Where were you 56 years ago today, 22nd November 1963 when John F Kennedy died?

[Heartstrings]

I was in 6th grade and a fellow classmate who lived across the street and had gone home for lunch came running across a large half circle of grass in front of my elementary school (which was forbidden for us to play on) and told us....we were dismissed for the remainder of that day and also for the 3 days following. I still get choked up when I see the photo or video of “John-John” saluting and the riderless horse.
This past September, while in Dallas for a concert, we went to the scene of the assassination....they have X’s on the road depicting where his motorcade was for the individual shots fired. Incredibly somber....

[pnwest]

1. I was one month from conception.

[applegrove]

2. I was not born yet but read a letter from my grandfather. He was describing

a family reunion that always took place on a weekend in late November, bi-annually. He and his cousins and descendants would get together in Quebec. Some cousins were american. In the letter he described people bursting into tears all weekend over the loss of the President. I forget how he worded it but the men in my family were (are) softies so i imagine they were crying too. Such a shock. I remember when Reagan was shot. I was on a bus with friends from high school (before cell phones were invented) and the news went rapidfire through the bus. Shocking. But you could actually see the information pass from one group of people on the bus to another and the quick change in emotion, like it was fireworks going off. I'm glad i missed Kennedys being assasinated. MLK too. Too hard.

[calimary]

3. Fifth grade. Our teacher had been called out of the classroom.

I didn’t really think about it, even though she was gone for awhile. She returned. “Girls, nobody scream. The President is dead.” We froze. That was NOT what we’d ever expected to hear.

She’d been in the library with other teachers and staff watching the TV in there. We were silent. The bell rang for lunchtime. We all lined up, still thunderstruck. Everybody else heading down to lunch too was behaving the same way. Nobody said a word.

Downstairs, our class was about to enjoy the special table setup for when a student had a birthday. Several tables were arranged end-to-end into one long table with the birthday girl at the head. Usually birthdays were loud raucous celebrations with cake at the end and the whole lunchroom singing “Happy Birthday”. It was always a fun break in the day. But not this time. Catholic school, first Catholic President, a source of pride, and all that. It felt terrible.

I remember feeling so bad for that day’s birthday girl. Everybody always looked forward to somebody having a birthday. But we all sat there somber as could be. Nobody spoke. In the whole room.

The rest of the day was a blur. Somber and silent at home too. It was a Friday. I remember watching the TV coverage all weekend. Couldn’t pull myself away.

[safeinOhio]

5. 6th grade class.

Teacher rolled out the tv. At that time it had not been announced that he had died.

Seems folks our age grew up early that day.

[dweller]

4. in a church

that we were housed in as 4th-5th graders due the construction of a new wing of our school for 4-6 grades..
returned from recess and were told
of the news and early release, i walked to school so was going to meet my 2 brothers for the walk home
in the rush of early release
my mate Joey Smith put his hand through a glass pane in the exit door
true story, blood, glass mini emergency
walked home in my mini group of peeps thru the neighborhood
walked into my house with my Mom, in curlers, vacuuming in tears...

i've never forgotten that day, nor the details ...

oh, and FU ghwb ... you said you didn't remember where you were that day ? 😡
i was 10 years old, and i'll never forget


✌🏼

[5X]

6. In a small catholic school in 4th grade in Tulsa

the nuns wheeled in a tv on a cart for us to watch after he had been shot.

edit to add: Was quite the traumatic event for my whole family.
We had even been to a rally for Kennedy when he was campaigning. A first for all of us.

[badhair77]

7. In Miss Tate's sixth grade.

Someone told the teacher that JFK had been shot. No TVs or radios in the classroom so she sent a kid named Barry to her car to check the radio. He came in to tell us he had died.

I don’t remember what day of the week that was but I do remember returning to school after a long weekend of Oswald being shot, funeral coverage and excruciating sadness.

[SamKnause]

8. Mrs. Barger's fourth grade class.

We were sent home immediately.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. Algebra class. Ninth grade.

[OregonBlue]

53. Between algebra and english classes. Also a freshman.

We went into our English class and the teacher couldn't stop sobbing. It was a very sad day for most at my school.

