Assassin’s Bullet Kills Kennedy, vintage newspaper found last summer in a box of old family photographs, November 23rd, 1963, The Augusta Chronicle — South’s Oldest Newspaper — Est. 1785, Augusta, Georgia, photo © 2008 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
It’s the anniversary week of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Could it possibly be that 45 years have passed? Last summer, when rummaging through family photographs at my uncle’s, I happened upon a vintage newspaper that headlined Saturday Morning, November 23rd, 1963, the day after the Kennedy shooting. The handwriting of some member of my family was in the top left corner — “killed Friday morning.”
The Kennedy assassination rattled me as a child. I wrote about it a few years ago, and discovered Bryan Woolley’s Dallas Times Herald account of the facts from the morning of November 22nd, 1963. It was strange to be holding a yellowed newspaper from that day, one that had circulated through the town where I was born. There were front page interviews, reactions of everyday people walking down Broad Street.
Where were you the day Kennedy was shot?
Though I was young, I clearly remember the headline photograph of LBJ, Lady Bird and Jackie. It wasn’t until later I would learn it was taken aboard Air Force One by White House photographer, Cecil Stoughton, at the swearing in of Lyndon B. Johnson. Stoughton was close to the Kennedys and rode in the fifth car in the motorcade. He heard the shots that fatally wounded JFK; he was at Parkland Hospital when Kennedy died.
The Augusta Chronicle Caption — Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as President in the cabin of the presidential plane as Mrs. John F. Kennedy stands at his side. Federal Judge Sarah T. Hughes administers the oath. Background, Jack Valenti, administrative assistant to Johnson, Albert Thomas, D-Tex; Mrs. Johnson and Rep. Jack Brooks, D-Tex. This photo was made by Capt. Cecil Stoughton, official White House photographer, who was the only camera-man allowed to record the ceremony.
Out of the 12,000 negatives Stoughton shot during the Kennedy years, none would be as important as these – he was the only photographer allowed aboard Air Force One that day. And his were the only shots that proved Johnson had actually been sworn in. According to Stoughton’s son, “He took about 20 pictures but the first one almost didn’t happen because his Hasselblad, the Rolls-Royce of cameras, malfunctioned.” A photographer’s nightmare.
From Bryan Woolley’s account of the facts, here’s exactly what happened in those few moments that changed Cecil Stoughton’s life, and the world:
Judge Hughes boarded the plane at 2:35 and was handed a
small white card with the oath scrawled on it. Capt. Cecil
Stoughton, an Army Signal Corps photographer, tried to arrange
the crowd in the cramped stateroom so that he could take a
picture of the ceremony. “We’ll wait for Mrs. Kennedy,” Johnson
said. “I want her here.”
Mrs. Kennedy came out of the bedroom still wearing the
blood-soaked pink suit. Johnson pressed her hand and said, “This
is the saddest moment of my life.” The photographer placed her on
Johnson’s left, Lady Bird on his right. Judge Hughes, the first
woman to administer the presidential oath, was shaking.
“What about a Bible?” asked one of the witnesses. Someone
remembered that President Kennedy had kept a Bible in the bedroom
and went to get it.
“I do solemnly swear…”
The oath lasted 28 seconds. At 2:38 p.m., Lyndon B. Johnson
became the 36th President of the United States. The big jet’s
engines already were screaming. “Now, let’s get airborne,” he
said.
LBJ & Jackie Kennedy, JFK In Augusta Chronicle – “Little People Numbed,” Lee Harvey Oswald, shots of vintage copy of The Augusta Chronicle, November 23rd, 1963, Augusta, Georgia, photo © 2008 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
The Augusta Chronicle Caption — Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested in Dallas and charged Friday night with the murder of President Kennedy. Oswald was captured in a downtown Dallas theater after an alert cashier notified police a suspicious looking man had entered the theater shortly after the shooting. Oswald attempted to shoot his captors inside the theater but his pistol misfired. Four years ago Oswald said he was applying for Russian citizenship. His wife is Russian.
Stoughton had an amazing collection of photographs and memorabilia. He appeared on Public Television’s Antiques Roadshow in June 2007 where they estimated his collection at $75,000. Cecil Stoughton died a few weeks ago, on Monday, November 3rd, 2008. By some odd twist of fate, a pre-scheduled, taped segment of his 2007 Antiques Roadshow episode was rebroadcast that Monday night, about an hour after he died.
World Feels Shot’s Impact, vintage copy of The Augusta Chronicle — South’s Oldest Newspaper — Est. 1785, November 23rd, 1963, Augusta, Georgia, all photos © 2008 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
There is one last thing that struck me about The Augusta Chronicle account. Above the headline World Feels Shot’s Impact is a smaller headline — Little People Numbed. It reminded me of our recent presidential elections in this country, how the whole world was watching — and how it was the little people — everywoman, everyman — who really made the difference.
