Nov. 22, 1963.
To many University of Memphis students, that date doesn't meanmuch. But to many of their parents and professors, it was a day ofimpact -- the day John F. Kennedy Jr. was assassinated.
With no day of impact of their own, members of Generation Ycouldn't relate to the assassination -- until Sept. 11, 2001.
Those who experienced them described both events as shocking,appalling and chaotic. As Kennedy's assassination reaches its 40thanniversary Saturday, many are replacing the question, "Where wereyou when Kennedy was shot?" with "Where were you Sept. 11?"
Buddy Brewer, junior electronic engineer major, was alive forboth events. As a 7-year-old, he said he didn't quite grasp themagnitude of Kennedy's assassination, only knowing that "somethingmajor had happened."
"It was like everything stopped," he said. "Everybody was cryingand carrying on. It was a lot like Sept. 11 in that people neverthought it would happen and it left a huge emotional impact."
Although the assassination continues to be a defining moment,many of today's generation don't know much about it or the UnitedStates' 35th president or what he meant to the people of thattime.
Lauren Price, a senior elementary education major, was yearsfrom being born when Kennedy was assassinated, but like many youngpeople, through her parents, she said she understands the day'simportance.
"My dad was 9, and he remembers it," she said. "I associateKennedy's and Martin Luther King Jr.'s deaths together becausethose are two events my dad said stuck in his mind growing up."
However, to many other young people, Kennedy's presidency is asfar off as World War II. Many recall only conspiracy theories andsex scandal stories.
"Kennedy was seen as a hero to many African Americans in thatperiod," said history instructor Jeff Jones, who was 3 when Kennedywas assassinated. "It (the assassination) was a very sore subjectfor many African Americans for years to come. They saw a link withthe deaths of Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and King to get rid of peoplewith sympathies toward the poor and minorities."
At the time, Kennedy was the youngest president and the firstCatholic president. To many, he represented a time of progress andvitality. Many of the bills he initiated in his short presidencystill benefit Americans today.
In his first 100 days of office, Kennedy created the U.S. PeaceCorps. Later, he went on to create the Green Berets and pushed forthe first Medicare Bill. He also supported federal funding for thearts through the National Arts Foundation, which spawned theNational Endowment for the Arts.
"Kennedy had just begun to mean a lot in the minds of the CivilRights Movement," said Beverly Bond, associate professor ofhistory. "He was friendlier to African American than otherpresidents had been, and people thought he had done a lot in makingconnections with Martin Luther King Jr."
Bond, who was 17 and a freshman at then-Memphis State whenKennedy was shot, said before the assassination, she felt theinvincibility of youth, but the shooting provided a real awakeningfor her.
"I think it was the same with Sept. 11," she said. "Americans asa whole felt invincible, and it was an awakening for thecountry."
As time goes on, Bond said she thinks Sept. 11 will take theforefront in people's minds as more of a defining moment thanKennedy's assassination.
"In 20 years, it'll be 60 years since Kennedy was shot, and wewill have gotten further away from it," she said.
Since the shooting, public opinion about the shooting and itscauses has been shifting.
Although conspiracy has been suggested since the killing, publicopinion in that direction is beginning to decrease, according to aFox News poll taken in early November.
The poll states that nearly three out of four Americans say theybelieve Oswald did not act alone in Kennedy's assassination.Although that number may seem high, it is down from similar pollsin 1967, 1975 and 1981, when four out of five people believedOswald was not the only culprit.
However, as it stands in the history books, Kennedy's cause ofdeath was "gunshot wounds, head." The wounds were caused by shotsfired from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository,which was on the route Kennedy and his wife and Texas Gov. JohnConnally and his wife were driving to greet spectators.Vice-president Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife followed in aseparate car.
A federal investigation concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald, aself-proclaimed Marxist, fired the shots. The reason for theshooting was never discovered, however, because Jack Ruby shotOswald as he was being led out of the Dallas Police Department.Charged with murder, Ruby, a night club owner, was sentenced todeath but died of cancer while awaiting retrial.
William Marty, political science professor, said he spent mostof that day listening to the radio, much like Sept. 11, when hesaid he spent the day watching a 4-by-4 black and white televisionin his office.
"It was a psychological shock with JFK because it had been quitea while since Americans had that sort of experience, and it was a'This just wasn't supposed to happen' kind of thing," Marty said."Sept. 11 is the same in some ways."
However, Marty said he doesn't think Sept. 11 is the last timeAmericans will experience a tragedy of the same magnitude.
"These are people who wish and hope to kill us and have themeans to do it," he said. "We could have other or even worseevents. I don't think it's a temporary thing at all."