[BlueMTexpat]

10. Senior at a Catholic

liberal arts college. I had just left my Theology class: we were required to take four philosophy courses and four theology courses in addition to our majors/minors in order to graduate.

I had already been accepted to be a Peace Corps Volunteer upon my graduation in 1964, having been inspired, like so many at the time, by this young and vibrant President.

My heart literally broke.

[MaryMagdaline]

30. Thank you for Peace Corps service

[BlueMTexpat]

44. You are most welcome.

It was truly a life-changing experience for me.

Our small group is STILL very close; they were ALL amazing people!

[videohead5]

11. Still

In the womb.

[Liberty Belle]

12. It was devastating to me. I was in 1st grade and had just seen Kennedy in his motorcade

in San Diego a few weeks earlier. Mom and Dad had taken me out of school to see the President.

On Nov. 22 the teacher came in crying after recess, and told us the President had been shot, and then that he was dead.

The funeral was especially hard for me to watch. His children were exactly the same age as my brother and I, almost to the day.

Our elementary school planted a tree in his honor. It is huge now, and makes me feel very old whenever I see it.

[Arkansas Granny]

13. Senior year high school English class. Teacher came in from meeting in Principals office,

visibly upset, and broke the news. School was dismissed until after the funeral. There was wall to wall news coverage, including the shooting of LHO. It was a very traumatic experience.

[Granny M]

14. 4th grade classroom

At St. Andrew’s School. I remember all of us kneeling in prayer by our desks.

[YOHABLO]

15. 2nd Grade in Austin TX waiting to be released to go and see the President.

President Kennedy and wife Jackie, were coming from Dallas to Austin that day for fund a raising dinner; his motorcade would be coming through the Austin downtown area, a parade of sorts. We were going to be let out of school early so our families could take us downtown to seeing him. We knew something was up when all of our teachers were standing outside the classroom door in the hallway, some crying and wiping their eyes. My teacher then told us we were going outside and we sat under a big oak tree and she began reading a book to us. Then after, she explained that the president had been shot in Dallas and that we would then be released to go home. My grandmother and great aunt were visiting for Thanksgiving just a few days away, I'll never forget upon walking into the house the television was on and Walter Cronkite reporting on the latest news, both of them had been crying, along with my mom.

[mnhtnbb]

16. In Mrs Sprinkle's 7th grade English class

In Chatham, N J. The speaker came on in the classroom all of a sudden. A radio station announcer was talking and reporting that JFK had been shot in the motorcade in Dallas, taken to the hospital and died. There was absolute silence in the classroom. It was the last class of the day.

I walked home alone. My brother was 2 grades ahead of me in the same school but I don't remember seeing him or knowing where he was. When I got home, I went in the kitchen where my mom and her mother who was visiting from California, were sitting having tea. I asked them if they'd heard the news and they replied, what news? I told them the President had been assassinated and my mother said, "It's about time.". My grandmother was clearly shocked and only said, "no!".

I had a sudden realization then--at 12 years old--that I didn't want to grow up to be like my mother. I was glued to the TV all weekend and I was alone. My family were Republicans. My brother is a Trump supporter and was a Bush supporter, too.

Yet I can say that if someone were to tell me today that the President had been assassinated, I might very well have the same reaction my mother did 56 years ago.

[Frustratedlady]

17. I was at our bank's drive-in making a deposit with my 3 kids in the car.

I had the radio on and, as the clerk was finishing my transaction, heard of the shooting. It was all I could do to tell her what had just happened. We both froze and looked at each other in shock. Even the children, who were toddlers/baby sat in silence, as they must have sensed something was desperately wrong.

I rushed home and called my husband's school to let them know what had just happened.

What a horrid week.

[denbot]

18. Kindergarten.

I remember crying with my mom and sisters, watching his funeral procession.

[tazkcmo]

19. In my grandmother's arms.

I was just a year old.

[TruckFump]

20. HS Trig class. First period after lunch.

Stunned.

[get the red out]

21. In my Mom's uterus

But I grew up always seeing the grief on her and my grandmothers' faces when the topic came up.

