3rd grade and they brought a portable black & white tv into the gym and we all went to the gym and sat on the floor around it and watched.

I was at Ellington Field watching the motorcade in Houston go by on November 21, 24 hours before he was shot in Dallas.

//Was in 5th grade at South Shaver Elementary in Pasadena Texas in Mr Koening (1st Male teacher I ever had, he was pretty stoic) class. Emotional time for many at school, principal sent us home early. Went on Thankgiving break early to grandparents in Huntsville, they worked for TX Dept of Corrections which locked down, watched funneral on tv and listened on radio (Exxon Southwest game otd) ags get outscored to tu. Remember little details, of the time, but not much of the rest of the year. Was 11 years old.//just my thoughts.//

Rattler12 said:

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!3 years old, in the 8th grade at Gillett Elementary playing scrub fast pitch softball when the principal came out and told us

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Where is Gillett Elementary

In fourth grade, Midway Elementary.

I was 4 1/2,…but I do remember the funeral procession and those muffled drums.

I was 3 and although only a year younger than Ms. Hawg, my memories aren't as vivid. I do have memories of the general sadness and watching the funeral. Of course, I doubt my intellect will ever be confused with Ms. Hawg's.

cr06gis said:

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Not alive, but my grandfather worked for the Corps of Engineers in downtown Ft Worth. He and a few co-workers walked over to see JFKs last speech over on Main St. He recalled not being much of a fan of JFK but wanted to say he saw a US President.

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Wow! I bet in retrospect he's very glad he made that decision as it was only a few hours before no one would be able to see JFK again.

Fifteen year old high school freshman in vocational agriculture class building trailers in rural central Texas. House wife is running out of her home near the school screaming that President Kennedy has been shot. Unthinkable event at the time and a seminal moment for our country. The beginning of a slow decline in the America of those days to what we have today.

Old RV Ag said:

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I was getting married. Some would have thought it a bad omen but I had 45 years of a wonderful marriage before cancer took my loved one.

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Sorry to hear about your spouse.

Two people I know well and love very much share your anniversary date. Their's, however, predated 1963.

On 11/22/1963, my mom was at her school (teacher), then picked up my sisters from their school, and my dad left work around the time of the assassination and traveled to Brownwood to officiate a HS football game. That was one of many HS games played that night, while others were cancelled. He didn't recall who they played, though I looked it up once about 15-18 years ago (I've now forgotten). They didn't know whether they'd get there and turn right around and come back or if they'd go ahead with the game. Turns out it was the latter. Interesting story.

Another tidbit. About 20 years ago I got to spend some time talking to Gary Delaune (Was helping run the scoreboard at NE Stadium for a HS game) and he had some interesting memories of the JFK assassination. At the time he was a cub reporter in Dallas working the local crime beat. Said that Jack Ruby was a semi well known Mob wannabee and that the word on the street was that he got the task to help clean up the aftermath, i.e., get rid of Oswald. Classic Mob stuff. Ruby ran a (*)(*) club and was a lowlife. Gary Delaune became a San Antonio TV celebrity over the decades, a face/voice known to anyone here for a long time. He passed away last year, RIP. Hard to imagine a guy like Jack Ruby just walking into the basement of the Dallas PD (Or sheriff, I don't remember) that morning, but he did. All those cops and none of them thought to ask this guy WTF he was doing there.

So many problems in the fake Oswald story/personna. The BS photo of him leaning sideways holding the rifle. Getting bounced from the USMC, not even qualifying with his M14, but making the wildest 3 shots with a mail order Austrian WWII bolt action carbine in < 6 seconds. Something several other marksmen could not replicate later. So many eye witnesses dying of mysterious causes within a few years. The Zapruder 8mm film. The magic bullet found on the Parkland hospital stretcher. The one that made two 90 turns in mid air. LBJ riding in the follow on car and not with JFK/Jackie. Had the American escalation into Vietnam never happened, something JFK was about to decide against, thousands of Bell Hellicopter UH-1s (Fort Worth) would have never been built/sold to DoD. LOTS of money. Plenty of other military contractors/suppliers/contractors made millions of $ in/because of the Vietnam War. Not withstanding the human cost of The Wall.

The media coverage JFK got was 95% suck up positive. TV was coming of age and he was glib, attractive, and the womanizer they all wanted to be. America was fed the image of JFK, Jackie, Caroline, John John, and all the glamour. We were not told about all the bimbos, starting from Marilyn Monroe and working his way downward. Think Bill Clinton with a MUCH better looking wife. New 'Old' money family, acquired nefariously via the shadows of the Mob and ward/machine Democrat politics. The image of JFK and the reality of JFK were two different folks. Other than getting his WWII PT boat sunk, JFK had nothing but his Daddy's notoriety and money to use when he ran for Congress in 1946. The classic rich kid who never had a real job. A couple of years later he ran for Senate and enjoyed the ride without doing much of anything except chase the girls and party with the Las Vegas types. Politically, he was an empty suit. After 2 terms of Ike, who was bald and 70 years old, America was ready for a young guy as President. JFK understood that looking well in front of a TV camera was more important than what he said to the microphone. Nixon looked like the banker who was going to turn you down for a loan and never had a chance. Catholics voted for JFK in 1960 in an almost tribal way (Like blacks did for Obama in 2008) because he was one of them. Even then the election came down to one state, Illinois, and the Mayor Daley Democratic machine came up with the votes needed in the middle of the night to swing the state and the electoral votes to JFK. Sound familiar?

