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Dang I'm young, only remember 9/11 and even then, I was in Grade 7, in music class, when my teacher heard a plane crashed into a building in New York, just a sketchy story on the radio. I figured it was like a Cessna or something, my mind just couldn't jump to the awful, true scenario. I didn't realize what a big deal it was until I heard an announcement after school let out that extra-curriculars were cancelled for the evening out of respect for events occuring in America. I had no idea what was going on until I went home and watched the news with my family. We were glued there, terrified all night. We all feared war and destruction was descending on the continent, we had no idea how big or small these attacks were going to be or when they would end. I'd never even heard of Islam before, I wasn't worldly enough to know exactly who was attacking the USA or how powerful they were. It was a time of outrage, horror and fear.
JFK: When JFK was assassinated, I was watching The Friendly Giant (it was on NET, now PBS) and there were no news alerts on that channel. I wasn't in school yet. I remember my dad coming home from work in the middle of the afternoon, yelling "The President was shot!" It didn't occur to me until much later how odd it was for my father to be so upset...he did not like President Kennedy at all. But he was the President, and he was murdered in cold blood.
MLK: There were no African Americans at all in our community, and the civil rights movement might have been a million miles away, so we didn't hear much about it except on TV. I do remember hearing some older folks saying really mean things about him, like he brought it on himself for stirring up trouble, or that he was an upstart.
Watergate/Nixon's Resignation: This I can't help but remember. The teachers at school discussed it non-stop, even in classes that had nothing to do with civics. Nixon resigned on my birthday that summer.
Reagan assassination attempt: I was at work and heard it on the radio. The Jody Foster connection was so totally bizarre because we (back then) thought she was ugly.
Space Shutter Challenger Disaster: I was at home, and had just given my daughter a bath. I had the TV on in the bedroom, and when the launch started, I wrapped her in a towel and we went to watch it - then the explosion happened. I couldn't believe my eyes - my daughter, sensing my shock, started to cry, too.
9/11: I worked as a legal secretary, and we had a client scheduled to start trial that morning. I was the first to arrive, and a friend of my boss's popped in and said, "My wife just heard that a plane crashed into the World Trade Center." This guy was a real jokester, so I was waiting for the punch line. He said, "I'm serious, it's on fire." I called home and my daughter (the one mentioned above) answered - she had not yet left for work. I told her to put the news on - a plane hit the World Trade Center. She said, "Oh my God, the other building was just hit by a plane!" At that moment, the clients arrived for the trial. Still on the phone with my daughter, I quickly told them what was happening, that it looked like New York was under attack. When my boss, the attorney, arrived, we were all three huddled around my desk listening to my daughter on the speaker phone describe what she was seeing on the news. Needless to say, the trial was cancelled that day - they closed the Courthouse. We all spent the day sititng around the radio listening to the news.
Coincidentally, I was in the same place doing pretty much the same thing for both the MLK (not mentioned in the OP; should have been) and RFK assassinations: coming in from a night ambush patrol somewhere outside of the An Loc/Loc Ninh/Bu Dop area near the Cambodian border in Vietnam. The only difference in the two times was that the heat was more oppressive in June.
My black platoon members were crushed and angered by the murder of Dr. King. The white guys felt RFK's death just as strongly. All of us concluded pretty much the same thing --- that back in "The World" (which is what we called the USA), things were going from bad to worse.
And they pretty much have continued to go that way.
When the moon walk happened, my Dad worked for RCA. He made the parts for the Mercury, I believe....anyway, we stayed up all night watching. I was 8. With Reagan, I was working at a dentist office when we heard, I was 19. The shuttle, I was watching the news at home with my newborn in my arms...I was 24. 9/11, I was on a cruise ship in the Carribean when we heard. When Elvis died, I was in my pool at home, I was 16. JFK, I was only 3, but I do remember watching with my parents saw about RFK, I was 8. MLK, I honestly do not remember where I was when that happened.
Last edited by Jrsygrl51; 02-05-2013 at 04:41 PM..
Reason: adding info
Man first walks on moon.--I think I was in the fifth grade. Everybody was excited and then I watched it on TV with my Dad.
JFK Assassination--In school. We learned about this at the same announcement that told us to go to the football field for our senior annual picture. One person was looking at my annual and said she had never seen a more sad looking class. I than wrote under the picture the date and what we had just learned.
9/11 Terrorist Attacks--At work. My boss came in and told us about it. My first thought was where did the airplane take off from. My sil was an airplane mechanic and I thought the plane must have had a mechanical problem and I wanted to know if he had anything to do with it.
He wasn't working that day but he went to school and picked up his daughter because he knew there was another plane missing before it was reported on TV. He just wanted to keep her safe. His daughter's teacher assured him that was not necessary but he could not tell her why he was doing it. It was not public knowledge.
