November, 1963

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Originally uploaded by Olias444.

When little Danny was about 3 or 4, he became more and more aware of the people and things around him. He was especially facsinated by what he saw on that old Emerson television set his parents would watch every night. He soon learned to turn the tv on himself in the morning, and would watch Captain Kangaroo. In one of his earliest memories, he saw an image of a charismatic man on the screen, "That's President Kennedy" his mom Sally would say. She was a huge supporter, and quite frankly, a fan of JFK. He had brought a youthfulness to the White House and indeed, to the nation...'Camelot' or 'The New Frontier' they called it. His Presidency seemed to be a breath of fresh air to America. With his bold plans of NASA space exploration, of landing a Man on the Moon, The Peace Corps, The Civil Rights Act, JFK was a very progressive leader.
No one knew at the time of his personal habits and affairs, it didn't matter to the public then. What Danny remembered most was his mom saying "President Kennedy said this, or President Kennedy did that..."
The phrase 'President Kennedy' even had a ring to it.....There were many times when a commercial would come on, a public service announcement that featured JFK's most famous quote during his inauguration, and Sally would say, "Look Danny! There's President Kennedy!"
And Danny would look at the screen,
"ASK NOT, what your country can do for you...ASK what you can do for your country..."
But at the time, all Danny really heard was, "EFF blah blah blah...EFF blah blah blah..."
It must have been the thick Boston accent.
And another thing about the Kennedys, they were glamorous. Jackie Kennedy was a virtual American Princess, and they had young children, just like millions of Americans at the time.
A common misperception was that their son was called 'John-John'....This was from a quote when he was born. Someone from the press asked, "What's your son's name?"
JFK said "John, John" He was only repeating the name, but the press took it as 'John-John' and the name stuck....
One afternoon in November, Danny, who was being babysat in the afternoon by Joe and Lena Cassa, two delightful elderly neighbors, who had come from Italy, sat and watched their black and white tv at images of a presidential motorcade, scenes of a hospital, and they shook their heads and spoke to each other in Italian. When it was time to take Danny home (which was next door) Joe Cassa was in a somber mood. Sally was home from work, and she had been crying. In a shaky voice, she told Danny, "President Kennedy has been killed..."
There are only two things Danny remembered after that, one was the image of another guy getting shot in the stomach, being played over and over on the news. That was Lee Harvey Oswald.
The other was the next Monday morning, when he went to turn on the tv to watch Captain Kangaroo, but instead saw a parade, with horses,and a US flag-draped coffin, and blocks and blocks of people dressed in black.