I don't recall whether it was the mid or the 4 by 8 but I had the right hand seat that night and a guy by the name of Selikus was the junior controllerman. Slick dipped Copenhagen so of course he also went by Snuffy. Funny I should remember that except that the IC watch had brought us some fresh coffee earlier and Snuffy having finished his had just put in a fresh dip as we sprawled back on our seats and watched the gauges on the cubicle. 

We were snorkeling and trying to cram in a charge between repeated annoying hi-vac shutdowns when the IC watch suddenly reappeared around the corner of the cubicle excitedly saying that radio had picked up an English speaking station from Europe (VOA I guess) and there was something about an attempted shooting of the President. 

Then the 1MC clicked on and after a pause, off.  A few minutes later the skipper started to speak again and clicked off again. After a few minutes and a couple more trys he finally got it all out ---  our official transmissions confirmed that Kennedy was dead. I have never felt such a cold, hollow and lost feeling in my life. 

No one spoke for awhile --- at least not about what this could mean ---  I suppose we all assumed the worst. That we were going to come back in the middle of a nuclear war, and given the shape the boat was in and the miles to go, we likely wouldn't get back at all. We saw no other outcome. 

Our old RBO in the crew's dinette stayed on continuously and each time a guy came in he would fiddle with it and the cook would yell out that he had it set "just right - and when they got a goddamned signal we'd hear something and to leave it alone". So when we got a decent signal we listened intently, quietly playing solitaire, chain smoking and drinking coffee. It was satisfying however to get those intermittent English language broadcasts out of Radio Moscow. We knew that so long as they kept reporting in such a matter-of-fact way that WWIII hadn't started. 

Maybe it was that winter or spring after our return that I heard my first Beatle's song - or maybe it was the Dave Clark Five.

I was halfway through my first patrol on the USS Thomas A. Edison (SSBN-610 Blue). I was sitting in the crew's mess eating a meal (I don't remember if it was the noon or evening meal) when the CO, Captain Charles Young, came over the 1MC to say he had some bad news. We were due back to the States a few days before Christmas and my first thought that he was going to tell us that the patrol had been extended and we wouldn't be home for Christmas. 

Then I realized that the CO's voice sounded like someone who was about to break down. He proceeded to tell us that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas and that first reports were that the shots came from an overpass that JFK's limo had been about to pass under. Two men were seen running from the scene. Of course, in those days of extreme tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union my next thought was, "Holy shit! Those damn Commies have gone and killed our president. My first patrol and we're going to war." Everyone in the crew's mess turned pale and no one said a word. I think we were all sitting there waiting to hear the word passed over the 1MC to, "Man Battle Stations Missile. This is no drill." But we didn't. We just continued on with our normal patrol routine. 

You see all those movies and read all those books about COs on boomers going nuts and somehow getting to the point of being able to launch their missiles. If there was ever a real-life time when this could possibly happen this was it. Captain Young (who was the son of Cassin Young, who won a Medal of Honor for his heroism during the attack on Pearl Harbor and later had a Destroyer named after him) was a personal friend of JFK. 

As far as I know, EDISON was the only submarine that JFK ever actually went aboard. He had watched launches of Polaris missiles from a surface craft before but in 1962 he had come aboard EDISON when she pulled in to Norfolk after a shakedown cruise. They had to build an elevator (which is now in the Submarine Museum in New London) for him to access the AMR-1 hatch because of his bad back. And poor Captain Young was probably nervous about that visit because because the day before he had surfaced under a tincan (damn near sinking it) and had bent the upper part of the rudder (the part visible above water) over about 90 degrees. They had placed a tarp over it before JFK's arrival but I guess JFK never asked why the tarp was there. 

During my time on EDISON we had framed photos of JFK touring the boat hung all over the passageways and wardroom. I wish I had one of those now (but that would be stealing government property and none of us have ever done that). Anyway, of course nothing happened like in the movies but it might make a good plot point for someone who might want to write such a fictional screenplay or novel. Do any of you guys out there have any similar stories about what you were doing when you found out about JFK getting assassinated? I'd like to hear them.

