How Quickly We Forget . . .

[RadicalModerate]

. . . or maybe not so "quickly".

I noticed that there wasn't one mention in here of the anniversary of the assassination of JFK on this board, yesterday. At least not one that I saw. I guess to a majority of posters in here that event seems about as remote as the killing of Abe Lincoln and that other president . . . not Chester A. Arthur or James Garfield . . . the other one . . . McKinley?

I was watching a rerun of that multi-part documentary called The 60's last night and it reminded me of this.

[rezman]

I caught "The Day Kennedy Died" on the Smithsonian channel.. a couple times actually. There was another doumentary on the History Channel that I watched a while back. ... A different time and different values.

It's typical for memories to fade as generations change

[RadicalModerate]

I still remember being pissed off that all regular TV programming was interrupted for over a week thanks to the actions of Lee Harvey Oswald (allegedly) and Jack Ruby. Like you said: Different times, different values.

Later, I discovered the book "Six Seconds in Dallas" and it changed me forever.

[Bill Robertson]

I imagine that those of us that are in our mid-fities and up are the minority on the board. At 56 I just barely have actual memories of the Kennedy assasination. And the memories of things I didn't experience first hand fade faster than those that I did. Anyone younger than I didn't experience the Kennedy assasination they just read or saw TV shows about it.

[Jeepnokc]

Couple of years ago I read the book "The Kennedy Detail" which is written by a member of the detail protecting JFK. Interesting read. They definitely operated different then. There was only one car and so they would rent cars in other locations. The president walked a fine line between being protected and being available to the voters. According to the book, the SS wanted more protection on his car that day but JFK forbid it.

[ctchandler]

Couple of years ago I read the book "The Kennedy Detail" which is written by a member of the detail protecting JFK. Interesting read. They definitely operated different then. There was only one car and so they would rent cars in other locations. The president walked a fine line between being protected and being available to the voters. According to the book, the SS wanted more protection on his car that day but JFK forbid it.

Jeepnokc,
I am certain your last statement is correct and was reported after the assassination. Texas was not fond of President Kennedy and his intent was to get closer to the people and that's why the convertible was used. I'm probably not exactly correct, but it was something to that effect.
C. T.

[Jeepnokc]

Jeepnokc,
I am certain your last statement is correct and was reported after the assassination. Texas was not fond of President Kennedy and his intent was to get closer to the people and that's why the convertible was used. I'm probably not exactly correct, but it was something to that effect.
C. T.

That is what the book said. I actually had typed that Dallas was a hostile area for the President and then deleted that sentence. The SS was very underfunded and undermanned before JFK's assassination. The agent that wrote the book went on to be Mrs. Kennedy's detail and the book goes into that somewhat also. I was born in 66 so I wasn't alive but it was definitely is a book I recommend.

[bchris02]

It's typical for memories to fade as generations change

I agree with this. Kennedy was 51 years ago and a large portion of the people alive today weren't alive for his presidency or the assassination. That's not to trivialize the tragedy or the impact at all. It's just there comes a time when historical events begin to fade from the public conscience, especially if there isn't a holiday marking the event. I wonder how the people 50 years from now will mark the 9/11 anniversary.

[rezman]

I was only a year old at the time, but when I was about 5 or 6, I found a book that my dad had called "Four Days" that chronicled that day in Dallas and the following days. That was my first visual account of the JFK assasination.

In one of the documentaries that I watched recently, there were comments made by the SS agent assigned to Jackie Kennedy, and he did say that they wanted to keep closer security on both the president and Mrs Kenenedy, but were told to step back a bit, and that Kennedy did not want them running along side the presidential limosine. At one point, the crowds were in the street leaving only enough room for the motorcade to get through. At that time the agents ran up to the car, but after the crowd cleared they returned to the follow up car. Kennedy even asked Jackie to take her sunglasses off because he wanted her to seem more approachable.

[Mel]

I caught "The Day Kennedy Died" on the Smithsonian channel.. a couple times actually. There was another doumentary on the History Channel that I watched a while back. ... A different time and different values.

It's typical for memories to fade as generations change

I too remember being upset that TV programing was interrupted on all 3 Networks were showing nothing but the JFK assignation. My Dad was in the Navy then and it was one of the first times I saw him openly cry.

[ljbab728]

I too remember being upset that TV programing was interrupted on all 3 Networks were showing nothing but the JFK assignation. My Dad was in the Navy then and it was one of the first times I saw him openly cry.

That didn't bother me in the least. I watched every minute of the coverage that I could. I even watched the live coverage of Oswald getting shot.

[Tritone]

"Where were you when you heard that Michael Jackson died?" may be the new standard. I agree with the other contributors. As the youngins' attention spans grow shorter so does America's collective memory. How many of us still remember watching Louis Armstrong walking on the moon, if you catch my drift? Or for that matter, what about the Oswald brothers singing on the Ted Williams Christmas specials?

[boscorama]

I think last year's coverage of the 50th anniversary was enough to move the annual attention down a notch. When the CNN series, The Sixties, had an episode about JFK, I watched about 5 minutes and realized it might have been too soon for more of the same coverage that saturated us so recently.

