daytripper
Well-known member
I was in first grade and already pissed at the teacher. She wouldn't let me play with my cousin who was in second grade while we were at recess. I never got over that.
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Bugnatr
Well-known member
2ND grade, teachers name? Mrs. Kennedy!
teerex51
The Italian Scallion
IIRC we heard it on the evening news in Rome, Italy. I was in 8th grade.
All the people I knew were shocked and there was nothing else on TV for days (we only had one or two B&W channels anyway).
As a kid I was pretty shaken. JFK was very popular in Europe and definitely one of the good guys (you could not read or hear a single note of criticism against the man anywhere).
Earlier that year, pope John XXIII had also died. Again, a very popular figure that people simply adored.
I suspected a dark plot was unfolding to blow all the good guys away. I started fearing for John Wayne's life.
Stef
All the people I knew were shocked and there was nothing else on TV for days (we only had one or two B&W channels anyway).
As a kid I was pretty shaken. JFK was very popular in Europe and definitely one of the good guys (you could not read or hear a single note of criticism against the man anywhere).
Earlier that year, pope John XXIII had also died. Again, a very popular figure that people simply adored.
I suspected a dark plot was unfolding to blow all the good guys away. I started fearing for John Wayne's life.
Stef
afterburn
Modding Mechanic
Let's just say my mom & dad were still studying and were only just dating.
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TheRepairMan
Well-known member
I was 7, in the first grade, and couldn't really understand how this could have happened. :angry:
You know, back then we had God, Roy Rogers and Superman in charge of everything so I felt VERY safe up 'til then. :erm:
RogerB
You know, back then we had God, Roy Rogers and Superman in charge of everything so I felt VERY safe up 'til then. :erm:
RogerB
yanktar
Over the hill--and going faster!
I guess the Progressive background I had was more intense than I realized. By the summer of '63, when I turned 8, I was aware that Bobby Kennedy, the President's brother, had gone to Alabama to force George Wallace to stop blocking "Negro" (the preferred term then) kids from entering the school. It made NO sense, and neither did the pictures of water fountains marked "White" and "Colored" that were on the news. It wasn't till a few years later that I figured out it was the University of Alabama.
I never understood how the obvious and basic evil and injustice of Jim Crow could be practiced and tolerated. I still don't, despite being somewhat awre of ante-bellum and reconstruction history that lead to it.
When it came to the Civil Rights for all Americans, JFK was not a hero. RFK was the hero, and, of course, so was LBJ, who wanted to be the 2nd FDR .
twowheelnut
R.I.P. Our Motorcycling Friend
Holy shit! I don't believe you wrote that! (Good show on the presidents the other night, no?)
Just Plain Dave
Just Plain Dave
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I was repairing a cash register at Ft Sam Houston commissary. If you are familiar with commissaries you know there are many various races working there. When it was announced that JFK was dead, I was appalled at the fact a loud cheer arose from a certain race of those working in the commissary.
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yanktar
Over the hill--and going faster!
Why? History is what it is--not what we want it to be. Ignoring inconvenient facts doesn't make you a Right Wing Historian or Left Wing Historian, but a DISHONEST historian.
JFK didn't have the political capital or will to stand up to the southern bigots. He was sympathetic to the civil rights movement, as long as it didn't get in his way. He was a pretty good president who screwed up big-time at first, and achieved greatness through his murder, not by his actions.
RFK was the smartest, wisest, most savvy of the 4 brothers. He pushed his brother on the issue. Later, as a senator, he SAW how people were living in America--in hovels like rural India--and vowed to remove the barriers that retained that. He would have made a far better president than Eugene McCarthy (whom I was a fan of) and far, FAR better than Nixon.
LBJ had taught school in poor areas as a young man, and had become convinced that Jim Crow was evil. As President, he expended HUGE political capital, twistiing arms, calling in favors, black-mailing, to get 3 things done:
The Civil Rights Act.
The Voting Rights Act,
Getting the attorney on the Supreme Court who master-minded the strategy that led to the revolutionary Brown vs Board decision--Thurgood Marshall.
As only Nixon could go to China, only a southern redneck like LBJ could have crushed segregation.
Of course, now the revisionists tell us that Brown v Board was "Judicial Activism." Do they want to go back to Plessy v. Fergusson? At least Dubya has stated unequivocally that getting rid of Plessy was necessary and Brown a good thing. Would Robert Bork say the same?
We forget the facts and study the myths instead. George Washington is FAR more interesting, compelling and mysterious when you strip away the myth and demi-god status. Why did this man who chased power and influence all his life, who was driven by ego and an inferiority complex, who married for money and position, turn down the Brass Ring--to be King of the new USA? Why did he give up office after 2 terms saying that was enough? It doesn't fit his character, it doesn't fit the pattern of his life. Yet the facts are he did these things despite his character and tendencies. And that makes him a REAL hero and deserving of the title "The Father of his Country."
twowheelnut
R.I.P. Our Motorcycling Friend
Ziiiiiiiiiiiiiing! Damn! Better tighten up the drag! This one's rippin' out the line big time!
RadioHowie
I Miss Beemerdons!
...AND...Ziiiiiiiiiiiiiing! Damn! Better tighten up the drag! This one's rippin' out the line big time!
I gotta hand it to ya, TWN...you are one FUNNY motherpussbucket.
Congrats.
B
bikerschim
Guest
With my older and younger brothers (one each) I was in school. A one room school with six kids in grades from 1 to 7, I was in the 6th grade. The teacher lived in the teachers' cottage adjacent to the school building. With no means of communication in the school itself there was only a bell for the telephone in the cottage. When the phone rang Mrs. Dillon (widower) asked Billy Thompsen to run over and answer the phone. He ran back and said it was Mrs. Richards calling to tell Mrs Dillon (and us) that President Kennedy had been shot. Mrs Dillon got angry at Billy telling him it was not nice to kid about such a thing. He told her it was the truth, to go answer the phone because he left it off the hook. Mrs Dillon ran, as well as a round person like her could, to answer the phone and returned in tears confirming what Billy had initially reported.
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yanktar
Over the hill--and going faster!
Why do you think I keep writing? :blink:...AND...Ziiiiiiiiiiiiiing! Damn! Better tighten up the drag! This one's rippin' out the line big time!
I gotta hand it to ya, TWN...you are one FUNNY motherpussbucket.
Congrats.
I just GOT to see what TWN is gonna say next! I'm learning not to be drinking anything when I read it...my keyboard is getting soggy from all the spit-takes! :dribble:
