Are you old enough to know where you were 56 years ago, today?

[Plainosooner]

I was in the 7th grade at Edison Jr Hi in Tulsa. A group of us who had 5th period English were sitting in the hall at the very end of the whole complex of jr high and sr hi. The class we were entering was occupied at the end of our lunch hour.

Some kid who went home for lunch, was coming back into the building through the door next to where we were hanging out. As he walked by, he said, "someone shot the president." Being in the 7th grade, we were waiting for a punch line. Not all of us at 12 were tall enough to see through the small window of the classroom door, but one guy who was looked in and saw somber. And said, "Mrs. McDonald is crying."

They played the radio news reports over the intercom and about 45 minutes after we entered, the report confirmed the death of JFK. It became a very strange weekend, that included the killing of Oswald on Sunday morning, and then the funeral on Monday. Most of my friends were unhappy that NFL football wasn't being broadcast. During the funeral, on a gorgeous autumn day in Tulsa, we played touch football at Eisenhower Elementary school.

I still don't believe there is any way that Oswald did it all by himself, if at all. But I don't think we'll ever know.

 

[CTOkie]

I was in the 8th grade in New Jersey then and on that day, which was also my late brother's 20th birthday, I had come in from gym class and was walking to my science class when a friend stopped me and said "The president's been shot in Texas !"
A few minutes into my science class, our principal came to the door to our classroom. We all turned towards him and all he said was "The president is dead" then he left.
As I left school that cold and cloudy day, I felt my calm and quiet life that had carried over from the 1950's had ended.
At my present age of 71, I see November 22, 1963 as the start of a lot of the turmoil we have today. From that day in Dallas through the rest of the 1960's the domestic scene became turbulent, the drug culture escalated, an undeclared and unnecessary war was fabricated, and our government seemed to operate from secrecy and corruption like never before.

 

[humblesooner]

I was in Kindergarten - Porter Elem in Tulsa. I vaguely remember some teachers crying.
At 5 years old, I did not understand the significance of what was happening.

EDIT to add: I have had a strong interest in the assassination during my adulthood.
I enjoyed Oliver Stone's JFK. But, I think only because I understand that it is one man's view and his endeavor to make a what I consider an enjoyable, entertaining movie.
His takes certainly fall under the "that's possible" category.
He brought out a lot of details regarding Oswald, the shooting, the connection to New Orleans, disappearing witnesses, etc.
I think it was the 25th anniversary that CBS played their video "as it happened" 25 years before. While very sad, it was very informational.
I recorded it on Beta tapes and still have them.
I also have a player, but have not plugged it in for probably 25 years. LOL

 

[iasooner1]

Does anyone but me remember the week or two of "testing" or whatever it was called that CBS (I think) did in the evenings when they were indoctrinating the public on various subjects during the mid-60's ? I believe it was after the release of the Warren Commission findings but cannot remember the details. TIA

 

[trademarcs]

I was just 2.5 months old. My first words was “Texas sux.”

 

[owenfieldreams]

I was 21, married a year and working for a heat exchange manufacturing company while attending TU. I was on a forklift hauling pipe to be fabricated when the owner of the company came out in the shop and told everyone what had happened.

 

[Plainosooner]

I was just 2.5 months old. My first words was “Texas sux.”

Your parents taught you well.

 

[iasooner1]

What company was that Owen ? I miss the days when Tul was a "smallish Boomtown"...

 

[Schoonerman]

I was in second grade at John Marshall Elementary in Tulsa. I don't remember being told what happened, but our teacher was crying and school let out early that day. I remember my Mom picking me up and she was crying too. Seemed like that as the only thing on TV all weekend and I particularly remember seeing the horse with the boots backwards in the stirrups and thought it was strange, yet sad, since no one was wearing the boots and no one was riding the horse.

 

[WP76]

I was in fourth grade in Colorado Springs. My classmates had gone to lunch while I was left in the classroom to erase the blackboards. Just as I was finishing my task, the intercom came on which was highly unusual since we normally only heard it for the morning announcements. It was connected to the Mutual Broadcasting System radio feed and the announcer said the President had been assassinated. I immediately ran outside to tell everyone what I'd heard. School let out early and I remember a lot of the girls were crying. Next three days were nothing but assignation coverage. At that time we only got ABC and CBS television.

