Where Were You When...

Townhall.com ^ | November 21, 2013 | Rich Galen

[Kaslin]

Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas.

Anyone over the age of 55 will be asking everyone else over the age of 55: "Where were you when you heard the news?" We all know exactly where we were.

Here's my story.

I was a senior at West Orange Mountain High School in West Orange, New Jersey.

I was in drama class in the auditorium and the teacher, Miss Levin, asked me to go backstage to get some piece of business that she needed to demonstrate a point.

While back there, I spotted a radio and I turned it on. I don't remember what station I tuned it to, but it was probably WABC-AM radio because they played a lot of Beatle's tunes.

The first reports from Dallas were just coming in. Those reports indicated that both President Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon Johnson had been shot.

They were in error. The second person shot was Texas Governor John Connelly - about whom, more later.

I had just read - remember I was 16 at the time - I had just read the thriller "Seven Days in May" which has to do with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff plotting a coup against the President.

I said aloud "Oh, my God. It's coming true," even though I was alone.

I ran out to the stage and told Miss Levin what I had heard. She instructed me to go to the Central Office and tell them.

I was such a pest in high school that I had a reserved seat on the naughty bench in the central office where I would sit until the Assistant Principal could get to me, patiently explain to me how I was ruining my life, bringing shame and dishonor to my family, and then mete out an appropriate punishment for whatever horror I had committed.

I stopped off at the classroom of my Social Studies teacher, Mr. Vince Mirandi (who was also the school soccer coach) to tell him what had happened.

Someone in the back of the class, knowing about my reserved spot in the central office shouted, "Let's wait until we hear something official over the loudspeaker."

I can't remember who that was, but it would not surprise me to find out he is a high ranking official at the NSA today.

As soon as the officials could get the buses organized, school was dismissed. I got a ride home from someone and as I remember it my mom had gone out to collect my younger brother and sister from their schools. My older brother was at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and out of her range.

She took us to our Synagogue where others had already gathered

The Rabbi was at the front of the Temple speaking to people and, at some point he began (I think this right) an impromptu Yiskor service which is the memorial service for those Jews in the community who have lost a loved one.

My mom - who was not particularly political - had told us en route to the Synagogue: "We're going to pray for our President."

Years later, when I was the communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee we had a fund raiser on the ranch of former Governor (as a Democrat) and former Treasury Secretary (as a Republican under Richard Nixon) John Connelly.

It came to pass that the Chairman of the NRCC, Rep. Guy Vander Jagt (R-Mi) needed to get to the airport and I was elected to drive him. Governor Connelly said he would come along and, as the higher ranking person, sat in the passenger seat next to me.

I drove the quarter mile from the ranch house to the Farm to Market Road leading to the airport and hit the gas.

Governor Connelly was talking with Rep. Vander Jagt, stopped in mid-sentence and said to me, "Speed on up, son. If you want me to drive pull over."

I said that I was doing about 70.

He said, "You can drive as fast as this thing will go. You ain't gonna get no speeding ticket while ah'm in this car."

Years after that, I was appointed by the Mayor of Dallas, Steve Bartlett, to bid for the Special Olympics to be held in that city. Bartlett, as a conservative, Republican, Member of Congress from Dallas was a big supporter of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Special Olympics Committee was impressed with our commitment to making the Games a success and to being able to raise the funds necessary to accomplish that goal.

The Special Olympics were conceived by, and under the control of, the Kennedy family.

Things were going apace until Senator Ted Kennedy found out about it. He instructed the Special Olympics committee to cease, immediately, negotiating with Dallas and the Games went elsewhere.

I was at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport when the Executive Director of the Special Olympics called to tell me he had to pull the plug.

I remember exactly where I was.

[Beagle8U]

In my school the cheers were loud and it was by far the majority.

This was JR high so that might have been the difference.

[Kaslin]

I remember the day as if it had been yesterday. My husband and I had been married just a couple of weeks the year before. He was stationed in Germany and we lived on the economy. It was around 6 PM German time and my husband was listening to AFN (American Forces Network) on his radio, and I was listening to a German variety show from a Stuttgart radio station that I listened to every Friday. Both my husband and I were shocked when we heard it.

[ReleaseTheHounds]

I was a junior in a high school in the suburbs of Wilmington, Delaware. We were having a last period pep rally with all students in the school in attendance (I was was on the football team) getting ready for our last game of the year vs. our arch rivals. My future wife was a cheerleader in that pep rally. There was no announcement but as the pep rally was ending, suddenly there was a commotion throughout the gymnasium as the news was spreading from kid to kid. It was a bad call by the school administrators because it was really a crazy uncontrolled reaction with rumors, bad information, etc.

I was no fan of JFK but I could see even then that our side of the aisle (Goldwater Republicans) would probably get at least part of the blame... and even today, the news media talks about the “right wing” being partially responsible for the tragedy in Dallas. Makes me sick.

Our football game was postponed to Thanksgiving and we lost making it an even more disappointing series of days.

[sweetiepiezer]

I was in Harry Guppy High School in Windsor, Ontario, Canada also changing classes, was going down stairs to lower level when the announcement came over the loudspeaker that he was shot.
Students were shocked and crying.
Of course we only saw the Camelot part of Kennedy and never followed the politics of those damn rich yankees.

[G Larry]

Says you.

I have no problem with the placement of those missiles in Turkey.

If you believe Khrushchev needed that pretense to place missiles in Cuba, you need to do some more research.

[RipSawyer]

“Where was I? IN A FREE COUNTRY! that’s where....”
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So was I, in a place where a tall, fair skinned, hazel eyed guy like me oughta feel right at home, ICELAND.

[RipSawyer]

“He was a 22 yr. old, newly minted teacher.”
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And quite probably a self-sufficient adult male, able to make his own way in the world, such creatures existed in 1963, they are very nearly extinct now, most 22 year olds now are about as mature as three year olds used to be and not much closer to being self sufficient.

[firebrand]

Walking along East 10th Street on my way back from lunch with a friend. Some black guys working on top of a truck yelled the news at me. We must have been happily chatting away, oblivious, so they knew we hadn’t heard. It was so shocking that I couldn’t understand what they said. My friend, who was older, and German, understood and had to explain it to me. I crumpled. But understand I was not political in those days. Just the idea of a president being assassinated was crumple-causing enough. My friend later told someone that she was amazed that I and apparently every other American could care so much about their president.

When I got back to my office at a small publisher in the Village, everyone was upset or quiet. My boss said, “He was in Texas. They hate him down there.”

I had no TV. So when Oswald was shot, my sister called to tell me, and I misunderstood again. I said something like everyone knows that. No, no, OSWALD was shot. The assassin was shot. Oh. Then I knew it was a plot and that it would never be solved in my lifetime, or possibly ever.

[ops33]

I was also in the third grade. There was an announcement over the school PA system. At the time, we were living on an Army post in Virginia. On Sunday, the day of the funeral, I can remember an artillery salute fired in Kennedy’s honor. I think it was a 50 gun salute.