The Augusta Chronicle – World Feels Shot’s Impact
Saturday, November 23rd, 2008
Word of President Kennedy’s assassination struck the world’s capitals with shattering impact, leaving heads of state and the man in the street stunned and grief-stricken. While messages of condolence poured into the White House from presidents, premiers and crowned heads, the little people of many lands reacted with numbed disbelief.
Pubs in London and cafes in Paris fell silent, as the news came over radio and television.
In Moscow, a Russian girl walked weeping along the street. At U.N. headquarters in New York, delegates of 111 nations bowed their heads in a moment of silence.
In Buenos Aires, newspapers sounded sirens reserved for news of the utmost gravity.
Britain’s Prime Minister Douglas-Home sent condolences and Sir Winston Churchill branded the slaying a monstrous act.
“The loss to the United States and to the world is incalculable,” Sir Winston declared. “Those who come after Mr. Kennedy must strive the more to achieve the ideals of world peace and happiness and dignity to which his presidency was dedicated.”
-posted on red Ravine, Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
in 4th grade, it came over the intercom–everyone cried. we kept a scrap book of the news articles and pictures–funny that might be the only thing i remember about school except for the girls….
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I wasn’t born until 1968, but I have been through my JFK phase. It happened beginning with Stone’s movie and lead me to several books after that, just to get the story a bit clearer.
I asked my dad about this very thing recently, and he shared that his most vivid memory is of the shooting of Oswald. Says the images and the spontaneous utterances still resonate . . .
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My 5th-6th grade class was in our classroom, having an indoors recess and lunch – it was raining and howling outside, typical for November. The class clown, Bernie Ott, came bursting through the door. “Kennedy just got shot in the head!” He roared and it was hard to decipher whether he was howling like the wind or laughing meanly.
None of us knew whether it was a joke or not. Bernie wasn’t the most reliable source of news, but would even he joke about this? No. A few minutes later one of the nuns entered, carrying a handkerchief (a black one!) and weeping, dabbing her eyes. She even blew her nose – that was something I had never seen in 5 years of attending Catholic schools. A nun betraying her human-ness, her deepest emotions.
She immediately called off recess, assembled us in rows, and we began praying the rosary. Within minutes, there was another knock on the door, and a second crying nun entered, telling us President Kennedy had just died. Then we prayed for his soul until 3:30 when school let out.
I remember we watched the TV constantly that night and weekend all the way til the funeral, eating our meals in the living room, something we had never been allowed to do. My sister was only a year old, and so the adults kept telling me to keep her busy. I didn’t want anything to do with babysitting – I wanted to watch the news, too. It caused a bit of a hassle.
I was old enough to know what a terrible tragedy had occurred – old enough to get the historical impact and young enough to be deeply impressed by the Kennedys’ who had little kids and seemed so real, so much a family even though they were the First Family.
I’m thinking the Obamas will be in some ways, similar. It seems with young children in the White House, the place takes on a different aura. A grounding of sorts. It will be interesting to see what unfolds.
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I wasn’t around back then. But it happened on the day after my mom’s birthday. She actually remembers it as happening on her birthday, so there’s always a hint of sadness that creeps into the celebration.
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I was 12 years old. In grade school in Wake Forest NC. Grown ups and teachers were in shock so we were, too. What was happening? Did the Russians do it? What did it mean? What would happen next? Would we go to war? The A bomb, or worse, THE HYDROGEN BOMB? Wish that we had dug bomb shelters? Typical young boy’s mind at work. Next impression the slow march, the dark, rolling caisson and the endless dirge that accompanied it down the street.
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I was in the 3rd grade. An announcement over the intercom system summoned all teachers to the auditoriam. Something about the announcement made us all realize that whatever the reason, the news would not be good. Our teacher arrived back to the classroom & she was crying. Another announcement left us with the grim news that the president had been shot & was pronounced dead. We were dismissed from school early that day & were also off the day of the funeral. That night my parents cried in disbelief & explained to us exactly what had occured. It was quite a somber night.
We watched on tv the day of the funeral & tears flowed again. It’s a day I will never forget.
This past year I read a book titled The Kennedy Curse. It was amazing to read what the family has been through over the years. D
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I was sitting in music class in the auditorium/gymnasium of my grade school. I was 11 year old. It was a cold, gray, rainy day outside. We had finished a piece we were rehearsing for the Xmas program. A student walked into the gym and headed for the teacher. She read the note. “Attention, class! I need your attention. President Kennedy has been shot in Dallas, Texas.” The news stunned me. Things like this didn’t happen in America. We returned to our classroom.
A few minutes later the principal entered the classroom and announced to us all, “The President of the United States is dead.” They dismissed us home.
