Where were you?
Posted on: November 23, 2020
- In: History | Memories
- 97 Comments
One question often asked of those of us who were around at the time is, “Where were you when you heard that President John F Kennedy had been shot?” I remember the day clearly even though it happened fifty-seven years ago.
I’d like to share with you a poem a poet friend of mine wrote.
22/11/63
A shot rang out across the years
embedded itself in a nation’s fears.
November the month with stains on its soul
history stilled near a green grassy knoll.
The New Camelot was shattered
and everything that mattered
suddenly not an issue
as fragile as brain tissue.
poem by John McGilvary
It was a sad day indeed. I remember it was recess time at school and one of the boys said that Kennedy had been shot. I said that it wasn’t funny and he shouldn’t joke about things like that. Once we returned to class, the teacher was visibly upset and broke the news that the President of the United States had indeed been shot. I couldn’t believe it. I thought about his beautiful wife and adorable little children and cried. There have been many other sad events since then, but this sticks with me as it was the first international news that affected me as a young girl living a sheltered life on the Canadian prairies.
Do you recall that day?
“We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.” JFK
97 Responses to "Where were you?"
November 23, 2020 at 12:46 am
I was seven years old. I remember watching the reports on the UK television news and my dad trying to explain it to me.
November 23, 2020 at 2:03 am
It would have been hard for small children to comprehend. I was in high school and it hit me hard.
November 23, 2020 at 1:07 am
I was in fourth grade and happened to be home sick that day. I’d been watching the Dick Van Dyke show and then Douglas Edwards and The News was on when the program was interrupted with the news that Kennedy had been shot.
November 23, 2020 at 2:10 am
I wasn’t born until 1965, but of course grew up seeing the video and hearing the stories. One memorable moment for we was watching the stalwart Walter Cronkite announce that President Kennedy had died.
November 23, 2020 at 2:19 am
It was most likely that the first announcement I saw on TV was by Walter Cronkite, although it was our teacher, Mr. McCormick who told us about it first. Those tapes were played over and over for many years.
November 23, 2020 at 2:14 am
How could I ever forget? I was 10, and got home from school to find my Mum sitting in front of the tv with tears running down her face. I was just beginning to understand a little about governments and politics at that time, and knew this was momentous. The consequent shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald also got a lot of coverage – those were a couple of remarkable days.
November 23, 2020 at 2:20 am
The whole series of events was unbelievable. At 10, it certainly would have made an impact.
November 23, 2020 at 2:33 am
Vividly remembered…I was with my first two, young sons, at home in the living room. We had been watching Childrens’ TV and then came the announcement that President Kennedy had been shot Totally shocked, tears streamed down my cheeks, and my three-year old said “What’s the matter, Mummy?”
November 23, 2020 at 2:59 am
This was my post about where I was and what it meant to me…
https://aipetcher.wordpress.com/2011/05/29/a-life-in-a-year-29th-may-birth-of-a-president-and-a-legend/
November 23, 2020 at 7:51 am
A great post, Andrew. To think it had an effect on a nine-year-old boy in the UK.
November 23, 2020 at 3:47 am
Still a distinct memory, marking the calendar in a stunning way, as the event happened during my first year of teaching. A knock on my classroom door, and an administrator uttered the dreadful words, “The President has been shot.” We paused for prayer. Then, not five minutes later, another knock, and the dreadful words: “The President is dead!” Classes were disbanded. Our world stopped!
Time to pause to thank a God who is with us no matter what horrible things happen in this world, and a time to remember that we are pilgrims passing through to a better life, a life eternal.
November 23, 2020 at 7:54 am
What grade were you teaching at the time, Marian? It must have been difficult for you to tell the students. Yes, we are never alone, not even during terrible times. xo
November 24, 2020 at 6:22 am
I was teaching high school seniors, who understood the implications of all this, even though we all were initially in shock. During the following week, they learned the meanings of the words cortege, requiem, and so on.
November 23, 2020 at 4:35 am
At the time I was 17 and in grade 11. We had just started to write our chemistry exams when the teacher announced that the President had been shot! Tears flowed throughout the class and no one passed their exam that term!
That night I had just started my first after school job working in the toy department at the Hudson’s Bay and the TV department was right next to the toy department. No toys were sold that night as all staff and customers were surrounding the TV’s! An event I’ll never forget.
November 23, 2020 at 7:55 am
It’s amazing how vivid the memory is after all this time. Thanks for sharing your memory. xo
November 23, 2020 at 4:46 am
Thank you for sharing your memories of this sad day. I was in jr. high when Reagan was shot. I was afraid for his life. Our history teacher brought the tv into our classroom do we could watch the news.
November 23, 2020 at 7:57 am
That was a scary time too. No one likes to think their leader may die.
November 23, 2020 at 8:04 am
Exactly, we were frightened. Especially because we’d heard the stories about JFK from our relatives and were worried it would be similar.
November 23, 2020 at 6:10 am
This was before my time, Darlene, but I know about it, of course. I can imagine it sent massive shock waves throughout the world.
