# Senior citizens thread: "Where were you 50 years ago today"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 22, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536 "2013-11-22T16:53:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/21 "2013-11-22T18:29:04Z")
4th grade. I had stayed home sick that day. They interrupted Mom’s soaps with the bulletins. That Sunday, Dad picked me up from Sunday School (only time he ever did that) and on the way home, he told me “They shot the guy that killed Kennedy.” ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/22 "2013-11-22T18:39:25Z")
I heard about it on the playground. I didn’t believe it. Then after we went inside, the principal announced it on the intercom and I figured it must be real. I asked my best friend Gordon who was going to be President now, and he didn’t know. My teacher seemed very upset, so I didn’t want to ask her, so I waited until I got home and my dad explained the Presidential succession. We had a bomb drill the next Monday, just in case it was the start of WWIII. I remember watching the funeral, where the horse was marching along with his saddle and stirrups reversed, and I remember thinking “That’s stupid - what does the horse care about funerals?” I also asked if Oswald’s funeral was going to be on TV, and nobody seemed to know. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/23 "2013-11-22T18:51:06Z")
Baytown, TX. I was 10 months old. Before the time I was 1, we were in Paducah, KY. Yeah, Dead Kennedy forced me out of Texas! Later, when I started school back in Texas and we had a “moment of silence” in school for it, Dad told me about most of his co-workers leaving early that day. He stayed and finished work. Mom didn’t care, just thought it was so interesting. As we grew up , my older brother and I got to see even more clearly her callous attitude towards any else’s suffering. That was just a preview. I wonder how early we would have noticed that about her if not for that conversation. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/24 "2013-11-22T19:01:51Z")
I was in the 6th grade. They announced JFK was shot on the PA during recess and announced his death when we came in. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/25 "2013-11-22T19:02:14Z")
Eighth Grade. Late morning, Sister Merry Bitch’s english class. One of the other nuns came in, whispered in her ear, and after that it was all tears and prayers (the adult females, mostly). I don’t remember many of us boys being especially shaken up, and have no memory whatever of the rest of the weekend. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/26 "2013-11-22T19:05:11Z")
On my way to Chem Lab at Univ of Richmond. Caught a ride with some guy and he had radio on and said “did you hear about the President?” Watched tv like everyone else, non-stop for the weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/27 "2013-11-22T19:34:39Z")
I was pretty young, and don’t remember hearing about the shooting. I do remember the funeral on tv, because my parents were watching it all morning and I was in the kitchen, hungry, and didn’t understand what was do important about watching a funeral instead of feeding ME! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/28 "2013-11-22T20:34:13Z")
> [@Mr\_Quatro](#): > > I should’ve said, “mature citizens thread”, uh? Lemme fix that for you: “Us old geezers thread.” 😃 I have one tid-bit shred of maybe unique comment: My teacher’s expression on his face when we heard. I was sitting in 7th grade Social Studies class. Teacher was a HUGE hulking 50-ish dude who often told his war stories. Overall, I remember him as a very good teacher. I haven’t forgotten the “Hollywood Heart Attack” look on his face when the principal announced over the PA that K had been shot. A few hours later came the sequel: The announcement that he was dead. I was in P.E. class that period, out on the field where you can barely hear that there’s any PA announcement at all, let alone what it said. But other kids, closer to the building, heard and the word percolated around. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/29 "2013-11-22T20:43:10Z")
I was in high school, sophomore year. We were in the gym watching a movie, “Sgt York.” One of the girls in my class started yelling. She’d been listening to her transistor radio. We were all in a state of shock, it was so unbelievable. A day or two later I overheard two teachers talking in the hall. One was telling the other that history would probably rate Kennedy as a very average president. I immediately got away from him as I didn’t was to be collateral damage when the lightening struck. I was honestly amazed that anyone could say that about Kennedy. Ms Hook was actually watching television when Oswald was killed and saw the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/30 "2013-11-22T20:53:35Z")
Breast feeding! And I’m not ashamed at all… ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/31 "2013-11-22T21:16:18Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Breast feeding! > > And I’m not ashamed at all… I bet it wasn’t in public at Starbucks, because they weren’t even invented yet. Did you at least wet your pants when you heard? Come on man give us the details. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/32 "2013-11-22T21:25:59Z")
I was 5 1/2 and had just come inside from playing with with my friend two doors down. My mother was listing to the radio and crying(we didn’t own a TV). She told me the president was dead and I said something to the effect of “so what” and she kicked me. We had just seen him the day before when he was in San Antonio. I mostly remember the big black cars. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/33 "2013-11-22T21:48:18Z")
I was seven years old, and watching TV in my native east London with my dad, coincidentally fifty years older than me. I didn’t really know who Kennedy was, but my dad told me that he was a great man, and that this was a terrible thing. I should, perhaps, point out that my old dad was a communist, but he had enormous respect for Kennedy. The next day the first episode of Doctor Who was broadcast, and my life changed forever. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/34 "2013-11-22T22:09:33Z")
I was in seventh grade, in Wood Shop which we had Friday afternoons. I heard when the class ended and we were heading to home room. We got right out of school then, and I headed home to watch TV. A kid down the block, whose father was a local Republican official, was happy. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/35 "2013-11-22T22:15:13Z")
I was 4 years old and attending preschool. My family had moved into a new house only a few days prior, which I clearly remember. I’m chagrined that, unlike the familiar saying, I have no memory of where I was and what I was doing when I got the news about Kennedy. I actually remember, before that, things about the Kennedy administration while it was still happening, and I have a memory of watching JFK’s funeral a few days later. But the memory of hearing the news of assassination itself is missing from my head, I don’t know why. Maybe because my parents decided not to mention it to me outright. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/36 "2013-11-22T22:16:40Z")
In the beautiful new cafeteria at Missouri University near Stafford Hall, eating. An announcement came over the PA, and we went downstairs to the SRO TV room to watch the enormous, 21" color TV. I can’t remember if the news was in color. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/37 "2013-11-22T22:21:29Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Oddly enough Hoover outlived Kennedy. Hoover died the following year in 64. If you’re talking about J.Edgar, he died in 1972. (As for the OP, I wasn’t yet born, so I don’t have a story to tell). ETA: D’oh! I just realized that you were probably referring to Herbert! Mea culpa! ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/38 "2013-11-22T22:32:43Z")
Eighth grade recess. The nun rang the bell early, we lined up and came in. The principal gave us the news over the PA system and we all prayed. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/39 "2013-11-22T22:39:06Z")
Third grade. We were taking a break for some reason, and I was turned sideways in my seat, talking with the kid who sat behind me, when the principal announced over the PA that the president had been shot. A couple days later I went over to a friend’s house; he opened the door when I knocked, very excited, and told me he’d just seen Oswald get shot. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536/40 "2013-11-22T22:44:32Z")
Fourth grade - Sister Teresa’s class. The principal made the announcement over the intercom. I remember my shock and disbelief. Way back then, I thought a person was elected President because he was the best man in the whole country. OK, I was naive about politics when I was 9. Still, I couldn’t imagine why anyone would kill the best man in the whole country. ☹ I think my innocence began to die that day. I remember watching all the news - all in black-and-white because only rich people could afford color TVs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senior-citizens-thread-where-were-you-50-years-ago-today/674536.md?page=3)