Do you remember what you where doing 50 years ago?
 

It was a sunny day but cold in Ottawa. I was working at Canada Post HQ.
My Dad picked me up at work mid morning with the family car, a 1958 Chevvy. I drove him back to work and proceeded to the dentist in Hull.

On my way back, the car radio was tuned to CKOY 1310 AM when they announced the death of JFK. We spent the rest of the day at work listening on a portable radio the developing events and once at home were glued to the LARGE 21 inch black and white Hallicrafter tv.

How time have changed, none of the above even exists today except for the memories.

Bob C.

I was only 7 so I don't remember much except the talk from adults. It was still another 9 years until we got our first TV.

50 Years
 

Fifty years ago I was not born. I wasn't even an idea.
But I've ALWAYS known about the JFK assassination. It's not something that we studied at school, it simply has always been talked about,
The shots that rang out in Texas 50 years ago were heard in every corner of every continent, it seems.
H

It is funny when that question is asked, because I can vividly remember, I would have been about 12 and was at Boy Scouts night. My Dad came to collect me and he told the Scoutmasters the news that had just come in.

It really was a significant event. An "untouchable" American president being assassinated shocked the world (although he was not the first).

I was in Fremantle unloading a truck on the dock and there was an American submarine alongside. Interesting talking to the sailors. Of course there was shock that their President was shot but signs of distress were little.

Most of those I talked to were of Republican leaning and although there was huge affront that the leader of their nation had been killed, Kennedy personally was not particularly liked and even then they realised his public relations machine outstripped reality - the John and Jaquie show.

He did have really good speech writers.

I thought it was interesting that these American servicemen would freely talk critically of Kennedy only hours after the reports came in. They claimed his real achievements were few, even civil rights reforms were forced on him by public outcry far ahead of his plans and his atomic brinkmanship and support of foul dictators around the world were brought up.

His death was seen as some sort of attack on the free world at a time when the fate of the planet rested in the hands of two men and gained much more significance internationally than it would today. It certainly shocked and even panicked a lot of people.

1963
 

I had turned 8 the month before and I can remember hearing the news reports and being told about it by my mother, pretty sure it was before we had a TV too, as I remember seeing the newspapers the next day. It was big.

Mum had a 1956 FE Holden and dad still had his mother's old black 1949 Rover 5 light with the red primer showing through.

50 yrs ago
 

Mum was luxing the carpet in the sitting room,I was 10 yrs old,and the radio made an important broadcast telling us that JFK had been shot,very sad it was.No TV in those days as well.He was well liked at home then.

50 years ago ?.
 

I have trouble remembering what I did yesterday half the time, let alone when I was five.

Dad had joined the air force two days prior.

happened in the afternoon. very young but a special announcement made over school speakers .. I was a bit too young to understand the significance but remember that such a mid-afternoon announcement over the speakers (tannoy for Brits) was really unusual and that there was strange atmosphere in the school for the rest of the afternoon.

Interesting shows on TV recently including ballistics tests of that type of rifle and the somewhate unusual full jacket bullets.. (long, round nose , vs more typical pointy nose)

Ballistics and simulated tests showed one bullet could indeed have passed through Kennedy into the governor and through him.

also head shot recoiling backwards explained. and skull fractures show bullet came from behind. (recreations used human skull filled with ballistic gel- results very similar to kennedy autopsy results)

somewhat mysterious third bullet recreated showing timing etc, and as such it hit an overhead street sign and deflected.. the sign/traffic light, long since replaced along with the evidence.

Shell casings resting place noted, recreated showing that as Oswald moved to adjust shot, the ejected casings would end up in similar locations.

verdict...one shooter.

A recent show on Discovery Network has a different conclusion about the third bullet.
http://jfkthesmokinggun.ca/

I was a toddler.

I love the theories about the shooting.

The most significant feature was if it was Oswald alone, he was an absolutely outstanding marksmen to get away 3? shots, unpracticed, at a moving target with such accuracy.