[catch22]

"Where were you when you heard that Michael Jackson died?" may be the new standard. I agree with the other contributors. As the youngins' attention spans grow shorter so does America's collective memory. How many of us still remember watching Louis Armstrong walking on the moon, if you catch my drift? Or for that matter, what about the Oswald brothers singing on the Ted Williams Christmas specials?

This has nothing to do with younger generations attention span.

The list of people who were alive when we landed on the moon is growing shorter everyday.

The list of people who were alive when 9/11 happened is growing shorter everyday.

The list of people who were alive when Pearl Harbor was attacked is growing shorter everyday.

The list of people alive when George Washington died has reached zero.

You can't blame generations who were not alive when historical events took place for not remembering them. How are we to have memories of events that did not happen when we were alive. They simply do not hold the same emotional value for us, since we had no emotional connection to the events. Only second hand knowledge of them.

Get off your high horse old man, our music is not too loud and no we were not playing football on your lawn.

[RadicalModerate]

"Get off your high horse" is such an old fogie expression that I've never actually used it ever.
Until now.

The previous post is one reason why I don't waste a lot of time wondering or worrying about what kind of world we are leaving our children or their children's children. They are all going to be assimilated by the Borg in about thirty years anyway. About the time "collective memory" is equal to zero or whatever thoughts are instantaneously beamed into what used to be a human brain.

btw: I don't give a flying **** if you play video football on my lawn, just don't do it in my traffic lane on your ****ing phone. =)

[Plutonic Panda]

"Get off your high horse" is such an old fogie expression that I've never actually used it ever.
Until now.

The previous post is one reason why I don't waste a lot of time wondering or worrying about what kind of world we are leaving our children or their children's children. They are all going to be assimilated by the Borg in about thirty years anyway. About the time "collective memory" is equal to zero or whatever thoughts are instantaneously beamed into what used to be a human brain.

btw: I don't give a flying **** if you play video football on my lawn, just don't do it in my traffic lane on your ****ing phone. =)

Think what you'd like, but I disagree that we will be assimilated by the Borg, which is a really odd thing to say. Who am I to judge though as I've said some odd things.

PS, my horse sits low so you can't see me.

[bchris02]

How many people remember the Spanish-American war and all the brave young men who fought in it? I am sure there were people alive in 1963 whom it meant a great deal to. Today it's something we read about in the history books but is no longer in our public national conscience.

[RadicalModerate]

I'm using the Borg in a metaphorical sense here. What I'm referring to is the technological absorption of normal consciousness into cyberspace. It will probably be possible to virtually take part in the Spanish American War, but most people probably won't be interested in doing that. Most people will probably be more into Vampireville or Zombieland.

[Plutonic Panda]

I'm using the Borg in a metaphorical sense here. What I'm referring to is the technological absorption of normal consciousness into cyberspace. It will probably be possible to virtually take part in the Spanish American War, but most people probably won't be interested in doing that.

Why would you want to virtually endure a horrific war?

[RadicalModerate]

Why would you want to virtually endure a horrific war?

Why are all of those video war games so popular?

This all reminds me of that ad for some clothing company in which that couple shows up at the hostess station at a restaurant. The girl at the station is a complete airhead (who wants the jacket of the customer). We were watching it the other night and I said to my wife, "She is from a different planet." Then it occurred to me: She really IS from a different planet. The earth of today is NOT the same earth on which I spent my formative years. As someone said, above: Different times. Different values.

[Plutonic Panda]

Why are all of those video war games so popular?

Well, the majority of people I know play them for multiiplayer, which is just fighting on a series of maps killing each other over and over. If you made a war game about the Spanish-American war, people would play it for the action and not the history.

[RadicalModerate]

There might be a scene in it showing the charge up San Juan Hill. One Spanish soldier, trying to hit Teddy Roosevelt might be advised by his amigo in arms: "Shoot low, Antonio. He's riding a Shetland." (as compared to a high horse or one with rockers). I don't think that horses were actually involved in the charge up San Juan Hill but the action might involve a need for Historical License.

[kelroy55]

Getting back on topic.... I remember Kennedy being shot. I was in 3rd grad and home for lunch when the news came on the TV. My mom let me stay home and watch the funeral.

[ctchandler]

I think I have replied to this in the past on another thread, but I was on board the USS Klondike, heading for Sasebo, Japan when reveille (wake up call) was announced over the 1MC (pa system to you landlubbers). As soon as the reveille announcement was completed, the Captain came on and announced "This is the Captain speaking, we have just received word that President Kennedy has been killed". That was it, not even how he died. We didn't hear another word until we arrived in Sasebo and talked to sailors in port, and read the Stars and Stripes military news paper. I thought it was odd then, and over the years, even more so. The scuttlebutt (rumor) was that the Captain didn't want to upset the crew while we were at sea.
C. T.

[traxx]

"Where were you when you heard that Michael Jackson died?" may be the new standard.

I would change that to "Where were you during 9/11?"