I remember that before we were sent home for the day, our teacher (Mrs. Gibson) said that while she didn't agree with many of his policies, she was sorry JFK was killed. As a nine year old, I thought the comment was very odd, especially coming from a teacher. At my young age, I'd just never heard anyone say anything negative about any President.

I also believe, in many ways, November 22nd, 1963 was a day from which our nation never really recovered and, as CT said, was changed forever.

 

[bullmarket]

I was in the 7th grade at Edison Jr Hi in Tulsa. A group of us who had 5th period English were sitting in the hall at the very end of the whole complex of jr high and sr hi. The class we were entering was occupied at the end of our lunch hour.

Some kid who went home for lunch, was coming back into the building through the door next to where we were hanging out. As he walked by, he said, "someone shot the president." Being in the 7th grade, we were waiting for a punch line. Not all of us at 12 were tall enough to see through the small window of the classroom door, but one guy who was looked in and saw somber. And said, "Mrs. McDonald is crying."

They played the radio news reports over the intercom and about 45 minutes after we entered, the report confirmed the death of JFK. It became a very strange weekend, that included the killing of Oswald on Sunday morning, and then the funeral on Monday. Most of my friends were unhappy that NFL football wasn't being broadcast. During the funeral, on a gorgeous autumn day in Tulsa, we played touch football at Eisenhower Elementary school.

I still don't believe there is any way that Oswald did it all by himself, if at all. But I don't think we'll ever know.

I watched the OU at Nebraska game on Nov 23rd 1963 (we lost 29-20) at a movie theater in downtown OKC at the municipal auditorium one day after he was shot. Many national games were cancelled that day Nov 23rd, but OU & NU elected to play.
JFK's assassination was shocking and most of us who were alive on Nov 22nd1963 remember where we were when we first heard the news. I was at St Anthony hospital in OKC with my parents as my dad was in the hospital having surgery and a doctor told us JFK was killed when we were in the waiting room.

 

[CTOkie]

Regardless of anyone's opinion of JFK, what his assassination symbolized to me was the end of an age of innocence. I was 3 weeks from my 15th birthday at the time and my little "Ozzie and Harriet" world ended abruptly that day.
I have always wondered what would have happened had Lincoln lived to conduct the reconstruction of the South with his pledge to do so with "malice towards none and charity for all" and if Kennedy would have kept us out of Vietnam. Could Kennedy have been killed because he did not want to get involved in Vietnam ?

 

[owenfieldreams]

At one time Tulsa was the home of the 5 largest heat exchange manufacturers in the world. I worked for 2 of them, Western Supply & Industrial Fabricating Co., while attending TU. I was ar IFC when the president was shot.

 

[ohyoubaby]

I was 5 years old living in Lawton at the time. I remember all the adults talking about it. I remember watching it unfold on our black and white television,

At one time Tulsa was the home of the 5 largest heat exchange manufacturers in the world. I worked for 2 of them, Western Supply & Industrial Fabricating Co., while attending TU. I was ar IFC when the president was shot.

 

[Phaeded]

I was two weeks away from being punched out into this world; my dad, stationed at an interceptor squadron at Bitburg AFB, W. Germany (I think he was flying F-102s then), was still ready to scramble 24/7 on "red alert" when I was born as they didn't know who shot JFK (they didn't know if the Soviets were behind it and of course W. Germany would have been the front line, so to speak, for WWIII). And like many born then, my name is John.

 

[Tollboothmgr]

5.8 months old so zero memory. dad told me my 10-yr old brother was babysitting and watching tv. when dad came in for lunch he asked what my brother was doing and he said watching the president get killed. my dad slumped down on the couch and cried his eyes out for the first time in his life he said. told me it was the beginning of the end for the golden days of the US as far as he was concerned.

 

[soonerjlc9]

I was 5 months prior to birth, but my first words were boomer sooner. Dad was in Law School in Norman.