I wasn't born yet, but I can say what my parents told me about that day. My sister had just been born, and they were living in a trailer park in Lodi, NJ. The news came on the radio about the President and my father came home from work early because the print shop had closed as soon as they found out. A few people in the trailer park left for PA because they thought there might be a war with Russian and being so close to NYC they didn't want to be around if it happened. My parents said it was the 4 saddest days they can remember, wondering what was going to happen next. JFK was my hero growing up, and I read everything I could about him. No matter what stories keep surfacing about his way of life before and during the Presidency, he is still a hero to me.

We had worked through the night before putting #3 main engine back together prior to taking USS Sablefish (SS-303) from New London to Portsmouth for an overhaul. We got underway at 8:30 a.m. or so -- and I caught the 8-12 AER throttle watch and hit the rack deep in Hogan's Alley. I just collapsed. When they got me up for the nightside 8-12, I stumbled into the crew's mess to pick up coffee and a sandwich. it took me a coupla seconds to tumble to the fact that"something" terrible had happened. The radio was on and I heard an announcer say something like"the President died at 1:30, etc." and my first thought was that some banana republic assassination had taken place. Some banana republic. I may have been one of the last people on the face of the earth to learn of the murder -- probably not -- but it sure felt lonesome. And it was one long watch that night.

I was in New London in the GM enginering school. Our instructor was named (Ski)He got a phone call and when he got off he broke down and cried. He then told us that the PRESIDENT had been shot and it was confirmed that he was dead. Needless to say school was shut down and we were all given leave until the next week.

I was sitting in a bar, having taken off work at noon to get a early start on the deer hunting traffic. The bar was right across the street from work and I just happened to live upstairs of the bar at that time. Needless to say, when my fellow hunters showed up we were glued to the TV, waiting on further news about the Presidents condition. By the time we left to drive to the northern Wisconsin hunting area we had picked we were in a depressed state, wondering if we would have need of our deer rifles for targets other than deer. I was 12 days past my reserve obligation (2 yrs.) after my 4 in the navy, but I was ready to go if called.

At Fleet Sonar School Key West, FL TAD from construction crew of USS John Adams SSBN 620 blue. Classes were dismissed for the day at noon. We went to the drinkery on the beach and followed the story on the tube. Everyone was bummed.

Evening meal, steak, baked potato, green beans, coffee: the old man hit the 1MC and announced, "this is the captain, the president has been assassinated, Cutler is down, man battle stations, set condition 1SQ" a very long time later we secured, a very long time. In spite of my rate the captain liked me on the helm, why I never will know, but I sat and listened to all that went on that day, it still brings a shiver. It was about 20 years later the first time I ever saw the funeral or any of the video.

On Patrol With Thomas Jefferson First Blue patrol, North Atlantic. It was 2200 when Captain Rathbun Call the Crew to Attention and read a prepare statement. We knew that something was wrong that day at lunch cause our radiomen had tears in there eyes and could not speak about it. The next few day we were all in a maze wondering when we would be called to war and start"our launch". That is one Patrol no one will forget.

I was a recruiter stationed in Akron, Ohio. I just happened to have the only automobile in the station's inventory that had a radio. I was coming back from a road trip to one of the outlying counties when I heard the news. I broke all speed records getting back to the Akron station so I could tell my shipmates what had happened. They were unaware of the assassination and, at first, didn't believe me. They quickly found out I wasn't lying when the Assistant Postmaster came in with confirmation. We shut down the station and went down to the Portage Hotel where we all drank a toast to JFK. I'll never forget that moment and the 3 days that followed. Good thread.

I was a mess cook at my first duty station, Charleston,. S.C.. The Master at Arms came out while we were on the afternoon break and told us. The lead cook then came out and made everyone start getting ready for the evening meal early. The evening meal was crowded and we almost ran out of food, seems there were a lot of people back on the base "just in case".

We had just finished giving the Blue Crew, of the 611, the boat and as the small boat pulled away from the tender in Holy Lock the XO announce the presidents death. That was the quietest trip back to the states we ever made.

I was in Chemistry class in Nuc school in Bainbridge. 
We worried about the state of the world too. But not with the urgency you guys at sea had. 

I can remember being more worried a few short years later. I was in the dockside bunk house in Charleston Naval Shipyard taking a break. The program on TV was interrupted to announce the shooting of Martin Luther King.

