For everyone of a certain generation there is a memory that coordinates the Kennedy assassination with their own position in time and space when they heard the news. And when they tell that story they unconsciously link the personal and the national stories, and each is given equal weight. The answer to the question Do you remember the Kennedy assassination? is always a personal story.
President John F. Kennedy was killed Friday, November 22, 1963. The Beacon published a special Saturday edition inside of 24-hours to report on and process the national and personal trauma. On Friday, on the Catholic campus, the flag was lowered, afternoon classes canceled; the priests and students flooded the chapels. In fact, with a 2000-year history, Catholics tend to believe they own a ready-made play-book telling them exactly what-to-do, whatever the situation: but in the face of the assassination of a president, no gesture seemed enough. The Associated Students of UP (ASUP) telegrammed a message of sympathy to the White House. There was a lot of incomprehension. There was a lot of turning to one another for support and turning to God for answers and care.
I remember that day very well. I first heard it walking out of the old Beacon Office towards the Pilot cafeteria (a couple of buildings ago). We have had many shocks since then but that was our generations first. It catapult 4 of us at that time into the Peace Corps. Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country, JFK. And how true that is today and how wonderful that we as a nation, not just a few, have stepped up to help our country. Stay safe and stay healthy, Joan Castricano Galles