On November 22, 1963, about half way through his class, someone came to the door and whispered something to him. He nodded, closed the door and resumed the lesson. At the end of class, after the bell rang, he told us that the President had been shot at 12:30 pm , and no one knew yet how serious it was . . .Turned out he died at 1:00 pm. A guy named Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the assassination at 1:55 pm, and Lyndon Johnson was sworn in later that evening.
Then, on November 24, a guy named Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald. On live TV! The first person ever killed live on the news . . . Jack Ruby died in prison on March 1, 1967.
Momentous times. This is John Fitzgerald Kennedy, thirty-fifth president of the United States of America, the first, and so far, only Catholic to ever hold that office.
At the time, we were pretty upset that Fr. McKinnon made us wait until class was over to tell us this incredibly astonishing and history making news. He didn't want to lose valuable class time when he could be teaching us about God to what was essentially current events. I remember thinking that there must be something wrong with me because I didn't see it his way. President Kennedy was important! Remember, that this was way before anyone knew or was talking about anything else Kennedy did in the White House besides be president. To us, in 1963, he was more than just the president, he was a saint. He was a hero. He was Catholic! And it was Camelot, for crying out loud!And then, that November afternoon, " . . . we just looked around and he was gone."
Next thing you know, we're in Viet Nam, and the 6:00 o'clock news is counting the bodies for us every night.
Seems like everything changed that day. Just like it did on September 11, 2001.
No comments:
Post a Comment