November 23, 2020 at 8:00 am
It did affect the entire world. I still recall the blood-stained Channel suit, Jackie Kennedy was still wearing when Lyndon Johnson was sworn in. I felt so bad for her. What a terrible experience to have to go through and with the whole world watching.
November 23, 2020 at 6:18 am
A horrifying event that let the world know, no one is truly safe.
November 23, 2020 at 8:03 am
That’s true. After that security was strengthened. I don’t think anyone imagined it could happen in this age. Such a shock.
November 23, 2020 at 10:55 am
I was eight years old back then and don’t remember where I was. I do remember the many TV images and the shock of seeing a real person actually die.
November 23, 2020 at 7:46 pm
It was shocking at any age. TV made it all so real, didn´t it.
November 24, 2020 at 3:17 am
Absolutely. After that event, the shock factor somehow dimmed in me, I think, with every assassination, or attempted assassination, after that.
November 23, 2020 at 11:28 am
I was 12 and in 7th grade sitting in English class. Never will forget that time. Then Nov. 23, 1982, at age 31, I was run down on the street by a drunk and drugged driver. I survived. So it is a day to celebrate the life I nearly lost. But strange to have to events so close.
November 23, 2020 at 7:47 pm
Oh my! A day for us to celebrate that you are still here with us. xo
November 23, 2020 at 12:34 pm
I remember it vividly. I was in school, and the principal made the announcement over the loudspeaker. I watched the wall with the loudspeaker and the clock above, thinking of the exact time he was shot. We all went home and were glued to the television for the next two days.
November 23, 2020 at 7:50 pm
I think in many cases the announcement was made by the principal over the loudspeaker. We didn´t go home until the end of the day but I´m sure we didn´t learn much. I do recall we read about and discussed Abraham Lincoln. We also watched the events on TV that weekend.
November 23, 2020 at 2:29 pm
I remember it very clearly. I was in the second grade, and we were in the first grade classroom for some reason. The principal came to the door and announced that the president had been shot. I don’t think I’d ever seen grown-ups upset like that before. We were sent home and had the next several days off school. I remember being fascinated by the television coverage.
November 23, 2020 at 7:52 pm
It was a Friday and that weekend was spent in front of the television. I think the funeral was on Monday. So sad.
November 23, 2020 at 2:48 pm
I was five years old. My grandfather picked me up from Kindergarten and told me as I was getting into his car. This is one of my earliest memories.
November 23, 2020 at 4:28 pm
I was about to turn five, and I didn’t understand the event’s significance at the time. We hardly ever had the television on in our household, but I remember it being on a lot during that period. I didn’t understand anything about hatred at that age.
November 23, 2020 at 11:10 pm
You don´t at that age do you? I was a teenager but I was not aware of such hate either.
November 23, 2020 at 7:18 pm
I was six. In my head, we’re in the little front garden of our semi in north surrey. Dad is digging and mum comes out and tells him. They both stop gardening. It’s the memory of that – them stopping what they were doing in the garden that makes it memorable. But then I wonder how faithful this memory is? Why wasn’t dad at work and me at school as the shooting happened at noon on a friday? But that’s 5pm in the UK. So maybe it was the next day, Saturday morning and his death was being confirmed when mum brought out the news which interrupted their gardening and stunned a little boy that there was something so momentous that it made his dad put down his spade.
November 23, 2020 at 11:12 pm
Thanks for sharing this. It is amazing all the memories of this event from all over the world. It´s likely your parents heard about it the next morning due to the time difference.
November 23, 2020 at 10:36 pm
I wasn’t alive when he was shot, but I’ve heard my mother express her sadness of hearing the news. Obviously Kennedy had left a positive impression on her.
November 23, 2020 at 11:14 pm
President Kenndy was well-liked which made the fact that someone so ruthlessly shot him in front of his wife and while so many people were watching. all the more upsetting.
November 23, 2020 at 11:11 pm
My mother came home from the hospital with my brand new sister on that day. She laid her on the chesterfield, turned on the TV to watch her stories, and there it was.
November 24, 2020 at 2:26 am
What a beautiful poem, Darlene. It captures the day. I remembering being confused. How could someone hate a President who had done so much?
November 24, 2020 at 2:33 am
I felt the same. My heart broke when I saw Jackie and the children at the funeral. I too felt the poem said it all.
November 24, 2020 at 6:26 am
What a powerful poem, and your memories hammer home the shock it was.
November 24, 2020 at 8:02 am
I was so impressed with the poem. The event was the end of innocence for many of us.
November 24, 2020 at 8:47 am
What a poignant post, Darlene. I too, was in grade school and remember the day vividly. We were sitting at our desks and Mrs. Osborne had just started our English lesson. There was a knock on the classroom door (never a good thing), she went to the door and spoke with the school principal. A sudden gasp and hand to her throat – she was visibly shaken. She came back in and delivered the sad, shocking news in a trembling voice. We didn’t know what to think … or do … or say. It was truly beyond our comprehension.
It’s a very difficult day to recollect, but we must never forget. We can’t let it come to this ever again. ~Terri
November 24, 2020 at 11:06 pm
Thanks, Terri. it was a terrible day in history and had a profound effect on so many of our generation.
