I’m reminded of this event every yearOn Nov. 22, 1963, I was watching television while ironing and witnessed the assassination of President John F. Kennedy as he sat in his convertible down south. He had no warning in order to be protected.I’m reminded of this event every year since it happened on my sister’s 30th birthday and she will be 80 this year.

J. Arlene Lefever,Clinton Township

We saw the outside flag being lowered to half mastFriday, Nov. 22, 1963Woodrow Wilson High SchoolYoungstown, OhioWhile sitting in Mr. Williamson’s 10th grade solid geometry class, we all knew something really big must have happened: we heard our teacher being called out of class and we saw the outside flag being lowered to half mast.After learning about what had taken place in Dallas, almost every person was crying, and the school’s early dismissal began the weekend of mourning.My family was one of the few who had a TV, and over the next couple of days, many neighbors would be in our living room, watching the funeral proceedings on that small black and white screen.I will forever remember the “vivid symbolism” of that black stallion being led riderless, with the commander’s boots and sword facing backward.How could this have happened in the U.S.A.? Our teenage innocence was gone, and the security of our nation was in question.Little did we realize that this sad, tragic event was a “herald” to a much greater evil that was about to consume us.The war in Southeast Asia, Vietnam.Assassination, political unrest, hatred, man’s inhumanity.Some of the members of that sophomore math class would be, in less than three years, gone forever. So long ago — so never to be forgotten.

Barbara M. Kallner,Sarver

The only day I ever saw a nun cryOn the day President John F. Kennedy was shot I was attending third grade in Room 108 at what is now Butler Catholic. Back then it was the St. Paul Parish School.There remain three things I remember most vividly from that fateful November Friday afternoon.First, Monsignor Spiegel, our parish pastor, speaking over the PA system ordering we students to kneel beside our desks so he could lead us in prayer for the repose of the assassinated president’s soul.Second, having experienced my share of anti-Catholic bias, it hit me then of just how proud I was this erudite, charismatic, brave young president had come from a Catholic family, just like me. Now he was gone.Third, that day was to be the only day I ever saw a nun cry.

Patrick May,Butler

It seemed as though time stood stillOn Nov. 22, 1963, I was coming out of the bank and I heard someone shouting that President Kennedy was shot in Dallas. I looked around — everyone seemed dazed and in a trance — it seemed as though time stood still.Instead of going to get groceries, I got in the car and came home. Turned on the TV and there was Walter Cronkite saying the president had died.Needless to say I sat there and cried as did most of the world.In the three years that Kennedy was president, he became admired by the whole world, except maybe Russia and Cuba, and the U.S. was on top of the world.Now when I think about it, one of JFK’s favorite sayings was, “Don’t let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment, that was known as Camelot!” How appropriate!Yes, it was a brief time but a wonderful and magical time!

Virginia Birckbichler,Butler

It was a sad day for our country and the worldBack in 1963, I lived in El Paso, Texas. I was sitting at my job typing when we all heard that President Kennedy had been shot.I couldn’t believe that someone would shoot a person like our president. Like everybody else around the country, I was crying and praying that he would be all right, and then came the word that he was dead.I didn’t know what this would do to all of us. President Kennedy was the first political person I paid attention to and I really admired him.Over the days following his death, I pretty much stayed by our television set hearing and seeing everything that was being reportedI really wanted Lee Harvey Oswald to tell why he did such and awful thing and then to actually see him shot, it was so unbelievable. I always thought that there was more to the shootings than what was being reportedNot a cover-up, but maybe more people involved. I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure though.All I know is that it was a sad day for our country and the world when we lost President Kennedy.

Shirley Neff,Chicora

I was numbed for weeks afterwardAt the time of the JFK assassination, I was stationed at U.S. Navfac Lewes, Del. The death of our commander-in-chief was to say the least, quite shocking. I was numbed for weeks afterward.As a 24-year-old sailor, having the opinion that JFK was the greatest leader ever in our lifetime, our duty at the time was highly classified — tracking Russian submarines. I was not happy being on shore duty. A sailor’s home is on a ship and a ship belongs at sea.Luckily, I was fortunate to have served on seven ships — seven seas, but that is another adventure.As I remember it, the Cuban Missile Crisis was happening one year prior to JFK’s death. Security at that time was at its highest peak during my 20 years served in U.S.N., including many deployments to Vietnam, Western Pacific, etc.JFK’s death has made me ever vigilant. It taught me to keep a close eye on friends and even closer to enemies.

PO1 Russ Johnson, USN-Ret.West Sunbury