[PJMcK]

22. Kindergarten

I remember that weekend vividly, even though I was quite young.

In those days, kids could walk to and from school. When I got home that Thursday afternoon, my mom was in the family room watching TV. She was crying.

"What's the matter, mom?" I asked.

"President Kennedy has been killed," she replied.

"Are you kidding me?" was my 5-year old's response. (For years, my mom would tease about that response!)

We spent the next 3 days glued in front of the TV watching the coverage of the national tragedy.

I also recall seeing Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald on live TV. Then there was the President's funeral.

These were powerful historical events seared into the mind of a child.

[ChazII]

35. I was also in kindergarten and

according to my mom,when she was still alive, the two kindergarten classes were on a field trip to the zoo.

[catbyte]

23. I was 8 years old in the "library" of my one-room school (Grades K-6) painting a table green while

listening to the clock radio that was always in there when the bulletin came in. I ran to tell our teacher and things are blurry from there.

[Freedomofspeech]

24. In tenth grade biology class...

Our principal made an announcement that we were all to report to the auditorium. When we were all seated he told us the President had been assassinated. I always look at that moment as the end of my innocence. Sixth months later my big brother was killed in a plane crash on his way to Vietnam. It was a horrible time but everyday now seeing what is happening in this country is much worse than anything in the sixties. (Except for losing my brother, of course.)

[ProfessorGAC]

25. Younger Than You

Second Grade.
But was home with German Measles.
Mom was on phone with her pal, and had little B&W TV on in room across from kitchen.
She was a serious "As The World Turns" follower and show was just about to start so she's wrapping up call was special bulletin hits.
She asks me "What did they just say?!?!?"
I told her what I heard and she told friend "Gotta go. Turn TV on"
Then she ran into the room, and we watched coverage together

[Chipper Chat]

26. In a music store in indianapolis.

A hippie guy with a transistor radio on his shoulder came in started saying the president has been shot. No one believed him until he turned up the volume..

[James48]

27. I was three years old. And I remember!

I was at swimming lessons. My mom had taking me to the neighbor lady’s home who had an INDOOR pool and gave swimming lessons.

I remember being in the pool, when someone came in and yelled to turn on the TV, “They’ve shot him! They’ve shot the President!”

We all got out of the pool, and walked to the other room, and watched the black and white TV, as they began explaining the horrific tragedy.

[Coleman]

28. 3rd Grade, Chin Elementary, Parkville, MO

Principal came across the intercom and announced JFK's assasination. After which, a girl in class yelled out, "No more president's physical fitness test." It is amazing what is important to 7-8 year-olds.

[Blues Heron]

29. Good question! you know, i just can't remember, signed, Poppy

[Doc_Technical]

72. Richard Nixon was in Dallas that day.

[jberryhill]

31. Behind the fence on the grassy knoll

[2naSalit]

32. ...

[jberryhill]

43. To hell with these "post your alibi" threads

[snowybirdie]

33. I worked at a Sears store

When we heard the news, we went to the tv dept. Watched it unfold on a wall of televisions. 20 or so images all at once. Incredible and unforgettable!

[redstatebluegirl]

34. I was eight years old.

When I got off the bus I saw my mom waiting for me on the porch of our farm house, she was in tears. I had never seen her that way before. It was worse when Bobby was killed. Very sad time for sure.

[sarge43]

36. Personnel office, 544RTGp, Offutt Plane Patch

A sergeant came in and said the president has been shot. Work stopped and we all gathered around the radio. About an half hour later "A priest has said that the president is dead." We all had the same expression - shock; we couldn't process this. After that, little conversation, just standing around. Then, and this is something I never experienced again, we all left and went wherever.

I still remember the sergeant's name.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

37. At home from school (11th grade), sick with strep throat,

watching it all unfold on TV.

[MissMillie]

39. I can say the exact same thing

about the Oklahoma City bombing.

(well, not exact. I was not a student. I was home sick from work.)

[MissMillie]

38. According to my mom

(who told me this story many times over the years)

This was the day I was conceived.

