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Tom-D

Tom-D

Taxi to Parking
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Tom-D
November 22, 1963
Dealy Plaza
Dallas, Texas

I stood the ceremonial guide thru that era.
 
They say that everyone remembers where they were that day. As if time just stopped that day.

I’m told I was sent home early from kindergarten, which I don’t actually remember. But I do remember seeing the solemn funeral procession on TV, a few days later.
 
Everyone frI’m that era knows what they were doing when they got the news.

I was pounding rivets on a very special KC-135 that night
 

There was a great cartoon movie (of all things) about this called Tower. Highly recommended.

Link.
 
Magman said:
Everyone frI’m that era knows what they were doing when they got the news.

I was pounding rivets on a very special KC-135 that night
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Lots of interesting KCs from that era. Lots of intel platforms.
 
I was in eighth grade. In those days, students who lived close to school could apply for a pass to go home for lunch each day, and that is what I did.

On that sunny November Friday I was just exiting the school's front gate, next to the teachers' parking lot, starting my short walk home for lunch. My science teacher, Mr. Serle, was walking toward me on the sidewalk, holding a transistor radio to his ear. He stopped and told me he had just heard a report that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas, Texas. I hurried home, to find that my dad, who was home because he was working the night shift for the California Highway Patrol, already had the TV news on. It was a somber walk back to school after lunch.
 
I was in the Marine Corps at the time stationed at MCRD San Diego. I was numbed by the news. Some months before, President Kennedy visited MCRD and addressed us. I stood at attention as Ruffles and Flourishes, followed by Hail to The Chief was played for him.
 
All I remember is knowing something was wrong. My mom was upset, my dad came home from work upset, my sister came home from school crying.

I really didn't know what happened but I was sure whatever was wrong was going to be taken out on the seat of my britches.....
 
It was a very somber day, indeed, in my household. I was but 4 years old, but it made a substantial impression.

Worse, being from Dallas, we endured ludicrous and hostile comments when we traveled East in the years to come, (especially in New York and Massachusetts)- “Dallas? You killed Kennedy!” It took the TV show to change the association.
 
SCCutler said:
It was a very somber day, indeed, in my household. I was but 4 years old, but it made a substantial impression.

Worse, being from Dallas, we endured ludicrous and hostile comments when we traveled East in the years to come, (especially in New York and Massachusetts)- “Dallas? You killed Kennedy!” It took the TV show to change the association.
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I'm a little younger, so I have no memory. I was in college when Hinckley shot Reagan, and we were watching the news that night and when Frank Reynolds said Hinckley was "from Dallas, of all places," my friend from FTW went crazy. "Here we go again; getting blamed for everything!"
 
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15 years before my time. :) I was still counting angels up above.
 
Was reading the other day that Cronkite read the initial news audio only, because the TV cameras of the era took 20 min to warm up.

(Tube filaments in the circuit’s tubes, I assume.)
 
I was in first grade, but don't remember being told in school. Weirdly, I remember my mom saying the President had been 'assassinated', but being 6, I had no clue what that meant. Maybe she was trying to expand my vocabulary. ;) I'm not sure how she explained it, but I got the general idea.

I do remember watching the funeral procession on TV.
 
It was during lunch period, while a sophomore in HS, every thing was eerily quiet, as the “rumor” quietly spread, no crying(since it was just a rumor at that early time), some wise cracks till it was officially known. Out next door neighbors had a last name of Oswald, they moved away shortly after. Not sure why or whether it was a coincidence, but they did definitely get the silence treatment(don’t believe they were related).
 
I just started kindergarten when 9/11 happened and I still remember seeing Tom Brokaw reporting it on TV. It's crazy how events like that stick with you
 
ktup-flyer said:
I just started kindergarten when 9/11 happened and I still remember seeing Tom Brokaw reporting it on TV. It's crazy how events like that stick with you
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My job was to keep people on the sidewalk. (gutter guard)
 
I was 8 years old. I remember going back to school after lunch and my friend Stephen met me on the playing field we had to cross as we both lived on the "back side" of the school. He was the first to tell me the news, but he just said someone shot the President. It was when we were all back at our desks that our teacher, Mrs. Gauer, walked in with the most unusual expression on her face - combination of shock, grief, surprise and sadness all together. I haven't forgotten that look to this day. Apparently they were watching the breaking news on the TV in the teacher's break room.

They closed the school and sent us home. Both my parents were home with the CBS affiliate in Bellingham, KVOS, on the B&W television.
 
I was in 6th grade. We were all called into the auditorium. One teacher said that he was "shot down". Even then that had a different connotation to me and I was wondering how a fighter got close enough. Strange things that we remember.
 
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