1963 Memory

That Friday in November

Those of us in the Classes of 1964, 1965, and 1966 will always remember we were at Stadium.

Mr. T.R. Brown was not in the room when the bell rang. My third-period chemistry class had been warned to expect a quiz. We assumed Mr. Brown was still mimeographing the test. We were using the time to review our notes. Occasionally I looked out the window on a sunny and clear Fall day.

What followed is as etched in my mind today as it was almost 43 years ago. It has its own name – "flashbulb memory."

Mr. Brown walked into the room. Mr. Brown put his papers down on his desk and said there would not be a test today.

Mr. Brown said, "The President's been shot."

I remember feeling overwhelmed. Would the President be OK? My thoughts went back exactly eight weeks to another Friday - September 27, 1963. Another sunny day. I sat at Cheney Stadium. I heard the President speak words aimed directly at me and my classmates:

"I ask particularly that those of you who are now in school will prepare yourselves to bear the burden of leadership over the next 40 years .... That is a wonderful challenge for us as a people."





Then came the announcement we didn’t want to hear. The President hadn't just been shot; he had been killed. I remember a tear. We tried to comfort each other. We didn't know what to do.

I remember walking downstairs in front of the office. Mr. Mazzei (Vice Principal) was telling everyone that school was being dismissed. I slowly walked home, even though I was lost.

From time to time I still hear President Kennedy in my mind's eye. His words still inspire.

That day divided my years at Stadium. Before we were filled with ideals and optimism; after we were somehow older.

I have often told my children about Stadium High School and that Friday in November. I was in Mr. Brown's chemistry class, waiting to take a test, when I heard the news. I told my children how it was, and that, ever since, nothing has been quite the same.


Harold G. Friedman
Class of 1965

Kennedy's speech at Cheney Stadium

(photo from PLU - PLU Timeline 1960-1964)

(I was driving a civilian canteen truck on McChord Air Force Base)

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