The MSM and the idea/concept that the great unwashed would actually watch (Ratings) 'news' started that weekend. Up until then the network 'news' evening show was only 15 minutes long. Followed or preceded, depending on the local station, by their 15 minute show. Made sense because in those ancient days, and true today, there is usually only a few minutes of REAL news to talk/show on any typical day. Within a few years of 1963 the 3 networks expanded their evening news 'show' to 30 minutes. On any typical day, how much of that 30 minutes is real news and how much of it is just some piece to make a point - just filler? Walter Cronkite was just one of the trio of network anchors. Him getting to cry on air telling America that JFK was dead made him a celebrity. The concept of the MSM news celebrity personna started that weekend. TV MSM morphed into the storyteller being as much if not more important than the story. For many decades Americans got their 'news' from newspapers, information written up by faceless reporters rarely if ever seen. Few were 'known' to the public. Radio changed the information flow some, mostly time wise, but the announcers mostly just read what was put in front of them. The MSM as we know it today was, in so many ways, born that weekend in November of 1963.

Kool...

I'm intrigued by your comment, "his brains were falling out of the back of his head"

That aligns with my opinion the kill shot was not from the 6th floor of the book depository. There's a book by the title of 'Best Evidence' written by David Lifton. Very interesting read and well researched by Lifton. As a medical professional, and your connection to Kennedy, I think you'd find it of interest.

Quote:

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Another tidbit. About 20 years ago I got to spend some time talking to Gary Delaune (Was helping run the scoreboard at NE Stadium for a HS game) and he had some interesting memories of the JFK assassination. At the time he was a cub reporter in Dallas working the local crime beat. Said that Jack Ruby was a semi well known Mob wannabee and that the word on the street was that he got the task to help clean up the aftermath, i.e., get rid of Oswald. Classic Mob stuff. Ruby ran a (*)(*) club and was a lowlife. Gary Delaune became a San Antonio TV celebrity over the decades, a face/voice known to anyone here for a long time. He passed away last year, RIP. Hard to imagine a guy like Jack Ruby just walking into the basement of the Dallas PD (Or sheriff, I don't remember) that morning, but he did. All those cops and none of them thought to ask this guy WTF he was doing there.

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I've listened to the recordings of Gary's work that day - top notch. When he passed away last year, I learned so much more about him. Growing up in SA, he covered a lot of interesting events, including the Battle of Flowers parade sniper - live. He was always a bit over-dramatic to me, but I have to admit he covered some pretty monumental events.

As for the comment above about the conspiracy theories - there's a great book called "Case Closed" which does a very good job of explaining the forensics and showing definitively (in my view) that Oswald acted alone.

AggieCo2023 said:

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I was a twinkle in my granddaddies eye

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Bet there was a twinkle in your grandmother's eye first......

sanangelo said:

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Rattler12 said:

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!3 years old, in the 8th grade at Gillett Elementary playing scrub fast pitch softball when the principal came out and told us

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Where is Gillett Elementary

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In Gillett, TX......

ToddyHill said:

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Kool...

I'm intrigued by your comment, "his brains were falling out of the back of his head"

That aligns with my opinion the kill shot was not from the 6th floor of the book depository. There's a book by the title of 'Best Evidence' written by David Lifton. Very interesting read and well researched by Lifton. As a medical professional, and your connection to Kennedy, I think you'd find it of interest.

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The Trauma Rm #1 location at Parkland Hospital in Dallas has been remodeled since 1963. A plaque marks the old location. The hospital printed a document called 'Hospital Highlights' which details some of the actions of the medical team after JFK arrived.

https://www.parklandhealth.org/Uploads/Public/Documents/PDFs/Kennedy/1894-into-the-Future-Chapter-five.pdf

Cen-Tex said:

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ToddyHill said:

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Kool...

I'm intrigued by your comment, "his brains were falling out of the back of his head"

That aligns with my opinion the kill shot was not from the 6th floor of the book depository. There's a book by the title of 'Best Evidence' written by David Lifton. Very interesting read and well researched by Lifton. As a medical professional, and your connection to Kennedy, I think you'd find it of interest.

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The Trauma Rm #1 location at Parkland Hospital in Dallas has been remodeled since 1963. A plaque marks the old location. The hospital printed a document called 'Hospital Highlights' which details some of the actions of the medical team after JFK arrived.

https://www.parklandhealth.org/Uploads/Public/Documents/PDFs/Kennedy/1894-into-the-Future-Chapter-five.pdf

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https://www.parklandhealth.org/kennedy-connection

The plaque was located in a Radiology waiting area. It was surprisingly non-descript for a historical marker of such significance. Will soon be lost forever due to the demolition of the old Parkland Hospital currently in progress.

Thanks to all of you for sharing your memories of a day that, even after 59 years, makes me a bit melancholy. I was a third grader that day and can remember vividly where I was when I heard the news and the events of the rest of the school day. For my generation, it was a seminal moment... and us old guys and gals can only wonder how the history of the country, and the world, would have evolved if fate had not taken JFK that day. That's not a political statement, just a recognition that the events of 22 November 1963 set this country, and the world, on a different path that can only be appreciated in the hindsight of history.

There is a nice memorial plaza dedicated to JFK across the street from the old Hotel Texas (now the Hilton Fort Worth) where he spent his last night. Give it a look if you're in Cowtown.