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When John F. Kennedy was assassinated, I was an eighth grade student in a
4-room junior high in a small town in Pennsylvania.  The head
teacher/principal was Mrs. Rinehart, a very serious and formal woman.
During spelling class, the phone in the hall outside her room rang and
Mrs. Rinehart answered it, had a short short conversation (with her
husband if I remember correctly) and returned to our classroom.  With
tears in her eyes but with a very serious demeanor, she said, "The
president, John Kennedy has been shot in Texas.  He is dead."  We were
absolutely stunned and silent.  I don't remember any "smart" remarks,
questions, or discussion.  We were near the end of the school day and
classes were cancelled for the days that followed.  I can still feel the
horror, the emptiness, the shock that such a thing could have happened to
a very popular president.

Televisions were only black and white.  We were all glued to the
television.  Walter Cronkite was a great deal younger then and was the
anchor for most of the events that were televised.  I can remember the
Pittsburgh, PA anchor on KDKA TV crying as he announced President
Kennedy's death.  I also can remember seeing Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey
Oswald on a live feed from Dallas.

You have probably seen much of the footage of those days.  For those of
us who were your age when President Kennedy was assassinated, we don't
have to see the archival film.  The images are etched in our minds and
hearts forever.

If you want to ask me for more memories, you can write back to me.  I
live in Colorado now.


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