Numerous recreations have been done but a recent one from the same spot with lasers at a moving car and passengers using top trained snipers with the same type of rifle resulted in failure from people who knew what was going to happen and under no pressure. Actually I think I recall they said one sniper did get the shots off on target after his 3rd practice go.

The street sign theory is a beauty as are the cartridge positions on the floor. Microscopic measurements from a sign that no one saw hit and is no longer there and a cartridge that could have bounced or been kicked by the shooter (or someone else) are far from conclusive evidence. Every investigation so far is supported somewhere by a zero evidence "fact" and is basically underwritten by the premise that "If the queen had balls she would be king".

We have a program gap - what say we do another show on a Kennedy assassination theory?

I was 22 years old, working at Litton Systems Limited (a Canadian subsidiary of the American defense contractor).

I was crossing from one building to another when a company driver, who had been listening to the truck's radio, stopped me and told me that JFK was shot. It was just about bang on 1230 hrs.

Being closely tied to the parent entity in LA, it felt a bit more "personal" to us.

There was not much work done for the rest of the day.

Then, as now ...
 

... watching Doctor Who :thup2:

I do remember discussing JFK on the way to the Scouts that evening too

This was Howard Donahue. I think that the trials were arranged by CBS back in 1968. Although Donahue was able to get off three shots in 6 seconds with an Italian 6.5mm Mannlicher Carcano rifle on his third attempt, he concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald could not have done it. Donahue is the person who came to the conclusion that the third shot was from an AR-15 rifle with .223 (5.56mm) high velocity, soft-point or hollow point, frangible bullets, and that the shot was a result of an accidental discharge by Secret Service agent George Hickey.

John,

I think among the numerous recreations the Donohue is the best known but done on simulated targets. The one I was referring to was done recently, from a cherry-picker in front of the library window, with a laser sight fitted to the rifle so the strike point could be seen on the people sitting in the moving car acting the Kennedy etc parts.

Both the early recreation and the new laser recreation concluded that the most highly trained snipers would have found it not impossible, but almost, to do what Oswald is credited with.

The new experiment is also a great exponent of the Secret Service accidental? discharge. There, I have gone and done it! By putting in that question mark we now have fuel for further investigations into Secret Service real involvement in the shooting.

Lang... the show I saw..had a -shooter- in the exact oswald position..not a cherry picker outside.(which necessarily changes trajectory..and wobbles)

they compared to film footage second by second (actually 1-18th second) to the audio track and found that at the exact moment of detonation the car and kennedys head was covered by the street sign..

also in the same place they showed how he had to adjust his position for the third shot and recreated the ejections several times and the casings all ended up in similar positions to the actual casings.

A completely different show did the ballistics tests..which apparently had -never- been done before..and showed exactly how and why the shots from oswald, that gun and that particular type of bullet could do exactly what happened....and medically explained why Kennedy jerked back instead of forward...and what sounds like a plausible explanation to me.

I dont recall them having difficulty with the timing..fast yes but not impossible..
There are a number of hurdles to the lone gunman...,,used rifle, potentially difficult bolt, possible lack of practice....but maybe it was one of those cases of tragic luck... He couldn't do it.. and titanic can't sink.

Personally Id like to know a lot more about Jack Ruby and what happened there ..why, who.. etc

PS-http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Shooting_holes_in_theory_that_a_Secret_Service_age nt_killed_President_Kennedy.html

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts...-1226759260572

BTW-yes there will always be questions about the autopsy and why forensic experts weren't used but army doctors instead.

That Australian article covers some ground but it is as flawed as all the other stories. It is quite obvious the writer has his own conclusions and is selectively damning those which do not meet his theories.

Like most journalists he has used other peoples works as reference (even the most outrageous theories in various books on the subject were the result of their authors doing vast amounts of first person research) and has decided what is credible and what is not. It is merely a book review. Unfortunately he will now be quoted in references on the subject along with hundreds of others without one minute's detailed research or personal knowledge.

Guess we will never know.