Most fifty-plus Boomers remember exactly where they around noon on November 22, 1963 when they heard the news that President John Kennedy has been assassinated.Seeing November 22 on a calendar used to bring it all back. I was standing in the lunch line at school when I overheard the teachers talking about it. I then told the kids on either side of me and the news spread through the cafeteria. School closed, Mom picked us up; we watched the developing story on TV for several days. I even saw Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald on live television.
Each year on the anniversary, I watched and read the stories, and brought it to the attention of anyone who would listen. Even as the “remember when” stories became less frequent over the years, I continued to make note of the date days in advance.
This year is different. I’ve been so busy lately that I didn’t remember in advance, nor did I remember it all that day. A news story on the radio during my drive home Wednesday night reminded me.
Gun shots that changed the world, an assassination with details unresolved to this day, an event that made Dealey Plaza and the Texas School Book Depository household names now seems like just another chapter in a history book.
Forty-three years later, I remember that day like it was yesterday. Yet if I hadn’t been listening for a traffic report on that news radio station, I would have completely forgotten about it.
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Here are a few interesting links:
NBC TV Coverage 11/22/63
Four days of TV news coverage edited down to 2 minutes
The Zapruder film – the most famous home movie in history – and other images and stories
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