I was 5 years old...and my mother had me watch the funeral and to this day I actually remember my mother crying when John John saluted the coffin...I remember it as clear as it happened yesterday...I wasn't too sure about the actual event I was watching...just remembered that little boy triggered my mother's crying...
The first funeral I remember is Bobby Kennedy's.
I think our 5-yr-old WILL remember; the 3-yr-old will like the horses!
I was eight at the time and I remember the same thing.
"remember my mother crying when John John saluted the coffin"
I was 8 in 1963, I watched all of it hour after hour, from the time immediately after the shooting till the funeral.
I still remember the cadence of the horses hooves, I still remember RFK walking in procession in his mourning suit. It had a profound impact on me.
A 5 yr old will have the memory of the events and as he grows up you can explain the significance of them as his maturity grows.
I had a discussion with my neice many years ago. She was griping about her studies of history. I told her that what she considered history was current events for we old folks that lived through it.
Attending will give your son a historical perspective that he will not have otherwise.