Where were you?

[olds442jetaway]

Funny how many of us vp players are now in that mid 50's to late 60's group. DaBurglar I guess is the baby in the group. Hasn't quite hit that mid century mark yet, but close!

[cook1947]

50 years sounds like a long time, but when you count it in days, its not. I think anyone old enough, knows exactly where they were when he was shot, but it wasnt until the Zapruder film came out that we saw exactly what happened to Kennedy. Thats the image that stays in my mind. I too, saw Oswald killed and watched the next week during all the funerals, etc. Now, 50 years later, after watching all the specials, it gave me a sort of closure. I remember all the other tragic incidents, Bobby Kennedy getting shot, 9/11, the Challenger, etc. MLK getting killed, I think our generation got tougher. For me, graduating in 1965, I saw too many of my very close friends going off to Viet Nam and not coming home and how our "great" country treated them as they simply walked through airports and having to fend off the ugliness that was thrown their way. That changed me forever. Too much chaos and too much tragedy so early for so many.

[olds442jetaway]

Agreed, graduated in 1966 and some of my high school classmates were killed in " The Nam " as we called it before the end of the year. Two lived within a stone's throw of my parent's house. And like you say, treated like crap by some when the ones that survived arrived home. I don't think I will ever have closure on the Kennedy situation, especially in light of our own government's continued actions with respect to the public. Obamacare and NSA as two recent examples.

[cook1947]

Agreed, graduated in 1966 and some of my high school classmates were killed in " The Nam " as we called it before the end of the year. Two lived within a stone's throw of my parent's house. And like you say, treated like crap by some when the ones that survived arrived home. I don't think I will ever have closure on the Kennedy situation, especially in light of our own government's continued actions with respect to the public. Obamacare and NSA as two recent examples.
 I don't ever think we will know who was involved in Kennedy's killing except that dumb blob, Oswald, but at this point, it happened and whoever was involved is probably deceased. We didn't  have all this media madness back in the 60's, and I am not sure that is so bad. My Uncle served as a senior economist under Eisenhower and Kennedy and I will never foget him looking me in the eye and telling me, "You will NEVER know all the secret things that our government deals with, and you don't ever want to know!' I guess as time goes on, he is proving to be right.

[OTABILL]

Although I will not turn 55 until next Tuesday, the 26th, please allow me to participate anyway. I do not have quite as good of recollection as most of you as it was just before my 5th birthday. I was in kindergarten at Kaneohe Elementary on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. My family was stationed there during the time my father was going back and forth between the USS Ajax and Vietnam.

Other than that, because of my age I do not recall much else. I feel that I should remember more as I have read extensively about the Kennedy assassination over the years. I remember 9/11 much more clearly. Hard to believe it has already been over 12 years since it happened.

On Sept. 11, 2001 we were at work, getting our employees lined out for the week as we were leaving to go to a business convention at the Anatole in Dallas, Texas. I remember Katy Couric and others initially describing a small plane hitting one of the towers and over the next 30 or 40 minutes it turning in to the horrific act that it became.

We lived and still live two and a half hours east of Dallas. We arrived in Dallas later that day. We were not that far from DFW and it was eerie looking into the skies and not seeing any airplanes. Without going into a dissertation, everything happened so fast, and everything changed, and in many ways will never be the same.

Belated Happy Birthday.

[DaBurglar]

nobody mentioned where they were when Elvis died, even though i brought it up as a signature event of suftficient importance to bestir memories...... When he died in August 1977, I was about to turn 10 years old....it was a warm muggy day and we were sitting down to dinner when my mother (who grew up in the 1950s as a teen and loved Elvis) turned on the radio and heard the announcement.....the radios started playing all Elvis music and the first song was the tear jerking melody Cant Help Falling in love, and my mom just stood there and bawled.    She burnt the chicken which was for dinner so Dad had to take us to Mcdonalds while Mom sat home and cried some more.... But Dad was a wreck too since he was also a child of the 1950s and an elvis fan......both he and Mom had been to one of Elvis' last concerts in 1975 when he played in Springfield, Massachusetts at the Civic Center.....they both said even though he was FAT, he was still unbelievable and totally mesmerizing. I dunno, I never idolized anyone like that in my life, least of all a Fa La La La La.... La la la la.....I just associate Elvis Presley's death with Mcdonalds Hamburgers (the kind they USED to sell in the 1970s made of real beef.)  pretty silly huh?

[edog743]

Elvis Aaaron Presely I think Da the reason why no one mentions where they were when he died is because people like him die every day. He was a drunken drug addicted shell of a man when he died. Just like most of the homeless people on the streets in every major city here. But no one says where were you when that homeless guy up the street died a couple years ago. This may be a bit harsh but it is also the truth.

[grammie]

I was in the 7th grade at Crockett Jr. High, Port Lavaca, TX, when we go the news President Kennedy was shot. Everyone started crying and I thought there was something wrong with me because I couldn't cry until I saw my Dad cry when John saluted his father's casket.

I wasn't a huge fan of Elvis, but he died on my birthday, Aug 16, 1977.

My youngest sister lived in Hemphill, TX when the shuttle went down. There's a memorial in that little town dedicated to the Astronauts who died. I guess most of the wreckage fell in that area, the reason behind it.

I was working on a newly constructed power plant in Odessa, TX when the towers were hit. Not a safe-feeling place to be when there are idjit terrorists about blowing up things.

I think there are too many awful things that happen... what's wrong with humans?