[ COMMEMORATIVE EDITION ]

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"I was in the freshman class at Leilehua High School ... It was a devastating period and everyone started crying ad no class in the whole school was able to continue. ... The announcement came over the PA system and even the vice principal was so choked up when he made the announcement. This was a very gray day."

Peggy Espiritu,
via e-mail from San Diego

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STAR-BULLETIN FILE / 1962
President John F. Kennedy is seen surrounded by people while
riding in a motorcade about one minute before he was shot in Dallas,
Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963. Riding in the car with him are first lady
Jacqueline Kennedy, and Gov. and Mrs. John Connally of Texas.

Few who were
alive then can forget
the day Kennedy
was assassinated

A Kailua woman was a nurse in
England when America's leader
was killed in Dallas

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Brenda Lumeng,
Kailua

I WAS A NURSE at University College Hospital in London when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963. I had arrived two months earlier from Chicago to work and travel abroad.

The medical staff, knowing I came from Chicago with its gangster reputation, had called me "Bang-Bang Yankee." Some patients even went along with the label in good fun.

But it wasn't only the gun issue the English would chide me about. There were those who wanted me to know that "the Americans had carried off the flag in World War II," feeling that we had gotten involved too late. Then there were also the grateful English who felt they couldn't have won without the American assistance.

It was the evening of that fateful day in '63, when I was passing out medications, that several patients, having heard the sad news, came out of their rooms telling me, "Yankee, your president has been shot."

I knew they were serious, as some of them had tears in their eyes as they extended their sympathy.

I was stunned and saddened, and I suddenly longed to be back in Chicago more than ever.

Once the evening shift ended, I hurried back to the nurses' residence to get the latest news. There I found the lounge full with everyone anxiously huddled around the TV. We all wanted to know, WHY? I was reassured that England was with America at this perilous time. And it was then that I realized that they, in fact, looked to the United States for leadership and security ... and were feeling a great loss, as well.

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[ JFK ASSASINATION ]

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STAR-BULLETIN FILE / 1963
In a gesture that touched a nation, John F. Kennedy Jr. salutes the
casket of President Kennedy outside St. Matthew's Cathedral after
funeral Mass in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 25, 1963. His mother,
Jacqueline, and uncle, Robert, are with him.

'I just sat in the car, listening to the news'

I had just driven from Pahoa to Hilo for a dental appointment when I heard the news over the car radio. I pulled over by the Hilo bandstand and just sat in the car, listening to the radio news.

It took a while for me to comprehend what had happened and that the president was dead -- assassinated.

I then went to a pay phone and called Pahoa High School, where my husband was teaching, and talked to Principal Darrell Oishi's secretary to let her know what had happened.

Because none of the schools had radios on during the school hours, I felt it was important to let them know that the president had been shot.

I learned later that day that the principal had called the staff and students to a special assembly to inform them what had happened. One of the students, Rose Abinosa, recited a special poem in honor of the president.

I can still remember the absolute sorrow I felt for the Kennedy family and for the people of this country and many parts of the world who had put such faith in this young president.

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Virginia Isbell, Kealakekua, Hawaii

Even the angels seemed to mourn

It was 8 a.m. on the morning of Nov. 22, 1963. I was in the sixth grade in Holy Family Academy when our teacher told us to stand and say a prayer for President Kennedy, who was killed that day. The teacher started crying, and my classmates were hushed into silence, and we were still in shock when school was over for the day. When I got home, my mom was crying over dinner, and my dad had taken the rest of the day off, too. I remember there was hardly any traffic moving around, and even the town was strangely quiet as if in solemn respect for the deceased. And no birds sang in the trees. Then it started raining so hard as if the angels in heaven were mourning our loss. From that day on, the whole world as I knew it had lost its innocence, and now violence rules our society. As the song said, "Johnny, we hardly knew ye," but deep down inside, he knew us in our hearts. We will never see or feel this way ever again!

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Clyde Gonsalves, Waianae

We found out from the crossing guard

Even though the Kennedy assassination happened almost 40 years ago, I have a clear recollection of the event. I was in the sixth grade, living in Pittsburgh, Pa. It was an early dismissal day, and my friends and I were starting our short walk home. When we got to the crosswalk, our normally cheerful, bubbly crossing guard was sobbing into her hands. When we asked her what happened, she gave us the tragic news. Our young, innocent minds could barely comprehend such a traumatic event. We all walked home crying.

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Toni Davis, Kaneohe