I was a 5th grader at Grandin Court Elementary school in Roanoke. Our teacher, Mrs. Leonard, was called out of class suddenly by the Principal on the public address system. She returned later, her face flushed and eyes teared up. She had been crying, so of course, all the girls in the class got upset. We were scared.
She gathered herself, then calmly announced that we should all go straight home, that something very bad had happend to the President. She didn't say he'd been shot.
I was on safety patrol, manning the crossing gates as everyone passed by. All were very quiet, no shenanigans by the usual perps.
When I got home my Mom and her friend were sitting in front of the TV, sobbing. My Mom had campaigned locally for Kennedy, she actually got to see him speak in D.C. She was upset for days. And since Mr. Kennedy was a WWII Navy vet and hero, my Dad was very sad (also a WWII Navy combat vet).
I'll never forget the normally stoical Walter Cronkeit breaking up on the newscast that day.
What a great President he would have been. I'll never forget that day. What a heartbreaker, an incalculable and great loss to our nation.