THE SHOT(s) THAT CHANGED AMERICA

50 years ago today in Dallas TX, President John F Kennedy was assassinated and it forever changed America.  Most people who were alive at that time can tell you exactly what they were doing when they heard the news.  The nation was in shock and it is still mourning his death today.  While there is still a lot of mystery around the assassination, I think it symbolized something bigger.  I believe the assassination ended the greatest era in the United States.  From the end of World War II (August 1945) through the assassination was America’s Golden Age.  We were prosperous, the free world looked to us for hope and freedom.  It was a time when movie stars hung out with politicians and gangsters.  We were about having fun, drinking smoking and just worrying about enjoying ourselves and not living long miserable life, but a short happy one.  Then November 22, 1963 came and the party came to a crashing end.  Before the 1960s were over we saw riots in the streets and two more major assassinations (Robert F Kennedy & Martin Luther King Jr).  The world grew up and I think that is a shame.   So in my small little mind I divide this country’s history as Before JFK assassination and After JFK assassination.

I wasn’t around then, because I was born in 1966, but like 9/11 for me, November 22, 1963 will be a day many Americans will never forget.

Mr President may you rest in peace.