Those of us whose memories trace back to the afternoon of November 22, 1963, remember exactly where we were, to the moment, when we learned President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Sister Justicia, the Principal of Cleveland’s St. John Cantius Catholic High School called me from the study hall I was monitoring and shared the shocking news that President Kennedy had been shot. I suggested we link the school’s public address system to a network radio broadcast, so that the entire student body would know.
It had been a little more than a week since I had joined my senior classmates on a trip to Washington, D.C., where we excitedly witnessed, on November 11, 1963, President Kennedy laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier.
It was the closest I had come to the President who spoke to my soul , and I am sure to the soul of many young Americans when, in his Inaugural Speech he said:
“Let the word go forth, from this time and place, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans…”.
