The Advertiser presented local reaction to the president’s assassination in its next printed edition on November 28, 1963.
By Mary Drier
Staff Writer
THUMB AREA — Friday, Nov. 22 marks the 50th anniversary of the fateful day in Dallas, Texas, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Five decades later those who are old enough still remember the day when Lee Harvey Oswald killed the 35th president of the U.S..
Robbin Vollmar of Caro: was 11 years old in 1963, and in Mrs. Forsberg’s fifth-grade classroom when the assassination came over the PA system.
“School was dismissed and the entire school was crying. On the bus ride home no one spoke. We listened to the radio and we cried,” said Vollmar noting when she got home she saw that her father had also been crying. “For days, the only thing we watched on TV were the reports of the shooting, the funeral, and the investigation. It was the only thing anyone wanted to watch.
Besides remembering the details, she still has the scrapbook she complied with clippings from newspapers and magazines. They range from when Kennedy started to run for office, winning the presidency, his time in office, his death, and the one-year anniversary of his death.
“I’m not sure why after all of these years I still hung on to these scraps of paper. I’m not sure why an 11-year old girl would have found the need to carefully cut out articles and tape them in a scrapbook,” she said.
Vollmar marveled that of the pages of the scrapbook have yellowed with age, but many of the photos remain bright and clear. Clear like the enduring image of Kennedy at age 46 when he was killed. Had he lived he would be 96-years old now.
Until her grandchildren recently found her scrapbook packed away, she had forgotten about it.
“I don’t think anything else impacted me like this senseless assassination in my childhood. I can skill hear JFK’s voice coming from the radio and his accent of the man whose death brought an entire nation to its knees.
“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”
The following are some comments from others in the Thumb who also remember that tragic day 50 years ago.
Former state Rep. Kurt E Damrow: “Bob Bouck from Elkton was the first Secret Service agent with a college degree. He also worked for several presidents during his career. He managed the detail that protected Kennedy with the exception of the day JFK was shot, and I believe he was up here for a family gathering in Elkton.
When he was at our house my dad would also ask him if he knew what happened… but no response. He’d just give him that secret service agent look, even on vacation. Dad always said that he took the loss of JFK personally since he wasn’t there on that day.
Former Tuscola County Probate Judge Wally Kent: I was in the Army at the time, stationed in Denver. It was about lunch time, and I was at my desk talking on the phone to my wife when she suddenly said: “I’ve got to go. President Kennedy has been shot!” and hung up. Momentarily, we got an official notice that we were on Red Alert.
Eventually got home that evening. What I remember most is how we wandered the streets, feeling totally numb and helpless. It took a long time for the pain to fade. I still tear up at times when I think of it.
Interesting to see Kurt’s comment about the Secret Service. The agent who threw himself across Jackie to protect her (I have forgotten his name) had served in our Intelligence Corps office in Denver before I got there, and joined the Secret Service after leaving the Army.
Many of the guys in the office had served with him and knew him well, which made it seem even more personal somehow.”
According to historic information, it was Secret Service Special Agent Clint Hill who climbed onto the presidential limousine, seconds after the fatal shot.
Attorney Michelle Biddinger: “I remember walking into the living room and my mother was ironing and crying. I said what’s wrong mom she said the President was shot and killed even though I was very young – pre-school age – I still remember my mom standing there ironing and crying.”
Joyce Buerge: “I was working in the Pathology Laboratory at Dow Chemical, Midland. News came over the radio. The pathologists and staff got quiet and just stared at one another, wondering what next,” said Buerge. “Everyone was very concerned about the future. That day and through the funeral there was TV coverage, I don’t remember any other event that was covered like that.
“Then, while making preparations for Thanksgiving I happened to see Oswald shot. A time one doesn’t forget.”
Former Deputy Drain Commissioner Sue Profit: JFK was assassinated on my daughter’s first birthday. We were having her party when we heard the news. The party ended in quiet grief for a great man.
Sherri Hoy: “I was in 3rd grade. I wasn’t sure what was going on but knew it was very sad. All of the grades got together and watched a black and white TV. I will never forget seeing Jackie bending over JFK in the back of the convertible. A sad, sad day!”
Cheri Leiterman-Heinitz: I remember I was in fourth grade at St. Agatha School, in Gagetown. We were in music class with Sister Pheletis and the principle came in and said school was being dismissed because President Kennedy has been shot and killed. I arrived home to see mom in front of the TV watching it and crying.”
Christine Thomas Young: I was sitting in study hall at Unionville High School. We were all devastated and were glued to the TV for all the coverage, follow up and funeral.
Michigan connection: The Limo JFK was assassinated in was refurbished, painted, a top added and made bullet-proof. The vehicle continued to be used by the next three presidents before it came to rest at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
Mary Drier is a staff writer for the Tuscola County Advertiser. She can be reached at drier@tcadvertiser.com.