November 22, 2013 – Fifty years ago, on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed as he and his wife Jacqueline rode in a motorcade in Dallas. It was a turning point in American history, and one of the most significant events of my lifetime, though I was only three at the time.
The popular question from my generation and those before me asks where you were when you heard about JFK’s assassination. I don’t actually remember where I was, but my parents shared the story several times so I do know. I was sick in bed that Friday afternoon, watching television, “The Rifleman” to be exact, when Walter Cronkite broke into the program to share the news about the shooting. Cronkite referred to the shooter as a rifleman, and I ran to tell my Mom that “The Rifleman” a.k.a. actor Chuck Connors, shot the president. It wasn’t until she turned on the television downstairs that she believed me and understood what happened.
I may not remember that incident, and I certainly didn’t have all the facts straight when I shared the news, but what I will never forget the picture above of Jacqueline, Caroline, and John Jr. at the funeral. Talk about a photo being worth a thousand words.
Ironically, I was in high school American History class. An announcement was made that the
President had been shot, next announcement that he had died. School was dismissed shortly
thereafter. The ride home on public transportation was strange and eerily quiet.
(my dad also died on Nov. 22 in 1992)
Hard to believe he’s been gone 22 years Jane. He was a wonderful man. I still love to tell my Uncle Benny stories to people…
Why viewers still use to read news papers when in this technological
globe the whole thing is existing on web?