Assassination anniversary stirs old memories

Where were you 50 years ago today?

Democrat or Republican, admirer or detractor of one of our most charismatic presidents, we were all shocked and saddened by the events in Dealey Plaza that sunny day.

Somehow it set the tone for the decade to come, from the cynicism that surrounded Vietnam to worship of youth in the form of the Beatles to the sense of longing for the days of Camelot.

Those of us who are old enough to remember the event have no trouble remembering when we first heard the news.

A Facebook plea yielded many responses, most of them involving school:

"A first grader in an elementary classroom - all of the teachers were crying..."

"In a one room country schoolhouse with no phone or running water. My Uncle Robert came riding in on his horse (we rarely got visitors so all wondered why he was coming) to tell us."

"Miss Mummert's 8th grade math class. The principal stepped in to announce it and she said 'That's a lie. Shock was on both their faces ... never will forget that moment."

"At afternoon kindergarten at North Ward. The whole school went outside to see the custodian lower the flag to half mast. All the teachers were crying."

"In high school just starting a test in American History class. There was no announcement on the intercom. Each teacher was told individually who then made the announcement in class. Needless to say that blew any concentration I had left for the test."

'I was walking down a hallway in high school and it was announced over the intercom. It was my senior year. I will never forget all the faces around me."

"I was 17 and in school - It was announced in study hall. You could hear a pin drop."

Not all were school-related, of course.

"Just outside a telephone switching office in Mullica Hill, New Jersey. Heard it on the radio and thought the DJ had a weird sense of humor and when I went back in the office about every relay was clicking away."

"I don't recall his shooting, but I do remember his funeral as it pre-empted Romper Room and I was an upset 4 year old."

"Was in a compound about 40 miles SE of Saigon. Found out about it upon arising as it happened in the middle of the night local time."

The controversy about Kennedy's assassination and unanswered questions continue to this day. So, however, should the optimism and confidence that Kennedy embodied.