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Larry Miller

Philosopher, Pundit, Purveyor of Hope

Memories of a High School Senior – 11/22/63

Coming up on November 22, I believed this was something I should share.

 

Like most everyone who was around on November 22, 1963 I have vivid memories of that day. I was a senior in math class being taught by a student teacher named Craig Svanos. Midway through the period someone stuck their head in the door with the message “Kennedy's been shot”.

This brought all math discussions to an abrupt stop and we could see the concerned look on Mr Svanos face. After a few moments he explained that he was in the National Guard and since we had no idea of what was going on he was concerned he might be called to active duty before he could finish this teaching assignment.

Vietnam was in its early stages and our high school days had only a few months remaining. As it turned out this was particularly bad news for some in our class. Without further word, I was thinking this did not look good for the young president. I was not a fan of his in any way, but this is not the way we did things in America. You just don't go and shoot someone because you have political differences... or a lust for power... how wrong I was.

I was aware of what they called the twenty year curse on US presidents who had died in office after elections all the way back to 1840.

1840 Wm Henry Harrison
1860 Abraham Lincoln
1880 James Garfield
1900 William McKinley
1920 Warren Harding
1940 Franklin Roosevelt
1960 John F Kennedy

 

1980 Ronald Reagan – survived an assassins bullet.


Some were assassinated and some suffered ill health, but whether it was during that term or the next, none left office alive. Because of this I didn't really expect any good news coming out of Dallas. In this, my expectations were met.

We all heard the story of a disaffected former Marine using an inexpensive war surplus rifle doing some amazing shooting, through a screen of tree branches at times, to take out the leader of the free world. As high school kids we didn't know any better and neither did the rest of the country.

Most events were canceled out of respect for the president but this was the last night of our senior play – and the show went on. We had almost the entire restaurant to ourselves afterward as apparently few people were out enjoying themselves at ten o'clock that night.

My first hint came Sunday afternoon as I was washing my car in one of the bays of a neighborhood gas station. One of my friends stopped in with the news: “Somebody just shot Oswald”. We got the government sanctioned news reports about another lone nut named Jack Ruby. Something just didn't feel right – and it wasn't.

 

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