 

[Scottsdale.Sooner]

I, like Plaino, was in the 7th grade at a very small K-12 school, Ochelata, just south of Bartlesville. I spent 6 years in the army in a high security environment. I was always amazed at how many older officers detested JFK for his last minute pull out at the Bay of Pigs. I am of the opinion that JFK's death was a direct result of stranding the CIA on the beach in Cuba. One simply does not do that to the most vicious group of nameless/faceless individuals in the world and go unscathed. In my opinion, organized crime took the job and did a repeat on Robert 5 years later. I am not in politics or military environment these days but my travels have taught me that some offenses carry very severe reprisals in far away places. Let's face it, JFK would not pass inspection in today's world. His life was bought and paid for by Irish crime money. Camelot forgot to lock the gate.

 

[iasooner1]

Damn fine reasoning there Scott; no impinging on the Irish as some of my English ancestors were possibly just as corrupt if not more so...

 

[CTOkie]

JFK had several enemies among the Mafia, Cuba, Russia, the CIA, LBJ and perhaps others.
All I stated was that his killing ended a time of peace and innocence that this country lost forever on 11/22/63.
While I am not a fan of Kennedy or any of the Kennedy brothers, I see JFK's assassination as a benchmark event of how our government and our politics changed forever.

 

[Plainosooner]

I, like Plaino, was in the 7th grade at a very small K-12 school, Ochelata, just south of Bartlesville. I spent 6 years in the army in a high security environment. I was always amazed at how many older officers detested JFK for his last minute pull out at the Bay of Pigs. I am of the opinion that JFK's death was a direct result of stranding the CIA on the beach in Cuba. One simply does not do that to the most vicious group of nameless/faceless individuals in the world and go unscathed. In my opinion, organized crime took the job and did a repeat on Robert 5 years later. I am not in politics or military environment these days but my travels have taught me that some offenses carry very severe reprisals in far away places. Let's face it, JFK would not pass inspection in today's world. His life was bought and paid for by Irish crime money. Camelot forgot to lock the gate.

My best guess for 20 years was that the mob took the job from the CIA but for a different reason. Organized crime in Chicago, whatever you name it , delivered the electoral college vote for JFK in Illinois as a favor to dad, the old bootlegger.

Then JFK appointed his brother AG and his early task included going after organized crime. I figured both assassinations were retaliations for that. But with some high likelihood that the CIA was involved. Maybe with a little LBJ influence. Pretty likely that he was going to be off the ticket in '64.

The latter l always wondered about, but saw some "evidence" over a decade ago.

Lots of conspiracy theories.

 

[Soonerborn59]

I was only 4 and really don’t remember that much about that day. In my later years I still remember my dad talking about that day and he believed that LBJ and Ladybird had something to do with it. I have often wondered just how many people knew what exactly happened and who was behind it.

 

[CTOkie]

I was only 4 and really don’t remember that much about that day. In my later years I still remember my dad talking about that day and he believed that LBJ and Ladybird had something to do with it. I have often wondered just how many people knew what exactly happened and who was behind it.

Ladybird ?
And by the way, I heard LBJ had a daughter who was a nymphomaniac....she was called "Thunder Bird". (That was funny in the 60's).

 

[WP76]

I've never subscribed to the conspiracy theories. I know of no conspiracy in history (and certainly one of that magnitude and whose results were so dire) for which there would have been no verifiable crack in over half a century.

Vincent Bugliosi (most famous for figuring out the Manson murder plot and then prosecuting them and putting them away) disabused the conspiracy theories in his book, "Reclaiming History, The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy." IMO and based on his impressive judicial and investigative track record, Bugliosi is probably more intelligent than any 20 people on this board combined and I certainly include myself in that total.

Conspiracy makes for great storytelling and conjecture but, personally, I just don't believe there's anything there.

 

[OUnabomber]

wow I never realized you guys were so old

 

[soonerinlOUisiana]

wow I never realized you guys were so old

Love this thread. I'm not as old as i thought I was. My dad's first wife was still alive, so I was not even part of a "long-term plan."