I was an instructor at Radioman school SDiego, Just came out of class when I was notified of the assasination The president had just visited SDiego a couple months before that and my class was one group that marched over to MCRD to meet him. He shook my class-leaders hand, said hello to me..repeated this on down the line and then left. I was very proud that my group had been chosen to meet him...last thing in the world I would have thought about was him being killed a couple months later. I think it started a period of uneasiness in this nation that we have never recovered from.

My 3rd patrol-Location (I'd have to kill ya)-The boat got deathly quiet. No one spoke for an hour or two. I think some communications rules were broken so we could get more info on the wire. Fear and anxiety.

I lived in Dallas. I had been down on Mockingbird Lane near Love Field calling on a business client. He asked me if I wanted to stay and see the presidents parade, it would go right in front of his place. I said "No, I'm going home to have lunch with my wife and get out of the traffic jam. The wife and I were eating lunch and watching the whole deal on TV. When the report came in about the shooting we thought 'Whoa. what now?'. I turned on all the radios in the house on and monitored everything. 

Later in the afternoon, after it was announced JFK was dead we stood by the sliding glass doors in the den where we could see the planes taking off from Love Field. There had been no air traffic since he was reported shot. Finally this lone plane, Air Force One, came up out of Love Field and slowly rose into the sky heading East. We watched it until it went out of sight, knowing that our dead president and our new president were on it. We were too shocked and stunned to really grasp what was happening. A little aside to show how paranoid people can get in a situation like this; at the time I was traveling a lot in my work, mostly by plane. Whenever I would sit next to someone and exchange "Where you froms?". When I said Dallas they would move away from me like I had Aids. Weird time.

I was sitting topside by the after torpedo room hatch talking with shipmates about getting ready for underway on sub-school daily operations on the Cobbler SS344. It was a time of great sorrow.

I definitely know what I was doing on 22 Nov. I was asleep in my rack at college. My roommate came running into the room saying that the President had been shot. About six of us ran down to the T V room and started watching. College was let out at 1300 hours and we went to our car to make the drive south to Houston. Three of us were making the drive. One of the riders repeated the same the state that was made when President McKinley was shot in 1901."That Damn cowboy is now President." Also that night in Houston everything was closed out of respect. There was not a movie house, not a restaurant, and not even a bar opened. I will never forget that day.

I was still a 6th grader. The news hit me like a ton of bricks. Why would ANYONE want to kill the US President?

I was in Nuke school in Bainbridge. Class let out shortly after the notification and we went back to the barracks to listen to the events on the radio. Since we were close to Washington, D.C., we followed the subsequent days activities very closely.

I was a sophmore in High School. I was in a shop class with the message came across over the intercom that the president had been shot. I spend the next couple of day at home watching on television the events unfold. It was a sad time for my family because this was one president we stood behind. I might add that 2 years later, at the age of 18, I bought the first book called, "The unanswered question on JFK's assassination". Have a large collection of books on the Conspiracy Theories, which I have read and studied since that time. I believe the United States would have been a different country if JFK would have lived.

My crew and I were setting windows and doors at Bethany Home Apartments, didn't hear about it until we got back to the shop. Lena and I stayed up the rest of the night watching a 19" black and white picture. It was about the first time I could remember a TV station going 24hr's around the clock, even in a big city like Phoenix. 

I will remember that day well. I,along with about 1000 other guys (and families and friends, ) was gathered in a huge Drill hall at the Great Lakes Recruit Training Center, ready to graduate from Boot Camp. After more than three months away from home, we were all ready to go. The Ceremony was delayed, and the word got passed around that we were waiting for the President to show up. How wrong that was! When we finally got the REAL word, there wasn't a dry eye in the place. After an abbreviated ceremony, we sang the Navy Hymn (a deeply moving experience)and then passed in review. Boy, did we look good, and all in step, too. Four days later we were all on our way home, and then on to our Navy careers (mine in the Silent Service) , but we never forgot that day, and I tell the story every November 22.

Ed (Tony) Del Santo ex MM3 (SS) A-Gang
USS LEWIS and CLARK SSBN-644 Plankowner
USS SENNETT SS-408