For the next several days, I watched the black and white television non-stop. I saw the people line up to see his body. I saw John-John and Caroline and Jackie, Jack Ruby, Lee Harvey Oswald. I saw Walter Cronkite cry. He never cried. I didn’t know it at the time, but the walls of Camelot were collapsing.
My fear about Barrack Obama is the hope that he has brought back to so many Americans, the despair his election has caused in so many other people, and the fear that we don’t believe in Camelot or the American dream anymore.
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Not yet born, but I visited Dallas for the first time in 2002 and stood on the grassy knoll and looked at the ‘x’ on the pavement and looked up at the 6th floor of the brick building and felt a wave of chills. You could *feel* what had happened there.
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I was in Mr. Bensing’s 7th grade Typing Class.
Mr. Bensing left for a moment, and when he returned, he announced in his very best ‘professional typing teacher’ manner, “The President has been shot.”
It was a public Junior High School, but all the students walked next door to St. John Vianney’s Catholic Church, and were all allowed to go in and pray.
I remember being told to put something, anything, on my head, so I wound up holding a white kleenex on top of my head.
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I was two-and-a-half years old and have to believe that I have no recollection of the assassination, yet I have this persistent memory of being with my mom as she’s folding clothing on the floor of the den, the TV set on. I’ve written about this:
I have had this memory before, and in it Mom is sometimes watching something other than Another World. One time it is John F. Kennedy’s assassination or funeral, I’m not sure which, although I do know I would have been too young to remember either. Yet, the details of that memory are especially acute: the orange cotton jumper Mom is folding, the one she sewed herself for Janet. The white hard plastic of the laundry basket. The cold tiles on the floor where my hand rests.
Jim has strong memories of the assassination. He would have been almost seven, and his earliest childhood memories are among the strongest and most vivid I’ve heard anyone talk about.
QM, the piece you did on this that you linked to is one of my favorite of your posts. So vivid and wild (as in, wild mind). I’m going to re-read it (I haven’t yet, am only working on my recollection of reading it the first time) and explore the other links when I get a chance.
I also want to come back and share something about my dad’s experience in that campus tower.
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Some great comments here. I’m amazed at how vivid different people’s memories are of this time. Many weren’t born yet, but may have had parents, grandparents, siblings, or partners who remember something. Many comments about announcements by teachers in classrooms. I guess that’s a certain generation.
BTW, for anyone who wants to see more of Cecil Stoughton’s images, letters, notes, the Antiques Roadshow link is pretty cool. It’s the one in the paragraph about Stoughton’s death — “Stoughton had an amazing collection of photographs and memorabilia.”
Scot, I wonder what happened to that scrapbook? From an archiving point of view, would be fascinating to see it now. Things that 4th graders would collect about the event.
Brian, the JFK phase. Having lived through it, it’s hard to imagine what it would be like to learn about Kennedy from books and the Oliver Stone movie. I think that one was heavy on the conspiracy base, wasn’t it?
Bo, your comment reads like memoir. Your memories seem vivid and alive. And attending a Catholic school during this period must have really added to the intensity. That, and the fact of his youth, was a big deal about the Kennedy presidency. What you say about the Kennedy kids — the photographer I talk about in this piece photographed many of those shots of Kennedy and his kids in the White House. Some of them can be viewed at the Antiques Roadshow link I mention above. I do think the Obama kids will bring a similar youthful energy to the White House. It’s fun to think about.
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Sam, how sad for your Mom that it happened around her birthday. This event was one of the most critical of that time period. I never thought about birthdays around the event. It reminds me of how hard it must be to have a 9/11 birthday. How do you escape the collective sadness that accumulates around heavy days like that.
diddy, you got the rest of the day off school? Wow. I don’t remember anything like that. I remember vividly the funeral though. A classic. It seems like I watched that, too, in black and white film footage. It would be interesting to view the whole funeral footage again. You know, you get snippets of things. But unless you watch documentaries, hardly ever get to see a whole event the same way again.
BTW, the book you read sounds fascinating. The Kennedy family has survived so many ups and downs. Would you recommend it? When I was looking at Cecil’s photographs of Kennedy’s family and kids, it was hard to fathom how many of them died tragically, in sometimes seemingly random ways.
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Rick, I like your list of questions — things that were running through all of our minds. And that would be heavily explored over the coming year. Didn’t they appoint a committee, name escapes me now, to investigate the assassination.
The bomb shelters – ybonesy and I have talked about them on red Ravine (See Duck & Cover (LINK). — Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis. My grandfather had a bomb shelter in his backyard, not far from the swimming pool. I’ve got vivid memories of going down to check it out a few times. And now when I see photographs of his backyard, I always wonder if it’s still sitting there, down in the damp and dark.
Bob, you got to go home, too? I really don’t remember us being dismissed from school. I do remember it was hard to sit there the rest of the afternoon though. Your memories seem vivid of that time as well. BTW, I think the American dreams are alive and well. Yet, so are the fear and skepticism that pervade in hard economic times. They are living side by side, but then I wonder if they maybe always have. Jack Ruby, Lee Harvey Oswald – who could forget their images plastered across the TV.
