Gordon Lightfoot Forums - View Single Post - Where were you when JFK was shot? (Gord was here)

Auburn Annie · 01-30-2005, 02:46 PM

I was 11, not quite 12 at the time, in Catholic school. They announced first that JFK had been shot. We stopped everything in classes and started praying a rosary. Not too long later the principal came over the PA to tell us he had died and we were being sent home for the rest of the day. I remember seeing grownups crying on the streets, coming out of their homes, asking us if we'd heard what happened. Very confusing and anxiety-making.

I remember sitting with my father watching the funeral, the riderless horse with the backward-facing boots, John-John's salute as his father's cortege passed by, the deep black veiling on Jackie, the incredible solemnity and - unheard of at that time - practically wall-to-wall television coverage. There was no CNN or other cable news, of course, just the major networks, in black and white.

And I remember seeing Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald, live, as they transferred him from one place to another. Even then I wondered what they were thinking by having all these reporters around, even with a phalanx of police officers escorting him. It happened so fast, in the blink of an eye, that you just had to say "did you see that? what happened?" before the full realization hit. Wow.

01-30-2005, 02:46 PM	#28
Auburn Annie Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Upstate New York Posts: 3,102	I was 11, not quite 12 at the time, in Catholic school. They announced first that JFK had been shot. We stopped everything in classes and started praying a rosary. Not too long later the principal came over the PA to tell us he had died and we were being sent home for the rest of the day. I remember seeing grownups crying on the streets, coming out of their homes, asking us if we'd heard what happened. Very confusing and anxiety-making. I remember sitting with my father watching the funeral, the riderless horse with the backward-facing boots, John-John's salute as his father's cortege passed by, the deep black veiling on Jackie, the incredible solemnity and - unheard of at that time - practically wall-to-wall television coverage. There was no CNN or other cable news, of course, just the major networks, in black and white. And I remember seeing Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald, live, as they transferred him from one place to another. Even then I wondered what they were thinking by having all these reporters around, even with a phalanx of police officers escorting him. It happened so fast, in the blink of an eye, that you just had to say "did you see that? what happened?" before the full realization hit. Wow.