The Kennedy Assassination: November 22, 1963

November 22, 1963 started out as just another "normal" day at school. Between periods, we were allowed to go to the rest room ("the head"--we called it) and stop by the drinking fountain for a slurp of water. I recollect it was around the 10 am break time when I left Mr. Michaud's (a great teacher) 7th grade classroom at the far western corner of the school building for a drink. On my way, I passed an upper classman with a portable transistor radio up to his ear and he said in an astonished manner, "I just heard the president's been shot." I thought maybe he was just pulling my leg or something -- as many cadets often did to one another -- especially upper to lower classmen. However, the tone of his voice wasn't joking. After getting back to class, I informed Mr. Michaud what I had learned and he was so taken by the news that he decided to check it out for himself by making a quick visit to the principal's office. He left the classroom and we watched him quickly walk out of sight. Then, in less than a half a minute he walked back into class and said, "Well, it must be true. The President's dead." Because he had returned to class so fast, we knew he didn't get to the principal's office and someone asked, "How do you know?" Pointing to the parade field outside the window he said, "The flag is at half mast." [The ENMS band immediately heard from the continuous radio and television coverage of the assassination a "funeral" drum cadence being played everywhere. So, we practiced this drum cadence and when it came time for an ENMS funeral ceremony out of respect for the fallen President, we were able to play this cadence almost exactly as we heard it played on radio and television, which added tremendous authenticity to the ceremony I believe was held the Sunday following the assassination on the parade field after they had already burried President JFK.] The photo on the left came from the 1964 Yearbook (p. 38) and I believe that is me sitting on the top of the cabinets in the middle of two other cadets watching television during some down time. However, that is the TV we all watched the JFK funeral coverage on and saw Lee Harvey Oslwald get shot by Jack Ruby -- as it happened! Now imagine placing 100 plus cadets around this TV trying to get a glimpse of the JFK situation. That's where I got in trouble and earned nine (9) dimerits just prior to the Thanksgiving break. Had I gotten 10 dimerits, I would have been campused and not allowed to go home for Thanksgiving holiday. You see, out of frustration, I lost self control and flipped someone the bird who yelled at me to sit down as I was trying to manuever for a better position to watch the TV coverage. Someone of higher authority saw me and wrote me up. [I don't believe during the two years I was at ENMS this TV was ever replaced. This TV brought us current events and popular culture that seemed to be exploding. We couldn't wait to grab a Bubble Up and a Mallo Cup and gather around to watch shows like American Bandstand, Shindig and Hullabaloo where we saw real time performances like Sonny and Cher, the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, the Rightous Brothers, James Brown, you name it. We also saw the British Invasion with such groups like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Moody Blues, Dave Clark 5, etc. We watched it all on this little old black and white TV with rabbit ears.]