It was 2:00 Eastern Time when he was pronounced dead. By 9:00 pm, it had been 7 hours of JFK coverage on the 3 channels they had on the TV... so they went to bed and consoled each other.

8+ months later, my twin sister and I were born.

(The running gag was that when it came to my mom's pregnancy, there was a lone gunman and no grassy knoll involved.)

[lastlib]

46. (one, or maybe two shots fired.....)

[MissMillie]

47. identical twin

one shot hit its mark

[murielm99]

40. In typing class.

Those old manual typewriters clacked so loudly we did not hear the intercom when it came on. One boy near the front finally heard something, and told the teacher. We listened to the principal announce that Kennedy had been shot. He said he would update us as news developed. There was some half-hearted typing. A few minutes later, the principal put the radio on over the speakers so the whole school could hear. We heard his death announced.

I went to geometry class. The halls were so quiet that all you could hear was the sound of lockers closing. I will never forget it.

They sent us home after a few minutes. There was no school the following Monday.

I was fifteen.

[mithnanthy]

41. I was in gym class...my senior year of high school

I remember feeling complete shock and fear.

[Boxerfan]

42. I was 5 standing in the "TV room" in Portola Valley ca.

I lived on a 14.5 acre ranch that had been used during prohibition to sell Apricot Whiskey. The Apricot fields were still active & we had a actual trap door escape hatch under the rug in our kitchen. Sigh....

It was also the last time I remember my father in the house as a Dad. And the 1st and last time I ever saw him cry.

----

He soon left messy divorce he re-married a woman who later convinced him to dis-inherit his 3 children. Then they went on a holiday in England where he died in a "mysterious" accident.
That day when Kennedy was shot was the last time I felt I had a father.

[benld74]

45. Sitting in 1st grade, oblivious to just about everything

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

67. Same here... The funeral is what I remember most.

[Aristus]

48. My parents had only been married for a year and a half.

My older sister was still three years away.

And I was five years in the future. Born four months after RFK was murdered.

[kiranon]

49. Outside the book store at the University of Oregon

Students were going down the street telling everyone that the President had been shot.

[Niagara]

50. My mother was 11 years old

She was at school when JFK was assassinated. Someone had brought in a television into the school cafeteria where all the students and staff had gathered to watch the news on the television as this horrific tragedy unfolded.

I'm not sure if the students and staff were dismissed early that day.

This is an incredible photo of JFK.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

51. At school.

Eighth grade, Eastern Standard Time, so the school day didn't have much longer to go. I can't recall if we got out early.

We watched the coverage and the funeral on TV.

My mom was upset that she couldn't register a car title (on the following Monday, maybe), as the DMV office was closed. My family was extremely RW, so we didn't tear up.

[CountAllVotes]

52. At school in the 2nd grade

The speaker came on telling us that we were to go home for the day as the President had been assassinated. I did not know what that word meant, but I went home.

We walked in those days. Home was abt. 1 mile away from the school. I arrived home to an empty house as my mother and father both worked full-time.

When my mother came home she wanted to know why we were home from school so soon. I told her that the President had been assassinated.

She turned on the radio and heard the sad news and wept as did the rest of America.

That was the saddest time I have ever known in America.

RIP JFK. America loved you!

[Croney]

54. In New Orleans, parked on the street.

In front of Diebert, Bancroft & Ross, waiting to pick up my then-husband from work, when the news came on the radio. We had just sent the Kennedys a wedding invitation five months earlier (as was the custom back then) and gotten a reply (which I still have). It was surreal.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

55. Mrs. M's 6th grade classroom... the school secretary put radio station on school PA system

When she heard the news, so everyone could hear it, and that's how we heard it. Over the loudspeaker in the classroom. At first no one believed it. Then Mrs. M turned on the televison in the back of the room and we all turned around and watched and knew it was for real, except it was just so unreal.

[Freddie]

56. Second grade

The school secretary came in the class and whispered to the teacher, who told us. Like many my age (I was 7) I mainly remember no Saturday morning cartoons that weekend.
For years it seemed every Catholic household had the same 3 things on the wall in the living room: a crucifix, a portrait of Jesus and a framed photo of JFK.

