I was 12 years old. We heard a commotion outside of our classroom at JHS 285. We were dismissed from school early. We were unaware of what had happened except to say that something extraordinarily bad had occurred. I went home and put on the TV. For the next few days, I along with the rest of the nation was transfixed and stunned by what had happened in Dallas. President Kennedy was the first President that my generation could relate to in a very personal way. We, along with just about every other American was stunned that something like this could happen here. We saw Ruby shooting Oswald and Walter Cronkite in tears announcing the death of a President. I had no idea about his politics. I felt as if President Lincoln was killed before my very eyes. It was my own personal loss of innocence...
Ken
On November 22, 1963, the nation was stunned by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. To share your story of where you (or friends and family) were during this tragic time, visit the submission form on our Facebook page.
Don’t miss "Dearest Jackie": On the Death of JFK, a pop-up exhibition of items from the Library’s collections, on view through December 1, 2013
