45 years ago today...JFK assassinated

[jloewe]

My birth year and his assassination will be forever linked. I remember a story my mom used to tell me. In grade school, we got the standard question of what did we want to be when we grew up?? I answered President of the US, and decided to find out as much as I could about who was president the year I was born.

My mom remembers me asking who was president on my birthday, and why wasn't he president any more?? After she told me, and after watching the Zapruder Film a few times, I decided that maybe I'd change careers.

I could not seem to shake my interest in President Kennedy, it is still with me till this day. I have read scores of books about his life and presidency, and of course, his assassination, actually dragging DW to Dallas in 1995 to visit the assassination site...what an emotional event that was, I left the School Book Depository, which now houses a museum dedicated to JFK and the assassination, feeling as if I had just been punched in the gut, almost as if I experienced the shocking news for the first time.

What I admired about JFK was his drive to make our country a country of do'ers, as opposed to followers, the way Jackie turned the White House into a place befitting our nation's first family. For all of their warts, they were as close to royalty as I'll ever experience in my lifetime, and I will take some time this evening to think back to what might have been had November 22, 1963 been just another day on the calendar, and to think ahead to what challenges our new president places before us.

 

[dreamyjeanie]

Thanks for posting this Jerry. I think we all can learn a lot from him even today. His speach "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country" could go a long way today. Instead it seems that more and more people want the government to do for them. It appears that they think that is the America way, for the government to give them a handout instead of the opportunity to make something of themselves.

Jean

 

[Peaceful Rainbow]

That was one of my earliest memories. It was my third birthday and I remember very clearly my Mother ironing and watching the news during the day. I think because the day already had a significance to me it made me more aware of what else was happening.

 

[mtnmom99]

Yes, I remember coming home from school (must have been pre-school or kindergarten) and Mom handing me a rosary and asking me join her on her knees to pray. I didn't understand at the time - didn't even know what a president was, but I remember that moment.

Diane

PS - Wow! Just got teary.

 

[PhyllisG]

I am old enough to remember the day very clearly. It can still make me cry. It changed so many things for this country that I really feel we have never recovered from. You know some years later we traveled by road thru Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and on to India--the old hippy trail. I was amazed to see pictures of JFK in tea stalls all thru these countries. It amazed me the love everyone felt for him in this part of the world. He had not been forgotten. Compare that to how so many people in these countries feel about the US today. I lived in NYC at that time and came home on the subway from school. It was completely quiet except for people crying--no one said a word.

 

[LuzJim]

RE: JFK Assasination

I was born in the "Summer of Love" 1967, but ever since the Oliver Stone movie "JFK" came out, I've become somewhat of a conspiracy nut. It's very difficult to forget moments in history like this ( including "where we were when Sept. 11 took place") that brings back memories so vivid, it's like out of the movie "Groundhog Day"; where the main character relives the same exact day over and over again. Even Dion's song "Abraham,Martin, and John" where he makes mention of JFK in song is in itself very poignant, and makes you think what if that day had never happened.