Christina, you actually stood on the grassy knoll? I’ve never been to Dallas. I’ve only been to Texas once and it was a short, very short stay in Austin. I would like to visit that spot sometime though. About the energy there — I believe you.
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leslie, Mr. Bensing’s 7th grade Typing Class…gosh, remember typing classes on manual typewriters. A blast from the past. It sounds soothing that you got to go into the Catholic church next door to pray. I haven’t been in very many Catholic churches. But one memory is from sometime in my youth, and I remember having to put something on my head as well. I don’t remember what it was or what the significance of that ritual was either. And now I wonder if it’s still observed by some churches.
ybonesy, thanks. That old piece about Kennedy and grade school, when I reread it, I feel vulnerable somehow. It does have a bit of wild mind in it, digging a little into memoir. I think it did start with a writing practice. I really do like to mix research, history, and memoir together. It’s fascinating to me.
BTW, I remember reading that quote in your comment about your memories. Was that in one of your writing practices, too? Where did you find that? Yes, do come back and share your father’s experience. Love to hear about it. It sounds familiar to me.
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QM – Talking about Oswald and Jack Ruby. I was sick on the Sunday morning when Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald. My family left me all cozied in bed anf trucked off to church. I had the TV on, watching the news. I’m surprised I wasn’t watching cartoons, but maybe the station broke away from regular broadcasting to film Oswald being moved from the jail. I remember being absolutely stunned when Jack Ruby ran up to Oswald, showed his gun, and then Oswald was on the floor dying. I had such a strong sense of watching as history broke open on the TV screen – it was somehow very different from seeing it replayed on the news.
I also was watching the defective space shuttle launch on TV and saw it explode. Again the same feeling. Not being told about it, but actually witnessing it via TV. I remember my oldest was about 4 and we were just getting ready to go to her dance class. It was so odd to just go on with our lives, but what else was there to do, but go on.
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One day on my trip to work downtown I sat next to a black woman who was engaged in a conversation with another black woman. They were pointing at places and recalling when the neighborhood through which we were passing had been a place for black people to shop. In the early 60’s Kansas City was still segregated.
One woman said, “That place use to be JC Penney. I was shopping there with my mama one day and the lights went out, like a power failure. They came back up and a voice came over the intercom, ‘President John F. Kennedy has been shot while traveling in a motorcade in Dallas.’ Girl, my mama grabbed my hand and said, ‘Honey, we’ve got to get home. There may be trouble comin’.’ We left that store and caught the next bus home and stayed glued to the television. I will never forget that day as long as I live.”
I think they closed the schools in St. Joe because no one could have concentrated. We didn’t return to school until after the funeral. Funny thing how that assassination affected us kids, we had elected him president in our school election with an overwhelming majority. How odd that we could have so much love for a man we didn’t even know.
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wow, such interesting accounts. This one has me at the edge of my chair. I have so few memories from childhood but I remember this like yesterday.
I was 5 years old. My Mother had me tightly by the hand in some big department store and I remember all the rows of stacked, black and white tv’s (the old round ones and big square ones with gold fabric speakers) blasting away with people sobbing in front of them. I didn’t understand what was going on but it was making me scared, so she bought me one of those bags of chocolate, gold foil coins.
She drove me to my afternoon kindergarten class and my teacher ran out into the street to take me by the hand… something she had never done before. She was in such a hurry and so upset that I remember those coins dropping all over the street and everyone trying to pick them up. To this day, I think abut President Kennedy every time I see those chocolate coins.
The Henry Ford Museum, one of the best Museums in the world, has the Kennedy car there for people to view. I was very surprised to learn that car was still in use for both Johnson and Carter but it had a bullet proof, clear roof attached after. It’s a very ominous thing to look at and think about. Those old black fin cars are scary looking as it is.
I have a dear friend, who is one of the head CSI’s for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. He is a ballistics expert and invented the way they now remove gun shot residue from hands in investigations across the US. He’s the smartest guy I know and he has studied the Kennedy shooting and all the documentation. He said, absolutely, without a doubt in his mind, it was one shooter and he showed me just how it happened.
QM, the one thing that leaves my mouth dry…and you know this too from being a photographer…can you imagine being in Stoughton’s shoes…being the only Photographer before the next President, with Jackie in shock still wearing her blood splattered clothing… and then having your Hasselblad fail. I would have past out cold.
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I was 3 years old. I don’t remember anything. I was probably playing in the back yard in Silver City.
I do remember Bobby Kennedy’s assassination (my mom getting a phone call then screaming and then crying), MLK’s, and the Apollo 1 fire.
