Inauguration

There's a 2 hour show on History on the
change of power. They went into detail
on when Kennedy was shot and Johnson
was sworn in.

I was 14 in 1963 and in the gym that Friday
for a pep rally. When they announced the
news on the intercom, we joked about it.
We we're teenagers, c'mon.

It changed when we got home. My parents
and everybody on TV were distraught. So
that eventually transferred to us kids. It
didn't help that all 3 networks were wall to
wall with coverage all weekend. They kept
playing what film they had over and over,
and postulating we might be at war.

By Sunday we were all stressed to the max.
It was late morning or early afternoon when,
right in front of us, live, Jack Ruby shot Oswald.
Us kids were stunned. My 12 year old sister
lost it, she started screaming like they do in
the movies. She ran outside to find my dad,
who was cutting wood with a chain saw. My
sister was running and screaming "They're
killing everybody! They're killing everybody!"
over and over. It was awful, we really thought
the world was ending.

I still get emotional when I see all this on TV.
Not because of what happened to Kennedy,
but because the media played us like violins
and milked us for every bit of emotion they
could get out of it.

Quote: Evenbob

By Sunday we were all stressed to the max.
It was late morning or early afternoon when,
right in front of us, live, Jack Ruby shot Oswald.
Us kids were stunned. My 12 year old sister
lost it, she started screaming like they do in
the movies. She ran outside to find my dad,
who was cutting wood with a chain saw. My
sister was running and screaming "They're
killing everybody! They're killing everybody!"
over and over. It was awful, we really thought
the world was ending.

Looking at history, that moment when Ruby shot Oswald is what killed the modern "childhood" of the USA. After WWII things were good, and the "bad" things were mostly hidden. Korea was a forgotten war. The civil rights movement had not started and most people did not see much of it yet unless you lived in say Montgomery. Baby Boom kids were still kids, not yet old enough to demonstrate for anything. Urban centers had only begun to start their decay.

Then, in one moment, so much of the USA saw someone killed right on TV for the first time. Within just a few years, Vietnam coverage would bring nightly death to the living room, and by today most people in the USA have seen someone killed on TV for real, not a movie. But then, I can't imagine what it was like. When I would say this to my dad he would say, "Big deal, go watch it on tape if you want to see what it was like." I finally had to explain to him the difference of it happening live, and that the second plane hitting on TV was probably the closest thing to it in the modern time. Then he got what I meant.

Because at the time they were still trying to work out the details of the Kennedy assassination, the first thing I thought when Oswald was shot was, well there goes the one guy who has all the answers. No doubt Ruby helped fuel future conspiracy theories by killing Oswald. Well, there is one theory that is right, and all the others are wrong. Not sure anyone will even be sure exactly what percentage is absolutely known for sure.

Quote: rxwine

Because at the time they were still trying to work out the details of the Kennedy assassination, the first thing I thought when Oswald was shot was, well there goes the one guy who has all the answers. No doubt Ruby helped fuel future conspiracy theories by killing Oswald. Well, there is one theory that is right, and all the others are wrong. Not sure anyone will even be sure exactly what percentage is absolutely known for sure.

My thought is Oswald was the lone gunman in a bigger conspiracy. One thing that amazed me in Dallas was how small that whole area is and how it is really not "on the way" anywhere. A totally weird turn that exposed the motorcade. Plus leaving all those windows uncovered?

Maybe things have improved with SS procedure today, as I have had snipers key in on me more than once because AF1 was across the highway, about 1/4 mile away. But perfect line-up for a RPG or other device, so there they were. All I wanted to do was go to work.

Quote: AZDuffman

When I would say this to my dad he would say, "Big deal, go watch it on tape if you want to see what it was like." I finally had to explain to him the difference of it happening live,

Lots of people didn't see it live. My
parents didn't. It was Sunday, adults
had better things to do than sit
in front of a TV. That was part of the
shock, our regular weekend programs
had been cancelled. We were in the
Twilight Zone watching real people
get shot in real time.

The worst thing was seeing Jackie
next to Johnson as he was sworn
in. She looked like she was a basket
case, she was in shock. We'd never
seen her like that, it was frightening.

Quote: Evenbob

I was 14 in 1963 and in the gym that Friday for a pep rally. When they announced the news on the intercom, we joked about it. We we're teenagers, c'mon.

It changed when we got home. My parents and everybody on TV were distraught. So that eventually transferred to us kids. It didn't help that all 3 networks were wall to
wall with coverage all weekend. They kept playing what film they had over and over, and postulating we might be at war.

By Sunday we were all stressed to the max. It was late morning or early afternoon when, right in front of us, live, Jack Ruby shot Oswald.

I was age 6 and in kindergarten. It is too young for most people to remember world events, but I do remember how stressed the adults were, and how many people were crying.

Quote: Pacomartin

I was age 6 and in kindergarten. It is too young for most people to remember world events, but I do remember how stressed the adults were, and how many people were crying.

It wasn't just because Kennedy was shot,
that was a tragedy. It was the constant
unending coverage on all three networks
that stressed us. That had never happened
before, they had us in the palm of their
hand. It took me years to realize that. They
blew what happened all out of proportion.

Yes we lost a president, but the transition
of power was smooth as silk, just as it
should have been. There was no coup, no
junta, no uprising. The stress you remember
was the networks keeping us in a high
state of tension for 3 days.

We were not the modern world you see now.
We were really the world of Father Knows
Best, Leave it to Beaver, and The Andy
Griffith Show. It was a blow we weren't
ready for, the non stop talking heads on
TV ramming it down our throats without
interruption for an entire weekend.

I was talking to an older colleague around 1980 and we were talking about how everyone can remember where they were when they heard the news about JFK. He said that the news that shook him as a child in the pre-television era was the Hindenburg disaster.

A total of 36 people died in the Hindenburg crash (May 6, 1937), which would make it a fairly routine catastrophe by death toll. But the coverage was incredible.

Quote: Pacomartin

Posting four days early?

Quote:

A total of 36 people died in the Hindenburg crash (May 6, 1937), which would make it a fairly routine catastrophe by death toll. But the coverage was incredible.

If the Hindenburg had been a passenger train or an ocean liner, the coverage would have been ordinary. Likewise if JFK had been a Senator, or if on 9/11 people had crashed light aircraft on apartment buildings in Downtown Podunk.

I'm not quite sure why we are talking about this in a thread called "Inauguration" it seems dark and ominous. However, I remember the moment you all are talking about for me as a kid and that was the Challenger disaster. I remember vividly we have a school wide assembly to celebrate the first teacher astronaut to go into space. Everyone was so happy and excited and as elementary school kids we just were excited to watch it on TV and get out of class. None of us understood what was going on when it happened. All of the sudden all the adults were crying and they abruptly turned off the TV. They actually cancelled school in the middle of the day and just sent us all home. I still remember walking home so puzzled and confused that day and my parents telling me what I just watched.