Where were you when? Memories of big historical events

Where were you when United States President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22, 1963?

RESPONSES:
“ I was a freshman coming out of my biology class at the Farmington State Teachers College when I heard someone yelling that President Kennedy had been shot. We didn’t know right away that he had died.” – Hal Small, Turner.

“I was in grammar school – St. Rose, probably sixth grade. One of the nuns who was the cook at the school let the teachers know. They were very upset as he was a Catholic president.” – Tom T., Livermore.

“When J. F. Kennedy was assassinated, my two-year-old son was having a nap. I had my radio on. I was taking a bath. I jumped out of the tub and called a girlfriend. I felt so bad. He was my favorite.” – Hazel Babb, Livermore.

“I was a freshman at the University of Maine in Orono on November 22. I was actually cutting some classes and was snoozing in my dorm room when the news came across the TV. I ran down the hallway shouting the bade news but either no one else was skipping classes or they simply didn’t believe me at that moment. Ironically, President Kennedy had visited the University of Maine campus only a few weeks earlier. I believe the next day the University shut down for the entire day for the very first time in its history.” – Larry Newth via email.

Where were you when man first walked on the moon on July 20, 1969?

RESPONSES:
“I was getting ready to leave Vietnam.” – Hal Small, Turner.

“I was working my summer job at the Androscoggin mill in Jay. We were all anticipating this event as everyone was talking about it ahead of time. We listened to it on the radio at work.” – Tom T., Livermore.

“July 20, 1969 was an event I will never forget. I was still re-acclimating myself to not being a combat vet from Vietnams. Six months prior I had come home and was still looking for a reason to be proud to have served – with difficulty. I had friends over to my house to watch this possible moon landing and will never forget the feeling of pride I got for the first time in a long time.” – Larry Newth via email.

What were you doing when you first heard about the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001?
RESPONSES:
“I had just graduated from high school the month before and was working at Shapiro Shoe Company.” – Tim Scammon, Auburn.

“I was the principal at Oxford Hills Middle School when a social studies teacher came running in to tell us that a plane had just flown into the first World Trade Center tower. At the time we thought it was just a bad flight error. We all hurried to watch the TV in the other room. When we saw the second plane hit the second tower, we realized it was an act of terrorism. The commentator on the news show helped us figure that out. It seemed unreal. It was hard to fathom.” – Hal Small, Turner.

“I was sitting at home waiting to go into work. I was working second shift. I turned on the TV to watch the Today show and the first plane had already hit the first tower. I called up my father, who was 82, and told him to turn on his TV. I was watching when the second plane hit the second tower. I went to my father’s house and sat and watched the news reports for a while.” – Tom T., Livermore.

“I was sitting at the dining room table eating breakfast, while listening to WNYC. I noticed what appeared to be a fire at the top of one of the towers, and wondered why neither the local radio or TV was reporting it. I was able to watch many of the building collapses from the almost floor-to-ceiling windows which faced south from the ninth floor apartment in Chelsea. That night, all windows and terrace door had to be closed because the winds were blowing the smoke northward.

“On Wednesday, I was able to walk downtown, barriers having been put in place to prevent car/truck, but not pedestrian traffic, which was important because I was scheduled to move to the South Street Seaport in three weeks, an area due east of the site. Everything there was covered in soot, as though aged in dust, the light subdued by it, the sound that of generators since power had been lost.

“On Thursday, two days later, I realized that had MetLife not changed its required office signing for new policies, I, and my insurance broker, would have been on the 80-something floor of one of the towers when a plane hit, since we always met shortly before nine a.m. The survivors that day chanced to be on one side, and not the other, of the office, an office which I had been in two years or so earlier, so could imagine the divide perfectly.” – Winthrop Smith via email.

“When the Twin Towers were attacked on Sept. 22, 2001, I was talking to a friend on the phone. He said, ‘Turn your TV on. Something big is happening in New York.’ I couldn’t believe it.” – Hazel Babb, Livermore.

“When the World Trade Center event took place I was working in a large retail store. My department was next to the TV department where there were usually lots of TVs turned on all the time. All of a sudden the events of that day took place. I felt rage, disgust, fear, angst, you name it and I had it. Thoughts of Vietnam came back quickly. I had issues with the event that led me to seek some supportive help from the vet center in Lewiston.” – Larry Newth via email.