In case no one remembered,.. today's date in history.

[macman007]

56 years ago today, at 12:34 CST, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. It's somewhat more surreal this year than normal, on this exact day in 1963, it was also a Friday. I can't believe it's been 56 years, it seems like it was only yesterday.

How many folks alive in 1963 remember exactly what you were doing and where you were when you heard the news? I still have the magazines from the days after, of funeral and the aftermath, Look, Life, Time, as well as local and regional newspapers, NY Times, Baltimore Sun, Washington Star and Post, spanning well into January '64.

A sad event in time that should and will never be forgotten. It seems as if everything changed, then slowly went downhill from there.

Coming up, December 8 is the 39th anniversary of the assassination of John Lennon, on December 8, 1980. Next year, it will be 4 decades John's been gone, just as long as he was alive. I don't know if the 8th is on a Monday this year, as it was back in 1980.

As happy as the Holiday seasons are this time of year, I can't help thinking about these 2 events fall smack in the middle of the season. I'll be spinning some vinyl for both Johns, while remembering back to happier times when things still made sense.

I did not neglect to remember Pearl Harbor Day, December 7 (Sunday in 1941) is coming up as well. As a US Navy vet, that day doesn't pass by unnoticed. I've been to Pearl Harbor, stood on the memorial looked down at the remains of the wreck of the USS Arizona,.. the Bunker Crude fuel oil still bleeding from the wreck's tanks, glistening like a rainbow on the water's surface, in the Pacific sunlight.

Interesting fact; there remains some estimated half million gallons of fuel oil still on board Arizona. The Battleships moored on the 'row were all fully fueled, ready to sortie at a moments notice. All ships but Arizona and Oklahoma were salvaged fairly early in WW-II, living to serve again in multiple Allied Theaters.

One more sobering world changing event that also occurred during the holiday season. I'm sort of a history buff, if you go to the History Channel home page, today In History, the top story is about JFK. I wonder how many others remembered what today is, with all that is going on in the world,.. on our TV's today.

[Antonmb]

Thanks for this reminder. On this date in ‘63 I was in 5th grade. I remember my teacher, Mrs Robinson, being called out of the room and coming back in crying. She told us the president had been shot and we were being sent home early. At only 10 years old, I don’t think I really understood the implications, although my grandmother had died a few months earlier so I was gaining an understanding of death. How upset all the adults in my life were made a deep impression.

[jimtranr]

I was attending an antisubmarine-warfare air controller course at the Navy ASW training center in San Diego that morning when the instructor announced that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. Class was cancelled immediately.

One impression that remains indelible is the respect demonstrated by Australian naval officers who attended courses there. They donned black mourning armbands as soon as it was announced that Kennedy had died.

[jdandy]

A horrible day in American history. I remember it like it was yesterday. I'll never forget the image of John, Jr. saluting his father's casket. Such a sad sight to witness.

[doguniverse]

Yes, I was in 3rd grade, and my teacher left the room talking to the principle which I saw both of them talking. I was giving a speech on the fire drill we just had earlier that morning School was not canceled, but I always thought there was something terribly wrong.

BTW, my parents saw JFK the night before in Ft. Worth. I still remember the casket and the horse behind it traveling down the street.

[Higgens]

I remember the moment clearly. I was in 2nd grade and the Monsignor/principal announced JFK’s death over the school intercom. After the announcement, our teacher held a moment of silence to pray for the country. My family also talked about it at dinner that evening. This was my first exposure to a national tragedy.

[Vintage Pete]

I remember, very much so. I was only 5 years old at the time of the assassination, but remember when the news broke and my kindergarten teacher telling us that the President had been shot in Dallas. I remember the tears at the dinner table that night, and the surreal days that followed that weekend, and the following Monday when the President's funeral was held. I grew up in the shadow of these events, so to speak.

Since the time of the 20th anniversary of the event, with many remembrances and specials airing on television, I've become a huge collector of all things JFK, with many of the items relating to the assassination and its aftermath. Anyone who knows me well and/or have been in my house knows this. My home has become both an audio museum and perhaps a JFK museum of sorts.

In 2014 I visited Dallas, with the expressed purpose to visit Dealey Plaza, the sixth floor museum, and other related sites. Just by chance, I spent a good part of one day in the company of Buell Frazier, who at age 19 had a job at the Texas School Book Depository, and regularly gave Lee Harvey Oswald rides to work. He gave him a ride to work on Friday, November 22, 1963. Oswald carried with him that morning a wrapped package, presumed to be the weapon he used to assassinate the President.

Mr. Frazier just happened to have chosen the same day I had to tour the Ruth Paine home in Irving, Texas, where Marina Oswald (Lee Harvey Oswald's wife) had been staying with Mrs. Paine. It was an interesting afternoon, to say the least, to not only tour the Paine home but to also be in the company of one of the principal players in the drama that shook the world in 1963.

The site of the assassination itself has a surreal aura about it. It's really quite a feeling to look at the curve in the roadway, the former Texas School Book Depository Building, and the infamous sixth floor window. You can feel the history there, that's for sure.

[Mikado463]

Like Tony I was only ten but remember it well. What I also remember was 6 years ago, the 50th aniv of his death and the number of young people that didn't even know who JFK was, sad. That family had more than their share of tragedy

[Taylode]

It's amazing how many of us remember the event when we were so young. I was 7 and remember quite clearly. I also remember all the conspiracy theories as to whether his was dead or not. In 7th grade, I participated in a debate on the issue and I was given the position he was alive. I was amazed at how much material I found to support that position. And recently, shortly after my father passed away, I was going through his things and I found a lot of items from that event: mostly various newspapers and magazines. At the same time, I also found similar items for other significant events like the Apollo moon landing. I never new that he had any of that stuff.

[FreddieFerric]

I was 5. I only barely remember seeing it on the old black and white set.