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I was 16, sitting in speech class when the principal’s voice came over the P.A. speaker, telling us that our president had been shot in Dallas and had just died. My speech teacher, Mr. Laycock, was my favorite teacher, a funny, sweet man who clearly loved his job. I remember how he stood at the front of the class,(himself as tall and lanky as Abraham Lincoln, long face, big hands and feet), his glance down at the table in front of him, trying to collect himself. When he looked up, he had tears streaming down his face. The class was dead quiet.
The next two or three days, we had no school. Being a callous and politically ignorant teen, I didn’t quite understand why we had no school when the president’s funeral was taking place so far from Wisconsin.
I also remember, vividly, seeing Jack Ruby shoot Oswald. It was live on the news on our black and white TV. My mother kept saying something like, “oh my, oh my, oh my.”
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So, here are some tidbits to share about my dad. First, he remembers the date as November 23. If you say, Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, he’ll correct you. I have to wonder if it was the newspaper headlines that next day and their date that was seared into his memory.
He and my brother and niece went to Dallas to see a Cowboys game one year and visited the book repository. They were able to look out the window where the shot came from. It was very sad, he has said.
I also mis-remembered a story he told me about a different shooting, but now I have it cleared up. My dad was an accountant and frequently traveled to do audits, at national research centers and universities and such. What I got confused with was that he and colleagues were at the University of Texas, Austin tower days before a sniper killed 16 people and wounded 30 others. Dad had been one floor down from where the sniper positioned himself. That happened on August 1, 1966 (LINK). I was thinking that it had been the book repository where Dad had been before the shooting and not the Austin campus tower.
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QM, yes, we were dismissed from school, & like Bob, we also did not return until after the funeral. I think it was the right decision. We were all given time to grieve & be with our families.
I also remember the tragedy of the space shuttle & did see it live on tv. I’ll never forget that either. Another experience that you may or may not recall happened in 1987 in PA. Budd Dwyer, the State Treasurer here in PA, was under investigation for taking bribes. He called a press conference to keep everyone posted on the events. I was watching tv when the press conference began. He gave a rambling speech & then pulled a .357 magnum out of a manilla envelope & stuck the gun in his mouth, commiting suicide on tv. We had a major snowstorm that day & many of the schools were closed, so a lot of children were witness to the suicide.
The Kennedy Curse was a good read. It chronicles 150 years of the Kennedy family. It was written by Edward Klein, who has written other books about the family as well.
D
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Though I haven’t existed during that time, I can relate to this with the tragedy of 9/11. Events like these go down in history books and researched again and again for clues to explain every single moment leading up to the event. Just reading this entry really makes me shiver with shock and sadness.
@alittlediddy, I’ve heard about the Kennedy Curse too and that there is a book on it. I haven’t gotten a chance to find time to read about it, but it is sure fascinating to hear it by mouth as my brother once told me about it. I need to find time to read!! LOL. The only books I’m reading are textbooks for college courses!
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I was twelve years old. Toward the end of 6th period, I noticed our art teacher Mr. Flood talking to someone in the hallway, one foot in the classroom, one foot out. I dismissed it at the time, just a minor activity slightly out of the ordinary.
When the class ended, I went to my locker. I was soon joined by Hugh Schedler who had the locker next to mine.
“Did you hear?” Hugh said.
“Hear what?”
“Kennedy was shot.”
The last period of the day was gym. For some reason, I didn’t dress for gym that day. Instead, I sat in the bleachers watching the other kids go about the usual phys- ed. routine: jumping jacks, push-ups, etc. I did not yet know that Kennedy was dead. I was shocked, but did not yet know the worst.
After school ended, I walked home by myself. When I got to Pascack Road and Ridge Avenue, the lady crossing guard was talking to someone else. I overheard her talk about Lyndon Johnson possibly having a heart attack. And so I spent the rest of my walk home pondering the possibility that the Speaker of the House might be the next President. When I got home, I turned on the T.V. and learned for sure that Kennedy had died and that the Johnson rumor was only that. I remember Officer Joe Bolton, who normally hosted The Three Stooges, talking in a serious way that I had never heard before. I first heard the name Oswald from Officer Joe.
Two days later, I was at my friend Albie’s house. Things had not returned to normal, but we still carried on with kid-type things anyway. It was sunny out on November 24th. Albie and I had out our small magnifying glasses, the type that you could slide into a brown leather sheath when not using them. The two of us were busy creating tiny pools of melted blacktop on Albie’s driveway with the help of the sun. The pools were the size of teardrops. That’s when Billy Leonard burst out the front door of Albie’s house. Billy said that Oswald had been shot. Billy was several years younger than us so we initially, out of habit, didn’t take him seriously. But he was so adamant that we went inside. And there on the T.V., replay after replay, we saw that hat of Jack Ruby’s, snaking through the crowd, and then there was Ruby himself shooting Oswald. What was happening? How could this be? Speaking in the present, I would say that those questions remain valid.
