The Observation Deck

Memories?

A personal reflection...

Please excuse any inaccuracies here, as well as the quiet thoughts of an older man, but one who is still very much young at heart...

Nonetheless, my memories here are probably pretty close to what happened...

Click away to some other thread, if you'd like to...

So many threads these days seem to point out divisiveness.
If divisiveness is what you want, look away.
Not this thread.
This thread is for, and about, all of us.


5th period lunch...

Harding basement cafeteria, Lakewood.

Fish.
Square fried fish.
It was ALWAYS served on Fridays, in Lakewood's schools back then.
Mashed potatoes too, and some kind of paste-thick brown gravy. Peas too.
Always peas.
An ice cream sandwich.
School lunch.
Friday.
Harding Jr. High.
November 22nd, 1963.

Kind of a last meal? Well, perhaps a last carefree meal. At least for a long time.
After lunch?
Science class, right across the hall.
Just a few more classes to go before week's end.

Sunny, cool, breezy.
Happy kids everywhere.
Looking forward to lots of outside fun after school.
Good weekend forecast too.

Scout stuff was planned for us "Kennedy" Scouts.
Oh, that was not an "official name" for Scouts, of course.
Scouts are purposely non-political.
But this President?
We kids loved him.
He'd got us through Cuba, faced down the Russians, even came to Lakewood to visit us...(yeah, I was there too, as he came by on Detroit Avenue)
He got us ALL busy helping each other out.
Scout troops were absolutely HUGE back then.
We had paper drives, hikes, camp outs, service projects, you-name-it.
Yeah, service...We were indeed, "Kennedy" Scouts. Still have my Scout ring from back then too.

In my imagination, I was a young Knight of Camelot, and that ring was my shield.

"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country", he said...

American volunteerism and a relentless can-do attitude was absolutely pervasive back then, thanks in great measure to our President's encouragement.

Yeah, there was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING we could, or would not do... back then!

Us boys? We loved cars, of course...and as car lovers, we LOVED S100X.

(That was the President's ultra cool new Lincoln limo, with that special deep dark blue/green metal-flake paint job, and that removable bubble top)

Did you know that color was not offered to the public until many years later?

We loved that PT boat too.
PT-109
Great model to build, and then there was the great story behind it...
All us kids knew that one. How JFK's boat was cut in half by a Japanese destroyer, and how young Lt.(jg) Jack Kennedy swam from island to island with an injured crew member in tow.
How he tried to save his crew....
...all but two survived.
I even drew a picture of PT 109.
Sent it to the White House. Addressed it to Mrs Kennedy, because I thought that the President would be to busy to respond.
I got a personal response from the White House.
Two autographed pictures came with it...
....from the President and Mrs. Kennedy.
What that gesture did to this kid, I still cannot put into words...
except that, yes...
I was indeed... a "Kennedy Scout"...

...and always...always...would be.

6th period, across the hall.
Science class.
Front seat, rustling papers....suddenly, the PA system comes to life.
Crackling, not sure whether from the electronics, or from the disembodied voice.

"Students, we regret to inform you that President Kennedy was shot today while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. We will keep you informed as events develop."

Silence.
Tears.
Moans.

So much for the Science teacher's lesson plan, but she bravely tries to proceed anyway.
She might as well have tried to push a mountain into a molehill.

We sit quietly.
Talk.
Cry.

The bell rings. Classes change...
...as quietly as I've ever experienced a class change in my life.

7th period English class.
"Get out your theme paper students"
(that was our white paper with blue lines and the red margin that you did not dare write over...Never figured out why, but I digress here)
"Composition title please"

The PA again crackled to life...

"Students, the President of the United States has died. Please observe a moment of silence"

I don't remember much of what happened after that.

Except, coming out of church that following sunny Sunday morning, the church custodian came up to us and said to get home and turn on the TV right away, because some guy they had in custody who had allegedly shot the president had also been shot...Funny, or not, but I could show you the exact spot in front of that church that we were standing when that custodian told us the news...Memory is a funny thing.

I played drums back then, and I well remember, a few days later, in my living room, watching TV and playing along on my shiny new snare drum to the muffled funeral drum beat that sounded along Pennsylvania Avenue, as they transported the President's black caisson, with that empty-saddled horse bearing those reversed boots, prancing somewhat inappropriately behind it....

I'm not sure whether I remember as much as I used to, nowadays...
...but I remember that day...that week...

Do you?

What are your memories?

Back to the muffled drum. That same drum that Mom and Dad got me at Educators Music still sits on the mantle in my living room... and for today?

That same Scout ring that I wore back then, will be on my finger.

"Kennedy" Scout? Oh yes indeed.

Still.

By the way, to the Greater Cleveland Scouting world, I'm still known as "Tenderfoot Gary the Banjo Player", because I volunteer as a song-leader from time to time as a registered Scout leader....

Volunteerism, get it?

No....give it.

Please.

Back to the banjo...

Now you know one big reason why I play it here.

Gary-- you must have been downstairs from me. I was in Mr. Wilson's English classroom on the 2nd floor. Mr. Wallace,the Principal, came to the doorway at about 1:05 and gestured to Mr. Wilson to come over. They had a quick,hushed exchange. About 5 minutes later, Mr. Wallace came over the PA system to inform us of the news.
Stan

This: that place in time where you played your drum to that of the funeral drum beat.

By the way, loved the fish sandwiches...when fish was fish.

Not in Lakewood, but I remember walking with my mother, and I guess my little brother in a stroller, to go pick my brother up from school. We went to the school office and the secretary was crying. I had no idea of what was going on. I remember the great sadness from all the adults that surrounded me. I remember no cartoons for days. I remember watching the funeral.

This memory more than any brings me back to my childhood and seeing the world from a height of three feet and holding my mother's hand. Thank you Gary for sharing your story.

I was in kindergarten. . . the principal came into the room and pulled the teacher out. When she came back in, she was crying. She told us that President Kennedy had been shot and died. They even closed the school that day. I remember walking home. Back then, most mothers stayed at home and raised the kids. I could see mothers on my street standing on their porches and calling out to the neighbors and they were all crying. Most of the houses on our street had a picture of the Last Supper and President Kennedy right next to each other in either the kitchen or dining room. I was too young to understand the totality of what was going on, but even at 5 years old, I was very scared. I mean - the president was in charge of the country, right? So, to a 5 year old, this was frightening. I remember that when I walked in the door, my mother scooped me up. She was crying but said that everything was going to be okay.

This is one of my most poignant childhood memories.

Most of the houses on our street had a picture of the Last Supper and President Kennedy right next to each other in either the kitchen or dining room.

LOL! So true! You must have been Catholic, too!

I was in first grade with my fave teacher, Sr Mary Owen, when another nun ran into the room, crying, and whispered something to Sr. She bust out crying and we were sent home shortly thereafter.

When I got home, my mother and grandmother were sitting in front of the TV, crying.

Definitely a defining moment of childhood.

You know...

For one brief moment at least, on that Friday afternoon...

I think that we ALL were Catholics....no matter what religion we professed.

It was a tough year for Catholics. Pope John XXIII passed away in June of that year. Vatican II was in full bloom, with its promises of change, as well...

It just seemed that those two men wanted to bring everyone together, and people were starting to believe back then that maybe, just maybe, that could really happen.

Thanks to each of you for those great reflections...

I'd like to read more of those. I think we all would.

Back to the banjo...