November 22, 1963

It was an ordinary high school day until an a terrible announcement came over the intercom: “President Kennedy has been shot. We are sending you home to be with your families.” Silence. Tears. Fears.

My parents were Democrats unlike the rest of the family. My mother fell in love with the brave John F. Kennedy after reading PT Boat 109.

https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2003/summer/pt109.html

We lost my father to suicide in 1955 after he came home from the Navy when WWII ended. There was little no treatment for PTSD I suppose in those days. It was the Kennedy heroism that brought my mother joy from her grief. I was only 8 when he died, totally unaware of pretty all of it. However, as time passed I also became fascinated by JFK especially after he campaigned among the poor in our state.

I recall the excitement when he was elected in 1960. Of course the rest of the family was Republican, and Mom and I celebrated the win privately. It’s similar to 2024 in that I think many families are torn by their either love or hate of Trump. What a terrible Thanksgiving it was in 2020 when Trump was elected. The cloud of distress bled over into Christmas and Easter at family and church gathering. No one knew who supported Trump. Mum was the word. It made life very joyless. That same dark cloud of Trumpism is hovering but 100 times worse.

But I digress. No matter what people have said or thought about JFK, he was a role model for youthful idealists like me. He was 100 times the man that Trump or any of his followers will ever be. So, today, I’m grateful for living through the pain of the loss of JFK in making a better world.

That’s enough. I want to thank

Steven Beschloss

for asking the question yesterday about where we were on November 22, 1963. If you’re old enough to remember, please add your story in the comments. High schoolers and college students in 1963 have a story to tell untarnished by Republican mass media commentators.

My memories of that day just to end this reflection as I sift through my mother’s JFK memorial books are still vivid. To keep this short, here are just flashes.

• Silence at school and on the bus home was surreal. It’s the only silent ride I ever remember. There were tears and hand-holding as the driver played a bad radio for updates.

• I arrived home alone because my mother was at work. I passed up after school cookies and watched television coverage. It was the most shocking and heartbreaking event in my short life. I was afraid for his whole family’s safety.

• My mother returned early from work, and we sat crying watching television. It was a bond never to be broken.

• The next 3 days were spent in front of the television. My mother took a time out to make pancakes when Lee Harvey Oswald was shot live right in front of us. That was unexpected. I was angry a little punk could kill JFK.

• The funeral was heart-rending as the photo above became the family icon with the widow Jacqueline in black holding Caroline and John-John’s hand as the wee little son saluted his beloved father. We cried with them, for them, and for our country.

• Many of us boomers changed that day, became Democrats, entered the Catholic Church in solidarity with the Kennedy family. Counting beads.

  Today, let’s put Trump in a soundproof box and have gratitude for the pro-democracy leaders who really love America and our Constitution. We must win the battle against oligarchy, theocracy, and treason one person at a time. May every appointee go out with Gaetz. Let’s work under the radar in honor of those who have passed today.

https://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/kennedy-inaugural-address-speech-text/