Just the start to a decade of terror

I turned 6 during the ’60 campaign. I had so many questions! Why is a president not a king? Why replace a healthy and good president? Kennedy was magical with his unexpected victory, TV appearances, stand for civil rights, stopping the Soviet nukes, beautiful wife and seemingly ideal kids. I followed everything he did. It almost seemed as if he had a halo.

On Nov. 22, 1963, I sat with my fourth-grade class in stunned silence for 20 minutes when the news came of the shooting, while we waited for the decision to close school. How could this happen?

I ran all the way home to turn on the TV as fast as possible. I was glued to the news the whole weekend through the funeral Monday. Oswald was arrested only hours after the shooting. Why did he do it? What?! Oswald shot dead right in the police station? It had to be a conspiracy! Johnson now president?

I felt like I was floating in a weird nightmare for weeks after. Then came the buildup of the Vietnam War, hippies, women’s rights, radical militant protest groups, riots and wars in our streets, the assassinations of Malcolm X, Dr. King, Robert Kennedy. There were two huge riots only months apart right here in Chicago in ’68.

JFK’s presidency was the beginning of a decade of terror across the country. People born later have no clue what it was like. I have never felt secure since. It was the ultimate lesson of how dangerous and crazy this world really is.

It is now 50 years since JFK’s assassination. Unbelievable! Has anyone noticed that this year’s calendar is a repeat of 1963? The dates line up with the days of the week the same. Nov. 22 is a Friday again.

Rich Lorimer

Streamwood