# The day JFK was shot **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 28, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006 "2006-01-28T19:48:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006/61 "2006-01-31T14:29:39Z")
> [@ThePCapeman](#): > > November 22, 1963: I had almost lost my tail. My face was mammalian but somewhat pig-like. Talk about not showing ones age - I’ve seen you recently, **ThePCapeman** , you haven’t changed a bit! …I kid…really… 😃 …it’s not your fault that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny… ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006/62 "2006-01-31T14:59:57Z")
As with most in this thread who remember that day, I was in school (3rd grade). The teacher got a whispered message from another staff member and burst into tears. She sent us home (we walked to and from school) where I found my mother crying. All I knew is that my parents loved JFK; I remember how happy my father was that he was president and that my mother emulated Jackie in dress and hairstyle. They told me that a very bad man had done this. I remeber being angry with this “bad man” because of what he did, especially after learning that there would be four (?) days of national mourning and there would be no cartoons on the TV. My parents never believed that there was any conspiracy, just a whacko out to make a name for himself. ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006/63 "2006-01-31T15:25:55Z")
> [@Doctor Jackson](#): > > I was hanging out at home with a woman I was living with at the time. We were inseperable. I loved her breasts, and she was no stranger to my naked body. The news devestated her, she cried unabashedly. I was more ambivalent, being much less concerned about Kennedy and much more concerned about how long it would be before I saw her naked breasts again. For you see, I was 3 months old. hee hee hee…ahem…sorry. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006/64 "2006-01-31T23:58:02Z")
Yeah, I know the OP says “for those of you old enough to remember”, yadda yadda yadda. Still, I’m compelled (since others are breaking this “rule” anyway) to respond that I was 17 days old, and was probably in my crib sleeping at the time. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006/65 "2006-02-01T00:34:23Z")
It was my 8th birthday, 3rd grade (started kindergarten at 4). Nun comes into class crying, we all go to the church and pray. It doesn’t help. The two things I remembered for the longest time; 1. I had to call all my friends and cancel my birthday party on 11/23. This was a major bummer because with 5 kids in the family we only got to have a party every second or third year. ☹ 2. The day of the funeral was an exceptionally nice day in the midwest. Brilliant blue sky, no school, and we had to stay inside all day and watch the funeral on TV with all the drapes drawn. ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006/66 "2006-02-01T03:49:48Z")
I was two. I was probably doing something terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006/67 "2006-02-01T04:09:46Z")
> [@](#): > > I was two. > > I was probably doing something terrible. We’ve got the second gunman! ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006/68 "2006-02-01T14:19:04Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > We’ve got the second gunman! How many times do we have to tell you parents “keep your kids off the grassy knolls”? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006/69 "2006-02-01T15:02:10Z")
I was a freshman at Ohio State. I had just gotten to Architecture class when a classmate came in and announced that Kennedy had just been shot. Now this guy was notorious for practical jokes, so everyone said “yeah, right” and ignored him. Then a couple other guys showed up with the same story. We believed them. I lived in a rooming house off-campus, and one of my housemates had a small black-and-white tv. We were glued to that tv for the next few days, seeing Oswald getting shot and, of course, the funeral. We were seeing everything live, and we knew we were witnessing history. I totally agree with what others have said: it was a major turning point in the “psyche” of this country. After that day, nothing was ever the same. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006/70 "2006-02-01T15:15:41Z")
Not the day he was shot but i vividly remember being at his fueneral parade, i was 3.5 yrs old…dad was in AirForce and we lived close . ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006/71 "2006-02-01T15:20:45Z")
I was nine years old, and in the fourth grade at Saint Anthony of Padua School in Baltimore, MD. There was an announcement on the PA system saying that the president had been shot. I remember thinking that he would probably be OK, doctors would fix him up. Then another announcement destroyed that fantasy. The nuns were all crying, as were most of the kids. We were dismissed from school early. My grandfather was crying when I got home. My mother was in the hospital, having just given birth to my youngest brother. I probably have more vivid memories of that weekend than any other period of my youth. I don’t know if the country lost its innocence, but in some respects I did. ---
**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006/72 "2006-02-01T16:14:11Z")
I was a freshman in high school. Just finishing gym class when a couple of girls who’d been in the gym teacher’s office came in and told us as we were getting ready to change classes. I had a long way to go from the gym to my french class on the third floor. I remember trying to tell people I knew as I went up the stairs and no one believed me. I told my french teacher, Madame Iberson, and she burst into tears. Later I remember walking downtown with my boyfriend. Normally bustling and noisy, there was a marked dismal gloom over everything. I also remember sitting on the coffee table watching the Oswald transfer when he was shot. My mother was doing dishes and I positively shreiked calling her to come to the TV. Yes, innocence was lost. We teens adored Jackie and her style. Jack was at the helm when we faced what seemed at the time to be the beginning of World War III. We did what we could to convert basements to fallout shelters. He faced down the Russian bear and now he was gone. Very sad. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006/73 "2006-02-01T16:32:53Z")
My Mom was about 8 months pregnant with me. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006/74 "2006-02-01T16:41:14Z")
My Dad recalled being in school (in the Republic of Ireland) at the time. A teacher came out to the corridor and announced the news in a grave tone of voice, Dad and his friends shrugged and went on playing coin games on the window sill. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2006, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006/75 "2006-02-02T00:01:15Z")
I was in 9th grade. The school office started sending radio newscasts over the PA system. At first we didn’t believe it. We thought it was some kind of very bad joke. In English class it finally sunk in. On student almost went nuts because he KNEW it was the beginning of WW III and the bombs were on their way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-day-jfk-was-shot/342006.md?page=3)