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Wow, Robert, your recall is just so vivid. The names, the details. I know it’s an understatement to say, What an impactful event.
Today’s the day. I think I’ll call my mother-in-law. She told me that she was so inspired by JFK that she took Jim to see him when he was a presidential candidate. He made a trip to Albuquerque, and on a whim she got Jim ready (Jim must have been about 3) and drove down to where the event was. She held Jim’s hand as they walked to see JFK.
What a sad thing to have happened. I read an essay recently about all the “what ifs” of certain presidents and their times. What if JFK had not been assassinated and lived to get us out of Vietnam before it started? What if Robert F Kennedy had not been assassinated? What would our world look like today?
BTW, on a lighter note, as a young girl I got a lot of pride out of the fact that I shared a birthday with JFK and Bob Hope. Somehow having those two also be born on my same day made me very happy, like somehow, through osmosis, I got something of what they had. 8)
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I’m not sure where I was although I vaguely recall watching the funeral on television. I was 4 years old at the time (just a few weeks shy of 5).
My husband always remembers it well. It’s the 45th anniversary of the day his tonsils were removed.
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ybonesy, that shooting at UT Austin, I vaguely remember that from 1966. I had to go over and read your link though and then it came back to me:
“Until Monday’s carnage at Virginia Tech, the Aug. 1, 1966, sniping rampage by Charles Whitman from the Austin school’s landmark 307-foot tower had remained the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history.”
I was pretty young, but remember hearing about it. It struck me that he also killed his mother and wife before the shooting, and beat a receptionist to death as part of the whole thing. Even though the Austin event was the most deadliest until Virginia Tech, it seems like the additional violence against his family makes it stand out.
I like how the bronze memorial plaque in a garden near the tower reminds of all those on the peripheral who are affected by random violence like that, even those a few days removed such as your dad:
“to those who died, to those who were wounded, and to the countless other victims who were immeasurably affected by the tragedy.”
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diddy, I remember hearing about the 1987 Budd Dwyer event where the State Treasurer in Pennsylvania was under investigation for taking bribes and killed himself on camera. I don’t remember the footage though. I was living in Minnesota at the time but usually pay attention to PA news. It must have made the national news, too. Ugh, sounds like a terrible thing for a child to see.
I remember the Jack Ruby/Oswald thing played over and over on TV like so many in the comments here. That was so strange, surreal.
Thanks to all who shared your memories from this time in history. From the gold coins, to the Kansas City bus, to Wisconsin, California, and classrooms and playgrounds all over the country – we were all affected in some way and our lives changed. And I’m amazed by the details that people recall. I thought of all of your stories yesterday and said a few prayers.
Also, Liz read this morning that a sniper had fired into a mall in Seattle yesterday, the anniversary of the death of JFK. I haven’t read the details, but am aware that these random acts of violence seem to be increasing in our country. So much anger and rage.
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Heather, I wanted to come back and make one other comment about your comment:
QM, the one thing that leaves my mouth dry…and you know this too from being a photographer…can you imagine being in Stoughton’s shoes…being the only Photographer before the next President, with Jackie in shock still wearing her blood splattered clothing… and then having your Hasselblad fail. I would have past out cold.
I wanted this piece to be about the photographer, too, and his life and the way it was impacted because NO, I can’t imagine having been in that situation and had my camera jam up. UGH. No way. And the pressure. He really would have had to remain calm.
Interesting about your CSI Orange County friend and how he is so sure it was only one shooter. There are so many conspiracy theories around still about that day. It would be fascinating to talk to your friend and hear him explain it. Heck, it would be fascinating to have a CSI as a friend, period. I watch the original CSI and have from the start. I wonder if the job’s anything like the TV show? I’m guessing not. 8)
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QM, Loren laughs from beginning to end but does find it entertaining. I watch the Vegas one because I’ve loved William Peterson since Manhunter and To live and Die in LA… And I love the re-occuring role of “Lady Heather” the S&M Queen of course! 😉 I realize this makes me sound a bit odd because I love both shoot em up crime movies and British romance period pieces. HA!
Loren thinks it’s hilarious that Peterson’s character is a bug expert. The real folks use Vector control. He’s worked on some of the most notable cases in Orange County like “The Night Stalker”. He’s of course very tight lipped until long after it’s all over. You absolutely would be spellbound listening to him.
He’s meticulous in everything he does and so very intelligent, yet has a dry sense of humor I just love. It takes a very special person to do that kind of job and it was very hard on him in the beginning, most especially cases involving children. They all learn to deal with what they see, in their own way, but it does take a toll. He has aged. Thank God he has a very loving wife that’s very supportive and makes his home life a haven.
I’m so very proud to know that someone like him is out there, doing his utmost best, to solve horrible crimes, and give loved ones some form of peace when possible.
