The Final Seconds Of Camelot…51 Years Ago Today, Dealey Plaza
On November 22, 2014
- TV History
The Final Seconds Of Camelot…51 Years Ago Today, Dealey Plaza
Today’s remembrance of the assassination of President Kennedy is marked here by some rare, not often seen photos from that day. The sequence of pictures begins with the motorcade’s turn onto Elm Street at Dealey Plaza. Except for the last one, all of these photos were taken between 12:30 and 12:31 PM CT that day. I’ll add a few notes to the photos that I hope you will share. -Bobby Ellerbee
Where were you that day we’ll never forget? Tomorrow, the television pictures.
As a high school sophomore (Berea High School) I would be expected to be oblivious to politics, but an EXTRAORDINARY teacher (Glenn Hennis) had us totally involved in American Government that term. Several remarked that the busses were pulling up early, something must be ‘up’. At about 2:00 the Principal (Dick Andresek) came on the speakers across the whole school and told us the busses were out front to take us home early. The President had been shot. No long speech, just the simple and stark fact. It was eery…quiet except for a few kids crying and the occasional unwelcome remark by some ‘smart aleck’… I can’t help but think that we all grew up a lot that day, and through the weekend as we experienced grief in ways many of us never had before.
I was 12 in the 7th grade on that horrible day. Over 50 years later, and I still cry whenever I see the footage. There went our vision, which we lost again in 68 with the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. And Robert Kennedy.
Heartbreaking!!!!
No one I think who is old enough to remember will ever forget that horrible moment in time. My dad covered the funeral. Watching Jackie and the kids in the procession and John’s salute broke my heart…
History class (ironically) 9th grade. I remember the announcement over the intercom and most of the class just stunned and staring out of the window.
What an amazing collection of photos – thank you for sharing these. That was the day America lost its innocence – at least for my generation. I was in 4th grade at recess when I heard the news. The nuns called us all in to say a prayer for the President. I felt shocked and hollow even in my child self, at the announcement. My Grandmother had been a babysitter for the Kennedy children. My mother sang at Bobby Kennedy’s inauguration as Senator. It pulled the safety net from the our reach toward a common good, and it seems we have been falling ever since. May the next generation find new hero who can inspire as deeply, and give vision to a new world that we can create together. So much promise was lost on that day.
I was in Civics class at Boyden High School.
The Warren commission report was a joke. This was a covert operation carried out by the CIA and members of presidential staff. There were three teams of shooters set up for a triangular fire at the presidential limo. Six shots were fired. All this info is still classified and will not be made public till the year 2028. You may be asking yourself why this date. The reason is all individuals involved in the assassination will be dead and NO charges could be files.
The color photo was taken a few seconds before the fatal shot from “Badgeman”. It came from above the fence….not from the Texas Schoolbook Depository as the Warren Commission concluded. I had just turned nine years old and it was surreal to see on TV.
I Believe In The Newest Evidence That The Kill Shot Was From That Agent With The Semi-Auto By Nervous Reaction To The Events Of That Day!
I can barely look at these.
Uh
6th grade had a substitute. Mrs Clark came on pa all choked up making announcement. School dismissed early. Came home to my mother crying. Horrible week for country
Too bad for our loss. Very sad day for United States and world especially Vietnam.
I will never forget this for two reasons. I was in the 6th grade in Atlanta. Mrs. Barbarbare and all the teachers were called to the office. When she came back, she told us. What happened next was surreal…about half of the boys in class jumped up and cheered. I was crushed by the news, but then for that to happen…to this day, I am embarrassed and ashamed to admit that I was witness to this. I’ll spare you the details of what they called him but there is a scene in ‘JFK’ that brings this back every time I watch that movie.
I was certainly NOT alive for this, but had the chance to talk to a guy who was on duty as a Master Control op that day. Quite an interesting story. “That was the day we stopped turning the transmitter off overnight.”
Was in 9th grade. Very sad day…..
Every year I pull out my DVD copy of “as it happened” when A&E rebroadcast the NBC Coverage in exactly the same time sequence on the 25 th anniversary of this day. Frank McGee amazed me in that four hours….remarkable anchoring.
Can never forget this day — when America changed and not for good.
In last period of middle school history class. We were watching a newsreel of the President. When it ended, my teacher Mr Theirgard announced, ” that is the last we will see of our Predident. The President is dead”. We all turned in our seats and looked at each other in disbelief. The bell sounded and everyone went outside to the school buses. Everyone was crying. It was surreal.
I was in 6th grade and we were not told in class. Did not know until I got out the school bus and the old driver named Jimmy was crying, as the official announcement came about 2 minutes before we were released for the week. I stayed glued in front of my TV all weekend.
A day I’ll never forget. Glued to the TV all weekend.
Was in ,4th grade. Vaguely remember we were in a room watching tv in school. Was. Sent home early. Also was my dads birthday and I think we went into Manhattan to celebrate. That’s all I remember was long time ago am 60 now 🙂
Very memorable day for our family. My parents were signing their divorce papers when the first news flash was sent out from Dallas. My grandfather was once employed by Ambassador Joseph Kennedy, and one of my uncles worked on JFK’s 1960 campaign.