came into the room and whispered something into Miz Allen's ear. I knew it was bad because she just sort of crumpled, and when she looked up, there were tears on her face.

We were sent home. Momma was crying. The TV was on constantly during broadcast hours for the next few days. We watched the funeral, saw Oswald shot, all of it.

My family was one that never bought the official story. My Dad firmly believed there was a shooter on the grassy knoll. There were many discussions about this around the kitchen table over the years.

[ProfessorGAC]

31. I'll Sign On

I was 7 at the time. 2nd grade. I remember it really well too. I was home sick that day and my mom was on the phone with her friend, waiting for "As The World Turns" to come on. It started and she was telling her friend she had to go because her show was starting.

She was not yet in the room when they broke in with the news bulletin. She asked me what they just said and i told her the president was shot. She bolted into the room and we sat there for the next few hours watching whatever wasn't in commercial.

[RobinA]

32. I'm There

I was 5 in 1963 and would say that I'm formed by both the '60's and '70's. JFK was really the first political event I remember. The weird thing is that, at 5, I never really understood at the time the full import of the event, nor that THIS STUFF DOESN'T HAPPEN. Then, after King and RFK five years later, I kind of figured that this was normal. Imagine - 1968 normal. Then a few years later Kent State. It wasn't until years later that I realized how abnormal my politically formative years had been

[barbtries]

33. i'm 61.

your title has the letters wrong. i'm bookmarking to read later, but right after the first sentence i can say that as a mother with children and grandchildren, i do feel liberated to resist the current administration all the way to the end. it's for them and their progeny, i'm close to the end of my life with little to lose.

[DFW]

34. I remember November 11, 1963 very clearly

I was in our usual school Friday afternoon assembly in Washington, DC. Someone came in and quietly got Joe III and Bobby Jr. and left with them. We didn't know why, but after all, their uncle was president and their dad was Attorney General, so who knew?

On Fridays, I used to take a bus down to my dad's office in the National Press Building, and ride home to Virginia with him. There were always guys selling the afternoon papers on the sidewalk at 14th and F, and sometimes the headlines were a little off the wall. This time they screamed "JFK SLAIN!" but I was a little unnerved that no one was saying anything. By the time I got up to my dad's office, he had a telephone in each hand, and something was clearly wrong. I got a sinking feeling. When he had five free seconds, he confirmed it to me. I knew the world had changed, and not for the better.

As a teen, I did indeed feel the urge to fit in, but no urge at all to look cool or conform. My circle of friends was correspondingly small. Maybe that's why when I started moving around a LOT at age 16, it came easy because I left so little behind. The urge to look cool and conform never passed for me because it never started. I had the good fortune to meet my ultimate kindred spirit at age 22, and while our urge to actually procreate definitely waned after two successful attempts, the urge to keep in practice has not. I am reminded of that old Billy Joel song:

They will tell you you can't sleep alone in a strange place
Then they'll tell you you can't sleep with somebody else
Ah, but sooner or later you sleep in your own space
Either way it's okay, you wake up with yourself

[Marcuse]

35. I was ten years old.

The teachers were crying as they led us to the auditorium to watch Cronkite.
I remember reenacting Ruby's hit on Oswald with my best friend. We took turns dying.

[klook]

48. Ok, I know I'm going to hell for this (and a few thousand other things),

but I've always thought this was a pretty clever alteration of the iconic photo:

[mountain grammy]

37. I was 15, exactly one week from my 16th birthday.

I'm a member of generation JFK. Graduated in 1965. Yes, the 1960's are in me, even as I enjoy my last year in the 60's.

[LakeArenal]

38. Are You Experienced? Ah! Have you ever been experienced? Well, I have.

Full Song Lyrics: http://www.l

[enid602]

39. JFK/FDR/LBJ/BHO generation

Maybe we could better be called the JFK/FDR/LBJ/BHO generation, given what Ryan and McConnell plan to do with FDR's, LBJ's and BHO's signature accomplishments. tRump has not able to deliver yet on his promise to repeal Obamacare, but I don't think he and the other Repubs have given up. tRump and Ryan said initially they will tackle Medicare and SS 'later this Spring.'

[Roy Rolling]

40. The times, they are a-changin'

This time, we're gonna make it stick.

[TexasBushwhacker]

42. I was 6. I saw him the day before in Houston

My mother took me downtown to watch the motorcade. It was a beautiful indian summer day and his hair looked red in the sunlight.

We went to the Unitarian church and many members were active in the anti-war movement. It was then that I found out my parents were Goldwater Republicans.

I look at how things were then and how they are now, and I just don't understand how anyone can support military action as anything but a last resort. I just can't understand the mind of a "hawk".

[DownriverDem]

44. I came home from school &

I saw my mother crying & beating the kitchen walls with her fists. It was a horrible time. We sat in front of our tvs for days.

[NBachers]

45. High School class of '67 - turn 68 today. Going mountain hiking with friend I haven't seen since '70

I figure I'm ground zero for the JFK generation, and I like what you've written.

[VOX]

53. Congrats! Same in 5 days.

Keep on hiking!

[HockeyMom]

46. I watched the Nixon-Kennedy Debates at 12

Stayed up half the night watching the Election Returns. "But, Mom, California's results haven't come in yet"! My parents (Democrats), and my Teachers (Nuns), thought I was crazy.


JFK was assassinated when I was a Sophomore in HS. I can even remember I was in Geometry class when we were told about it. My HS was near Macy's Herald Square. I walked home instead of taking the subway.

People were walking around in a daze. Some were openly crying on the streets. I saw strangers consoling and hugging each other. Surreal on the streets of NYC.

We of this generation lost our innocence that day.

[klook]

49. Great post - thank you!

I remember the tragic and shocking events of 1963 and ensuing years well. And I have been inspired in many ways by the collective shifts in consciousness that we experienced (and helped create) in the 1960s and '70s.

One of the principal projects of the American right wing for many years has been to trivialize and eradicate the spirit of the 1960s: equality for all, a giant fuck-you to the U.S. Wehrmacht, free love, consideration of alternate philosophies and political systems, priority of the natural and the human over commerce -- in short, a general willingness to try new ways of living and thinking.

The Right fears equality, worships American military dominance, detests free love in any form, requires conformity, and values commerce above all. We will continue to reject their ugly and barren worldview.

As I get older and more independent, I'm more willing than ever to challenge the status quo. I look forward to joining with my peers and anybody else who's up for the fight for a world that's more just, verdant, interesting, and nurturing.

[eniwetok]

50. I'm the 1968 generation...

I grew into the person I am in 1968 with the Tet Offensive, Columbia Occupation, and Chicago Convention. I changed from my dad's little right winger to a leftist... and never looked back.

[dchill]

51. Class of '69.

Just sayin'.

[Hugin]

52. This time let's set it up so it sticks, okay?

Maybe it is time to take a look at that there Constitution.