[whathehell]

57. In my Eighth grade class

Very suddenly, the principle came over the PA system and made the announcement, sending us home

We were all in total shock, and the next four days were full of nothing
but heartbreak and tears.

His was a terrible loss, and some say that, as a country, we never really recovered from it.

RIP, JFK.

[tirebiter]

58. I was in West Germany on the frontline of the Cold War. I was 9 1/2

Everybody had AFN I’m their radio. They initially did a break to say JFK had been shot in Dallas. We did the usual thing and went on with our lives. We went on Post to the movies. Then about halfway through they stopped the movie, someone came out onstage and said President Kennedy has been shot and has died. He could barely get it out. To remain apolitical the film was then started back up. About half the audience left, leaving the rest either too numb to move or just holding it to themselves..

[flor-de-jasmim]

59. Mrs. Steele's 5th grade class. I remember the PA announcement letting us out of school,

but I can't remember if they told us why or just left that jobbie for our parents.

I know we sat in front of the TV all weekend.

[TexasBushwhacker]

60. I was in 1st grade. I saw him the day before in Houston. N/t

[yonder]

61. Bright, cold day in Denver. 5th grade and on the play ground at lunchtime.

Pretty soon a buzzing starts as word spread, then the teachers herded everyone back to class where they did the best they could to explain to us what happened. Lots of tears everywhere.

[sdfernando]

62. I would have been at home in El Paso, TX

We had just returned from Germany where both my brother and I were born. I would have been a bit over 2 years old and I don't have any memory of the actual event. It was my parent's 11th wedding anniversary. I doubt any celebration happened.

[yellowdogintexas]

63. Biology class 5th period.

The physics teacher from next door called my teacher to the door and then my teacher came back in and said "if this is another one of Crafton's sick jokes, I'm going to beat him with my crutches"

Shortly thereafter, Mr Crafton returned with the update that the President was dead.

Then the all school announcement came on.

You could literally hear a pin drop in the halls

It was just horrible.

[ploppy]

64. Home fake sick from 3rd grade.

Dad was came home for lunch that day and was just leaving back for work when the bulletin came on the news. I will never forget the look on his face. We were all at mass the next Sunday when the priest told us Jack Ruby had shot Oswald. Such a sad time.

[sakabatou]

65. I had yet to be born, but both of my parents were in school.

[randr]

66. Last period, chem class

Intercom said to report to home room where we were told. Never forget the following days. We lived on east coast near Route 40 that went down to DC. Thought of going to funeral but had to turn back. Traffic was jammed for 60 miles heading down.

[Fla Dem]

68. Band practice in HS in the Boston suburbs.

It was after 2:00 est. because practice was after school. We were practicing for the football game on Saturday. Someone came in and told us. Don't remember if they said he'd just been shot or he was dead, but I know we were all pretty upset. Day seared in my memory.

[rownesheck]

69. I was

-13 years old floating around in the ether waiting on my parents who were 13.

[whistler162]

70. 4 years old so

still home.

[DFW]

71. In Friday afternoon school assembly on Wisconsin Ave. in D.C.

Someone came in and quietly got Bobby, Jr. (one class below me) and his brother, Joe II (in my class), and took them both outside. We just figured, hey, they were Kennedys, probably some family thing.

Right after that, I got my stuff and took the bus to downtown D.C. as I sometimes went home with my dad on Fridays. His office was in the National Press building at 14th and F streets. There was an old guy who always used to sell newspapers outside the door, and this time a huge banner headline screamed "JFK SLAIN!" I was used to sensationalist headlines, being the son of a journalist, but this seemed over the top to me--not the kind of thing to joke about.

I got up to my dad's office, and he had a phone to each ear, looking agitated, not his normal state. That is when I first started to think, could that be true? He got off one phone, and told me, before it rang again, that yes, it appeared to be true. I remembered pestering him unmercifully with questions the whole ride back to our house in Virginia. We listened to the radio, which was a bunch of broadcast journalists trying their best to get a handle on what was going on. Compared to how grave the situation seemed to be, it struck me how routine life outside appeared. It seemed to me that people should be running around in circles screaming, or something, though I could think of no logical reason why they should.