November 24, 2020 at 11:54 am
I was barely 4 years old watching TV with my younger brother when Cronkite announced it. 😦
November 24, 2020 at 11:07 pm
Even at 4, I’m sure you could sense the seriousness of the situation.
November 25, 2020 at 9:12 am
I was in 4th grade and the teacher made an announcement. We were all shocked and then I remember being glued to the TV with my family for the next few days….very sad time. Thanks for the post, Darlene!
November 25, 2020 at 6:56 pm
As 911 has been for the younger generations, this event really had an impact on us. I guess the constant television coverage really imprinted it on our minds.
November 27, 2020 at 2:22 am
I was in my last week of basic training in Fort Knox, Kentucky. I described it in the second half of this blog post, which is mainly about 9/11.
https://operasandcycling.com/the-afternoon-of-9-11/
December 4, 2020 at 6:33 am
I wasn’t born yet, but I have a huge fascination with the whole Kennedy/Camelot story. I often wonder what their lives would be like today.
December 4, 2020 at 8:05 am
I have often wondered about it too. The Kennedy family certainly had more than their share of sad events.
December 4, 2020 at 6:09 pm
They really did, and I think that’s the mystery of it all.
December 5, 2020 at 2:20 am
I was a senior in high school. Everything came to a screeching halt when word reached us.
December 5, 2020 at 3:12 am
It was upsetting for the kids in Canada. I can only imagine how it affected those in the US.
December 14, 2020 at 3:53 am
Darlene,
I’m wanting to get my stepson one of your books. Alex is autistic but reads well. He loves his books. Which book would you recommend?
Thanks!
December 14, 2020 at 4:49 am
Thanks, John. He might like Amanda in Alberta: The Writing on the Stone. Readers enjoy the landscape, cowboys, stampede and dinosaur museum. Alberta is a pretty unique province. There is also some First Nations info woven in the story.
December 8, 2020 at 9:42 pm
Yes, even in Australia we heard the news and were shocked.
December 8, 2020 at 10:49 pm
A shot that was heard around the world has often been used to describe the event.
November 23, 2021 at 2:09 am
Reblogged this on Darlene Foster's Blog and commented:
I posted this last year and feel it is worth running again. A sad day that affected many of us.
November 23, 2021 at 2:24 am
I was in second grade, but we were in the first grade classroom for some reason. The school principal came to the doorway looking very, very upset, announced that the President had been shot, and sent us all home.
November 23, 2021 at 2:30 am
It must have been even more of a shock to those living in the United States. As a child, you may not have felt safe. Even though I was a Canadian girl, I was glued to the TV and watched the funeral three times. It made a huge impression n me. Later I read a number of books about JFK, including the one his mother wrote.
November 23, 2021 at 9:16 am
My parents wouldn’t let my brother and me watch the funeral more than once. In hindsight, the event from that time period that really scared me was the Bay of Pigs. Every time I heard an airplane fly over the house, I thought we would be bombed.
November 23, 2021 at 4:37 am
My experience was similar to yours as I was in 4th grade and the teacher made an announcement. We were shocked and truly didn’t understand or comprehend the event until we all went home and lived in front of the TV through the entire event. I can still remember all of it.
November 23, 2021 at 4:53 am
I recall our social studies teacher, who told us the sad news, turned it into a teachable moment. We discussed the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the events that led up to it. I am sure it was even more upsetting to the children in the United States.
November 23, 2021 at 9:14 am
We were in highschool civics class when we found out about President Kennedy’s assassination. Shocked and confused, it was many days, perhaps weeks, before life returned to dany semblance of normalcy. Thanks for sharing, Darlene.
November 23, 2021 at 6:13 pm
Nothing was ever quite the same after that. It changed a generation. Thanks for commenting, Bette.
November 23, 2021 at 2:50 pm
I was 12yrs old but I still, remember the shock and horror which was felt around the world…
November 23, 2021 at 6:24 pm
I know, it was unbelievable.
November 23, 2021 at 6:30 pm
Those images are still firmly embedded in my brain such a loss to the US…
November 26, 2021 at 3:11 pm
What a beautiful, moving poem. Thanks for sharing it with us.
November 26, 2021 at 6:03 pm
I thought it was very good. John McGilvary is an excellent poet who I´ve met here in Spain.
November 27, 2021 at 5:08 am
excellent poem, thank your friend for me please. thanks for commemorating JFK.
November 27, 2021 at 5:12 am
I will pass your kind words on. This event made a huge impact on me as a teenager.
November 27, 2021 at 5:26 am
What a difficult time for our country and people. It is important to remember. Thank you.
November 23, 2022 at 8:39 am
I wasn’t old enough to remember, but I’ve seen the footage–as I’m sure we all have. A very sad day for the world. 😦
Darlene Foster's Blog 
November 23, 2020 at 12:41 am
I was 16 years old, just left school, a failure. Started work in the local tannery, we had a black & white tv. Still living in a tiny Lake District village.
November 23, 2020 at 2:02 am
Yes, it was all on black and white TV. Which made it even more sombre I think.