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Heather, William Petersen as Gil Grissom is my fave character, too. I do like Catherine Willows, too, played by Marg Helgenberger (she was born in Nebraska). Ah, they are almost equal characters to me. And what the heck happened to Warrick? I kind of miss Sara, actress Jorja Fox.
Of course, I love Lady Heather, too. She made a recent reappearance as did Sara Sidel. I was happy to see dominatrix Lady Heather got her psych degree. 8) Some links for those who don’t follow the show:
CSI Homepage (LINK)
William Petersen Unofficial Appreciation Page (LINK)
Lady Heather links on Wikipedia (LINK)
Your CSI friend sounds fascinating. I agree — I don’t know how people do that kind of work and keep their distance from the crimes and the insanity of the people who commit them. But I am so glad that there are people out there that are willing to tackle these things. Nothing can make up for the loss people feel. But solving the crime may add a little closure. Tell your friend thank you, for fighting the good fight.
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I love both Grissom and Warrick QM. Now that Warrick is gone (I guess he wanted off the show?) and Gil is soon to be gone (replaced by Lawrence Fishburn) I’m not sure I can hang around. I watch it for Grissom. I’m always pulling for him and Lady Heather…two interesting minds 😉
Incidently, If you’ve never seen Manhunter, rent it. It was made long before Silence of the Lambs and was the original introduction to Hannibal Lecter.
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Heather, I’m heartbroken. I actually had not heard that Gil was leaving. I feel behind the times. Lawrence Fishburn, interesting choice. But somehow I can’t see watching it either without Gil and his bugs. He kind of makes it for me. You are right — it’s the intellectual pieces that he and Lady Heather bring to the show, a kind of emotional intelligence. Bummer. When’s he leaving?
I have not seen Manhunter and once you mentioned it, I looked it up. Now I want to see it. Liz and I recently watched another Hannibal movie about his early years. The psychology of people that are that far over the edge is what fascinates me. Remember that movie, 7? It was so gross but you couldn’t help but wonder about the mind of that guy. How do people get to be that way.
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I just watched Seven again the other day QM…unbelievable movie…spellbinding!
Rumors were Billy P. wanted to leave the CSI show last year but hung around. I think he feels he’s done all he could do with it. Heck the shows been numero uno for years. It and Masterprice Theatre are the only 2 things I watch…although when I saw Rufus Sewell coming to TV, I hooked that one on my list as well. It’s after CSI. He’s a great actor and was terrific in Cold Comfort Farm and Dangerous Beauty. He has the most unusual eyes. They dance.
As far as CSI, the rumor was that either Lawrence Fishburn or John Malkovich would be the Gil replacement. I do admire Fishburn (Othello) but if it was Malkovich…I be 2 feet from the tele! He’s a fave of mine!
You guys will enjoy Manhunter but don’t blame me if ya pee your pants! It was the very first Hannibal movie and many people have never seen or heard of it. Get Dangerous Beauty while your at it. Fabulous movie based on a courtesan in 16th century Venice. I never get tired of watching it.
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I wonder if Jim knows all these characters from CSI and which one is leaving. I bet not. The only thing I know is one guy has red hair, the color of Tang. I bet he dyes it, don’t you? And then there’s a sort of romantic thing between a blonde woman and an Hispanic guy, both sweet. Why don’t they just get together, for Pete’s sake?
That is all I know about CSI. Are there several or just two CSIs?
Seven. I don’t think I could watch that one. Too spooky. I like the intrigue, really get into wondering what the mind of someone like that is, but if the movie is too graphic, I just can’t handle it.
I do think it would be fascinating to be a CSI person in real life.
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yb, there’s 3! Vegas, Miami (Tang head) and NY…just to boggle your mind 😉 My Husband watches all dang 3!
I really get offended by Tang head because they call him “H” and that’s my handle! I don’t know of a character named Pete 😉
Go get Dangerous Beauty with Rufus. Don’t get Manhunter. I’m not gonna be blamed for new white streaks in your hair.
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ybonesy, I don’t watch Tang head either. Only once in a while when it comes on and I get sucked in. I’m kind of a purist that way, going for the original thing. The NY one never caught on with me at all. I couldn’t get into the characters who, for me, lacked depth.
Oh, and don’t watch 7 either ybonesy. Way too scary and gory for the squeamish. But it’s a psychological thriller in every sense of the word and is based on the 7 Deadly Sins (which we’ve written about on red Ravine and is one of our past Writing Topics). It’s got one of those endings where the killer gets caught but no one really wins.
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Hey, I wanted to say one other thing about JFK — I listened to an NPR story last Saturday on a military person (name escapes me at the moment) who was guarding JFK’s body when they brought it to Bethesda, Maryland that night. I’ll try to come back and add the link later. At one point they had misplaced the President’s body or were unable to locate it.
