58 Years Ago President Kennedy Was Gunned Down in Dallas

From an earlier story...I hope you don't mind.

President John Kennedy was much too young as we all were that day....I was just a skinny little guy wanting to play in a big football game with my friends and teammates over at Riddick Stadium that night, but then there was great sadness and confusion.  And what should we do?  Paul Horvitz was a bruising running back for us and I remember him nosing into the line shedding tacklers, me trying to help clear the way for him. For an hour or so we all seemed to forget about the sadness.

That night I kept thinking about our classes that day--and in one, returning from a Thanksgiving  assembly in the Martin Junior High auditorium only to find that someone in the office must have left the intercom on--somthing about a motorcade. There were giggles, then a few girls started to cry. John Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1:30PM Eastern Time.  Walter Cronkite was tearful.




My Previous Story..............

The night of November 22, 1963, a Friday, I was playing as a little league all-star at Riddick Stadium before the State-Wake Forest college football game.

I had mixed emotions that evening-- was really excited about playing, but wasn't sure that the little leaguers or the college teams should have suited up that night; however, Chancellor Caldwell's uplifting speech from the pressbox before the college game assured us that playing was the right thing to do.  Andy's dad was a great man, a great chancellor.

"Get in for Piccolo!"

We wore black and gold like Wake Forest and after our game were allowed to stand and sit in our uniforms along their bench. I was a bit nervous being around those great college stars (Brian Piccolo, and Karl Sweetan being two of the best).  Suddenly, in the first quarter as the game was just underway, a Wake Forest coach roughly grabbed me (all of 94 pounds) and hollered at me to get in for Piccolo, giving me a powerful shove onto the field......for a few moments I found myself in my black and gold uniform playing for Wake Forest.  Then there was laughter from the players and coaches in the bench area, and a smiling referee pointed me back over to the sideline.

That was the night of the Kennedy assassination.  And that was the night Brian Piccolo broke the single-season college rushing record.

Brian Piccolo Number 31

I remember Matt Healy, Jim Patton, John Soccles, Tommy Dozier, Butch Blake, John Thomas and Paul Horvitz playing.  And pretty Jane Wood along the sideline.

A lot of mixed emotions that night. 

I hope Jane is OK with me remembering her that night and including her in my story.  :-)

Jane W. Wood (Youngblood)

Dan(ny)