Where were you?

I switched on the TV today to the story that America is marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F Kennedy. I didn't need reminding. I'm one of those old enough to remember the event clearly and I know exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news... It is, after all, the first time in my life I became politically aware. It was my first ever Speech Day and Prizegiving Ceremony that I attended at my Grammar school. It was an evening event at Queen Mary College in London and I was proudly wearing my school uniform. The event had finished and I was leaving and walking home with my friends when the school caretaker came running towards us on the Mile End Road, shouting 'President Kennedy's been shot!'. We were all so shocked we didn't know what to say and we walked the rest of the way in silence. I wanted to get home and be with my family as I realised the world was never going to be the same again! So, where were you when you heard the news?

MUSIC: Abraham, Martin and John by Marvin Gaye