Where I Was When Kennedy Was Shot, by Ricky

I was in a theater watching a movie.  I think it was a western, but I don’t remember for sure.  When he was shot, I wasn’t sad at all because he was a bad man.  I went home feeling rather good about the movie as John Wayne triumphed again.  Later on in his career, Kennedy won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the movie Cool Hand Luke.  George Kennedy 18 Feb 1925 to 28 Feb 2016.

Joseph Kennedy Sr. was not shot but died in 1969 8-years after suffering a stroke less than one year after his son was elected president.  I was in the Air Force at the time and really didn’t care.

Joe Kennedy Jr. was killed in a bomber explosion during WWII.  I wasn’t even born at that time so I don’t know where I was at the time.

Robert F. Kennedy was shot dead on 5 June 1968.  I was in an Air Force tech school in Texas studying to become a Radio Intercept Analysist.  I was sad because his brother was also shot.  I learned later that Robert’s young son was upstairs in their hotel room watching the events on television and saw his father get shot and die.  I can only imagine the trauma that inflicted upon him.

Edward M. Kennedy died 25 August 2009 of complications from a malignant brain tumor and was not shot.  I was living at my current home in Lakewood, Colorado, but once again, I didn’t care very much.

John F. Kennedy Jr. was born 25 November 1960 and died in a plane crash 16 July 1999.  I did grieve for him as I still remembered him as the little boy who saluted his father’s caisson as it passed him on its way to Arlington National Cemetery.  As I noted above, he was not shot.

John F. Kennedy was shot 22 November 1963 while I was taking a biology test as a sophomore in high school.  I had not studied for the test and was struggling with the answers.  I was about half way through the exam when Mr. Al Hilldinger opened the door and shouted, “Kennedy’s been shot.”  The next day, our biology teacher, Mr. Harold Mapes, gave us all a revised test because we had all done so poorly on the previous day’s exam.  He blamed it on the Kennedy assassination.  I wish he had told us about the second text so I could have studied for it, but he didn’t and I did better but not up to my normal performance on that test.

This “story” would have been much shorter if the topic would have been just a bit more specific when referring to people.  There are way too many people named Kennedy to just be so generic by using last names only.

© 3 Apr 2017 

About the Author 

 I was born in June of 1948 in Los Angeles, living first in Lawndale and then in Redondo Beach.  Just prior to turning 8 years old in 1956, I was sent to live with my grandparents on their farm in Isanti County, Minnesota for two years during which time my parents divorced.

When united with my mother and stepfather two years later in 1958, I lived first at Emerald Bay and then at South Lake Tahoe, California, graduating from South Tahoe High School in 1966.  After three tours of duty with the Air Force, I moved to Denver, Colorado where I lived with my wife and four children until her passing away from complications of breast cancer four days after the 9-11-2001 terrorist attack.

I came out as a gay man in the summer of 2010.   I find writing these memories to be therapeutic.