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Nov 22, 2008 11:09 pm US/Central
Nation Remembers JFK
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
It's one of those questions those of us of a certain age can easily answer -- where were you on November 22,1963? Saturday, CBS 2 looks back at the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
A husband and wife -- now 67-years-old -- recall what it was like to witness the death of a president in Dallas. CBS 2 talked to people in Chicago, they were high school students then, who heard about it many miles away.
Forty-five years ago, Bill and Gayle Newman and their young children were at Dealey Plaza in Dallas waiting for a president.
David White and Louanne Van Kempen were high school students hundreds of miles away – White in Pennsylvania and Van Kempen in Wisconsin.
The Newmans saw it happen, as they were very close to President Kennedy's motorcade.
"As it got a 100 feet from us, the first two shots rang out....boom, boom, like that," Bill Newman said.
"I thought it was firecrackers," said Gayle Newman.
"I can recall seeing the side of President Kennedy's head fly off...seeing the president go across Mrs. Kennedy's lap and she screammed out 'oh, my God, they've shot Jack,'" he said.
These are the memories of White and Van Kempen, who CBS 2 interviewed Saturday in Chicago. Remember, they were in different high schools, in different states.
Tthings got quiet. everyone loaded on the buses. took everyone home," Van Kempen said.
"Everyone was in shock and things got very quiet in the school," David White said.
John Drury 45:36 "people are slowly realizing that the president is dead."
On November 22, 2963, CBS 2 anchorman John Drury talked to people in Chicago's loop and heard the same solemn reaction.
"I worked at the Continental Bank and we heard about it this afternoon. it was such a terrible thing and everyone felt very bad," said one woman.
"I just don't know how someone could kill a man of his stature," said another man.
"The whole weekend, everyone was glued to the TV," said Van Kempen. "Everyone felt very saddened. no one thought this could happen in our country and it did."
On this 45th anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination, 500 people gathered at Dealey Plaza while vendors sold CDs, books and postcards.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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