Also amazing stories about the different family members who came to visit, including a tender one about Margaret McNamara, wife of Robert McNamara, U.S. Secretary of Defense under John F. Kennedy. He said she had the kindest eyes. And when she first arrived to view the body, had asked the guard if he was okay. He felt a bond with her after that night and was genuinely sad when she died years later.
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QM, those are some interesting tidbits, particularly the loss or inability to find the body. I find that to be incredible
& don’t believe I’ve ever heard it before.
Ok, I also wanted to chime in about CSI. I think it was a conversation I had with you & R3 when you were visiting last November. I do not like the CSI Miami. Due to tang head David Caruso’s lack of acting skills. I’d actually like to reach into the tv & rip those sunglasses right off his face. The rest of the cast does a fabulous job & I don’t want to take jabs at them. However, the monotone voice of Caruso ruins the show for me. Drives me crazy. D
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Caruso is basically still playing the character that was his at the start of “NYPD Blue”. His character does have some range, all the way from point A to point B. His character captures one emotion: Perpetual anger. He adjusts this anger by taking his sunglasses off or by putting them back on. Sunglasses off? He’s about to explode. Sunglasses back on? Explosion averted. It’s back to cruise-control anger. He could use a new prop. I suggest a rubber chicken.
Let’s see if he can maintain his perpetual anger holding one of those! THAT would be acting.
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Robert Morse, your comment cracked me up when I read it. It’s true about Caruso and his anger sunglasses. I hadn’t thought of it that way before — glasses off, glasses on. 8) Yeah, you know the Miami CSI just doesn’t hold the same draw for me. It’s kind of like an extension of the old Miami Vice. And I miss the underlying dry humor of Gil Grissom on the original CSI. It makes that show. The other two don’t have any humor to lighten it up.
diddy, I’ll have to try to find that link and post it so you can hear the guy’s story and memories of that time. It was something about the people who were transporting the body being unable to find the place or the right door. So he was standing there waiting, wondering where in the world the body was. Strange moment for him.
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Heather, you won’t believe it but last night when Liz was checking out the movie schedule, there it was — Manhunter! I quickly asked her to record it for the weekend. I wanted to watch it last night, I was so excited, but then ended up way too tired. I did see a preview though. William Petersen looks so dang young in that movie. I guess it was over 20 years ago or somewhere around there that it came out. Amazing.
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[…] She made it through the Great Depression, the Red Scare, and the anti-war movement. She saw the assassinations of JFK, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Bobby […]
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I wasn’t even born then…LOL
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It’s the 46th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I often think about the event this time of year, and how it changed the course of history. So I came back to re-read what our readers had written about where they were when Kennedy was shot. Some great comments.
I don’t hear much about it in the news this year. I did find this post — 46th Anniversary Q & A Guide: The JFK Assassination at The Morning Delivery. Even after all this time, it’s interesting to read the facts. Just the facts. The rest is left to history and our imaginations.
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I wouldn’t have known, QM, if not for you posting this comment. Yeah, no coverage, although, I haven’t seen the TV hardly at all this weekend. I also loved re-reading the comments. Funny how they evolved into CSI and Caruso. 8) You never know where we will go on any comment thread, do you?
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I was just watching Antiques Road Show and saw Cecil Stoughton, the man that took the photos. One thing that I found interesting is what he said:
The Warren commissions offical report states there was one shot. A lone gunman. There were lots of witnesses that state they heard 3 shots. All of the witness’ testified they hear 3 shots and the “regime” ignored this testimony. Kind of makes you think.
Fourty seven years later, that was the first time I heard a witness, Cecil, say on TV he heard 3 shots. He made a point of saying it too.
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Melanie, I happened to see that same Antiques Road Show with photographer Cecil Stoughton and heard him say the same thing about the three distinct shots. It really does make you think. Who knows if we’ll ever know the whole truth.
Another thing I was struck by was that Cecil seemed to feel that he often did not get credit for these famous JFK photographs. Once the AP picked up the photos, they ran everywhere, all over the world. I think he’s gotten more credit in later years. But it made me think about Obama’s White House photographer today. I wonder how much his name will be remembered in later years. It’s almost like a form of national service work being the official White House photographer. Thanks for stopping by.
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Another year passes and we are once again at November 22nd. This year must mark the 47th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I always come back to this post when I hear about the anniversary. How surprised I was to come across this newspaper clipping in a box of my uncle’s old papers. And I think about the photographer, Cecil Stoughton. How could he have known the impact his photos would have.
I also think it’s a strange time for this to have happened. A few days before the nation would be celebrating Thanksgiving. Listening to MPR when I drove home in the dark, I was thinking it’s a time of year without much light. And I was thinking about what’s in the news today — airport security. To me, it’s been blown all out of proportion. I wonder if all news is blown out of proportion these days. The Kennedy story in 1963 — now that was a story.
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