JFK Assassination, 1963, by Fran Wallace
From MemoryArchive
Who: Fran Wallace What: JFK Assassination When: November 22, 1963 Where: Dallas, Texas
I was 10 years old when JFK was assassinated. A Canadian living in Canada. I don't remember exactly when I heard about the shooting, but I do remember walking home from school at lunch time talking to my friends about it. At that time we didn't know that JFK had died. We were speculating about how the killer got close enough to shoot the President. The theory I liked best at the time was someone had a rifle hidden in an umbrella or a walking stick and shot the President from the crowd along the parade route.
When I arrived home, my mother was ironing in the living room with the TV on. She normally did not watch TV during the day, so that in itself was unusual. All I remember from the lunch hour was sitting around watching the TV for additional news about the shooting. I don't remember upon returning to school for the afternoon whether I knew Kennedy had died.
By the time I returned home from school, I already knew the President had died. Entering the house, the TV was still on and I remember we all sat and watched the TV non-stop for hours. It was the first time we had ever used the TV to witness news in the making. There was never any question of 'changing the channel' or missing our regular TV shows. Being Canadian, it wasn't our President, so there wasn't the sense of devestation that occured for Americans. However, there was a sense of history in the making that made all of us (my sister, mother and father) watch the TV non-stop.
LBJ's oath of office was not something that particularly interested me, as a 10 year old. I remember it, but it seemed out of place given the other goings on.
The arrival of the aircraft back in Washington with the casket and Jackie & Bobby is something I remember very well. Mostly because of the blood on Jackie's suit. The solemnity of the situation became very apparent at that point and continued with the funeral.
We watched the funeral as it happened on TV. I don't remember John-John's salute. I remember relating to Caroline - as another little girl - who was now fatherless. I remember Jackie's veil - how it provided privacy - and how tearless she seemed during the procession. My biggest memory of the funeral is the riderless horse with the reversed boots.
I remember a huge sense of shock watching (in real time) Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald. There was absolutely no comparison between watching a TV show with actors shooting one another and a real life murder. It made a huge impact on me.
What makes the true memories of the assassination so difficult is the repeated viewings over the years of specific incidents during the event. The film clip of the shots during the motorcade was first shown during those first few days, yet I have no specific recollection of it from that time. I do not recall Walter Cronkite announcing the death & taking off his glasses. Yet, because of repeated showings of those film clips, they have become memorable incidents from the event.
