Loki Loc: Georgia

Do you remember what you were doing today in 1963? What were you doing when you heard that John F Kennedy had just been assassinated? Today was the day it happened, in 1963, I remember because I was home sick from school, and my mom and aunt had just heard, and they were crying.

EL Loc: Massachusetts

I remember being in Boston on an errand at lunchtime and coming down in an elevator an Italian man who didn't speak English well was trying to tell us. I wasn't sure I was understanding him right so I walked to the old Boston Globe building where there was a crowd gathering and saw the news stream by. At that point, JFK had just been brought to the hospital. Later on, back in the building where I worked, which was right across from the Post Office Building, I watched the flag go down and I knew.......
My boss was a personal friend of JFK and I saw him slump in his chair.

Liberty Tree

I was in school in one class when the word came out that there had been an assassination attempt. Word came in the next class that he was dead. I remember some students in shock, some cried and some even cheered. I also remember watching Oswald being shot. Nothing else in my lifetime has given way to so many conspiracy theories.

sboy

I was a student in Ithaca, NY, when I heard the unbelievable news. I went out to purchase a NY Times the next morning, but they were all sold out and were sold out and unavailable for several days thereafter. TV was our only source of news and everybody gathered around the the TVs that were available. It was a hard time. The country was literally in shock and this was exacerbated by the news about Oswald and Harry Ruby, which followed in short order.

Wow! What an experience. I did not vote for Kennedy, but I cried, along with everybody else. It was a sad day for our republic. I remember President Eisenhower said that he was certain that the US Armed Forces would stand by the Republic and that the government would not fail. In that, he was correct, but I did not realize how close we were to extinction and remarks like that from the immediate past President were so necessary. It was almost a disaster.