This week marks the 60th anniversary of the assassination of the 35th President of the United States, John F, Kennedy, in Dallas, Texas. If you remember this, it is likely a vivid memory. We do not have to stop and think about where we were or what we were doing on that day. We still know precisely. Our President was shot and killed. It was unthinkable and the first such world shaking tragedy for many of my generation. It was our ‘I will never forget…’ moment. This week we will remember four days in November.
On Friday, November 22, 1963, Marion, Michigan, along with the rest of the country was stunned by news of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. For our parents it was like the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, their ‘I will always remember’ moment. The assassination of John Kennedy became a tragedy for us who knew it.
The day began as it always does in late November, Marion. The public Christmas décor was in place on each light pole and strung across the street. This was always done by November 15 to welcome the influx of hunters to the Marion area. The village hoped that a festive atmosphere would encourage hunters to shop at our stores before leaving.
Deer hunters clad in the customary black and red wools were gathering at the local restaurants. The Corner Café and the Riverside Restaurant were both doing a brisk lunch business. Those hungry for a bar burger and a beer headed for the Ideal or the Horseshoe.
Folks were out and about, shopping for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. The grocery stores were busy as local cooks stocked their cupboards for the big dinner. Marion cooks shopped our local stores, one or all. Bernie’s IGA, Border’s Store and Johnson’s Self-Serve were well supplied with Thanksgiving necessities. Turkeys were always a hot commodity, as were locally grown potatoes. Hornbaker’s, the new bakery and a renewed treat for Marion, did a brisk business in everything from sweet rolls to stuffing bread and pumpkin pies. It was less than a week until Thanksgiving. It occurred late that year. Out of town visitors were beginning to arrive.
Van’s Rexall Drugs was tuning up for the much anticipated Rexall Sale. The small store was packed with goods for Christmas shopping. On down Main, the Ben Franklin also filled to the brim with Christmas decorations and gifts. The well-stocked candy counter overflowed.
Flemming’s Clothing displayed the latest fashionable winter clothing for the ladies in the big window. Hunting duds and Red Wing boots were displayed in the smaller window. Hush Puppies brand shoes and boots were displayed across both. The big window would soon host the largest business Christmas tree to be displayed and Santa was making his first visit to town, via Marion fire truck.
Kids were in school and beginning to be antsy for the upcoming Thanksgiving mini-vacation. It was cold and snow was upon the ground. Traffic was brisk on M-66 and the gas stations were busy pumping gas, mounting snow tires, and readying vehicles to travel for turkey. The winter season had come to stay and life was good in Marion, Michigan.
And then the news of JFK hit town. Sometime around 1:30pm Walter Cronkite interrupted the popular soap opera, As the World Turns with a bulletin, alerting all to a shooting in Dallas, Texas, involving President Kennedy. Before 2pm we knew it was so, and that the President was dead; another bullet heard around the world.
Schools were dismissed early and the country began four days of public mourning. Folks everywhere crowded around television sets, watching the unfolding story. The capture of the assassin Lee Harvey Oswald ,and his subsequent murder on live television was sensational. There were millions of witnesses.
The official days of mourning and John Kennedy’s funeral was ‘attended’ by much of the country thanks to uninterrupted, non-stop television coverage. The country was mesmerized and united by our shared tragedy. The spirit of JFK was a presence in every village, town and city; in every home across America during those four days and well beyond.
Many horrible things have happened in the world, before and since Kennedy. His death wasn’t even a high water mark for evil in a 20th century that hosted two World Wars, the dropping of the atomic bomb, Korea, the atrocity of Vietnam and Desert Storm, but to name a few.
What else is in store for us and our descendants in a century that began with the horrors of September 11, 2001; and a new ‘I will always remember’ moment. It appears that every generation gets at least one.
Our photo this week is a favorite here at this time of year. Walt was son-in-law Eugene Sturley’s grandfather. He was a career Detroit policeman. He shook Kennedy’s hand during a visit to the city in 1962.