I expect everyone of a certain age remembers where they were when the news was announced of the assassination of President Kennedy. Saint Georges’ School had just been let out for Thanksgiving vacation. I was hitchhiking into Newport along Memorial Boulevard. A step van stopped to pick me up and told me the news. I wasn’t certain whether or not to believe him and initially dismissed the thought.
It took me a long time to absorb the idea that an assassination of an American President could actually happen. I believe the loss of that kind of security is what people really mean when they refer to the loss of innocence. It could never happen here. It certainly spoiled my Thanksgiving holiday.
I was right here. Then we got on the bus to ride home for Thanksgiving vacation. Somewhere in Connecticut a mother came onto the bus and announced that the President had been shot. I was just in the 2nd form. Richard Verney, a senior wasat the back of the bus , and started to cheer.