My daughter was managing a day care that day and called me in tears to vent just a little bit. She was stressed but could not show it to the children. She had had a call from the emergency people and they had given her instructions what to do with any children she had left at the end of the day. Some of the parents of the children she was taking care of worked in D. C.
She said, "Mom I am taking care of children whose parents may be dead." Update, everybody in the day care had been picked up early. One grandfather and father had had to run when the plane came down in D. C. The grandfather had some burns. Father was fine.
JFK Assassinated - my mother heard the news as she was at the bank with me in my baby carriage. I had no idea.
MLK Assassinated - I was at nursery school and one of the teachers heard and was talking about it. I thought "our king" of our country was assassinated.
RFK Assassinated - had no recollection.
Man on the Moon - we had a color TV and we all sat and watched it. I thought it was cool but didn't really think much of it. I was 6.
Elvis Dying - I was with my mother and her friend and her friend's daughter at a clothing store when it came over the radio. My mother and her friend were devastated.
John Lennon Assasination - I was in freshman year of college in my dorm. I remember being sad and thinking it was the end of an era, now the Beatles can never get back together.
Challenger Accident - heard it on the radio as I was I the car. Ran home to watch TV. It was just so unbelievable. I kept hoping somehow, someway, the capsule made it back to Earth intact. The thought of how these people died was brutal. You really felt like you got to know them because there was so much attention because of the first teacher in space.
9/11 - Was on the phone with a recruiter from Atlanta who was calling for a reference for a former employee I managed at one time. I had the TV on I the background. As I saw the plane hit the second tower I told her I needed to go, something big was happening here locally and that I was sure she'd hear about it later. I was planning to go to SoHo later that morning for business, I'm glad I wasn't an early riser or I would have been very close to the Trade Center.
I was helping my girlfriend shop for shoes at the Laguna Hills Mall when Elvis died. Strange I should remember that as I was not an Elvis fan; however, I was a big fan of my girlfriend.
I was really annoyed at the JFK assassination because it meant we couldn't watch cartoons for like three days.
What a fun question and it does bring back memories:
1929 stock market crash: no, I am not quite that old,even if some of you think I am. I do remember my grandma talking about how she was able to get her money out a day or so before the crash..
Peal Harbor: I know we were driving back to L.A from a day in Santa Barbara, but I think I remember hearing the story more than actually remember the event.
Bombing: yes, dad was a navy officer and we were living in Florida..Even as a little kid, being a military family I think every kid that lived in the area then, still remembers it. well, if they are still alive they do.
JFK:yes, I was washing our car and the kids were napping. One of the neighbors came out to tell us.
RFK: we had just returned to our home in No Ca from a visit to So Calif. and I had gone to bed to listen to the primary results.
Reagan shot: you know I remember. My husband was waiting to get word of his appointment to the administration. I was selling real estate in So Ca and had just left the office to pick our daughter up to take to lunch. I won't go into detail, but I will tell you hubby was glad he hadn't gotten at appointment yet.
Elvis death: yes, I was in the office. I was sad, but not nearly as upset as a few of the gals were. They cried and cried, I was not a huge fan, but it still was a loss of a great talent, that I aprpeciate more now than 30 years ago.
9/11: you bet. I was driving one car, hubby the other, we were taking one to our mechanic to make sure everything was up to par. We were leaving in a few weeks and moving to NM> Our daughters, both worked for American Airlines. My husband knew someone on the plane that went into the pentagon.
I was born in the 60s outside the US so I wasn't aware or these events didn't have much impact that I can remember.
The fall of Vietnam: I was there. Too long to recount ... but it sure was scary.
Elvis death: I was a kid and have been in the US for a couple of years and didn't know what all the hullaballoo was all about. It was a bigger deal for me to learn that Bruce Lee died 4 years earlier, I think. Same goes for the Lennon death.
Reagan assassination: I was in school but didn't learn about it until I got home from school and watched it on the news. We were learning US government in school so it was interesting to hear Sec. of State Alexander Haig claimed he was in charge or something like that.
Rodney King riot in LA: I was actually working and had to drive to customer sites and I remembered one customer in Carson, near Long Beach, said to me "Are you almost done [fixing the computer]? We're locking this place down 'cause the building down the street just got torched." I got the hey outta there, went straight home, got my gun, and went to stay with my friends in Hermosa Beach.
Northridge quake: I was sleeping and felt the rumble but thought it was going to stop like so many quakes I've experienced before. It didn't. It went on shaking and shaking harder and harder. All the stuff fell out of my kitchen cabinets, my TV fell over, cracks appearing in the walls of my apt, etc. I got my gun and flashlight (power went out) and went to retrieve my car from the underground garage. Alot of us were just hanging out on the sidewalk in our pj's waiting for the aftershocks to clear up but it never did.
9/11: I was getting ready to go to work when the (then) wife told me what was happening. I cried when I saw the second plane hit. We held our babies close just knowing that the world as we know it will change.
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