A Dark Day In Our Nation's History
Friday November 22, 1963, began like any other morning that year. For me, I was in the 10th grade at Valley Forge High School in Parma Ohio. There was a story on the news the day before that President John F Kennedy was in Texas with Vice President Lyndon Johnson to shore up support for a second term as President in 1964
The day was unusually mild for late November. The predicted temperature that afternoon was expected to be around 65 degrees. As I went to school that day, it seemed like any other day at school. That afternoon the class periods were shortened so there could be a pep rally for the basketball team. The first varsity basketball game was scheduled for that evening.
Also, in the news that month was a story of the government of South Vietnam being overthrown a few weeks earlier. The United States was supporting the South Vietnamese government fighting insurgents from communist North Vietnam. There were protests that summer in Vietnam with monks dousing themselves with gasoline and setting themselves on fire.
There were some troops serving in Vietnam, mostly as "advisors" to the South Vietnamese army. But that was on the other side of the world in November 1963.
The day proceeded like any other school day until around 200 PM. I was in world history class taking a quiz or something at the desk when there was a knock on the door. The teacher, a young woman who was also my French teacher answered the door. She was handed a note and called the class to attention as she read the note. She had said that President Kennedy had been shot while in Dallas Texas. She was visibly shaken.
Then the school's PA system came on as they were playing the news coming over the radio. Not long after the radio came on over the school's PA system, the reporter announced that President John F Kennedy was dead. Shortly after that announcement, the bell rang at the end of the class period.
What followed was perhaps the strangest I had seen in high school. Valley Forge High School was a large high school with 3000 students in three grades. The 9th grade was at junior high school. The hallways were crowded as students made their way to their next class, which was the last class of the day.
Normally the halls of the school were busy and buzzing with noise as the students were mingling in the halls. But on that day, it was eerily quiet. Many girls were crying in the hallways, and no one was talking. Everyone seemed to be in shock. Since I had a study hall during the last period, I could leave school early. I decided to skip that pep rally and walk home, taking advantage of the unusually warm weather that day. Besides, i wasn't in any mood to cheer on the basketball team.
That basketball game scheduled that evening was postponed. When i got home that evening we all watched the news of what had happened that day.
However, much went on as normal that weekend. The NFL played a full schedule that Sunday. The Cleveland Browns hosted the Dallas Cowboys that Sunday November 24. The Browns won that game. But the big game scheduled on Saturday November 23 between Ohio State University and the University of Michigan was postponed until the following Saturday, November 30. Ohio State won that game at Ann Arbor.
At the time, my mother was working as a nurse at Lutheran Hospital in Cleveland. She was scheduled to work on Sunday November 24. Like any Sunday, my father took us to church on Sunday morning, then we drove to the hospital to meet our mother for lunch in the hospital cafeteria. There was a television set in the cafeteria, and it was turned on to the news.
We weren't paying much attention until there seemed to be a commotion on the television news. They had been broadcasting the accused assassin of President Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald was being transferred from the city jail to the county jail when a man emerged from the crowd and shot Lee Harvey Oswald in front of all those television cameras.
It seemed like we were watching a movie, not the news. The man was taken into custody and identified as Jack Ruby, who owned some nightclubs in Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald died later at the hospital.
John F Kennedy's funeral was scheduled for Monday November 25. The day was declared a National Day of Mourning and schools, public buildings and government offices were closed. The nation watched JFK's funeral procession in Washington DC as his casket was taken to Arlington National Cemetery where he was buried with full military honors as a veteran of the Second World War.
That week was a short week at school as Thanksgiving was on Thursday November 28. Things began getting back to normal again. But it was a rather subdued holiday season that year.
Lee Kamps
Lee has been working with Medicare, Medicaid and private health insurance since he began working at the Erie County Welfare Department in January 1973 where a major part of his job was determining eligibility for Medicaid. He went into the private insurance business in 1977 with Prudential Insurance Company and within a short time had become one of the company’s top sales agents. In 1982, he was promoted into management where he managed two field offices and as many as thirteen sales agents. After leaving Prudential in 1986, Lee decided to become more focused on health insurance and employee benefits. He has advised many local employers on how to have a more cost effective employee benefit program as well as conducted employee benefit meetings and enrollments for many area employers. The companies Lee has worked with ranged from small “mom and pop” businesses to local operations of large national companies. Lee received his B.S. degree from Kent State University where he has been active in the local alumni association. He has completed seven of the ten courses toward the Certified Employee Benefit Specialist designation. He has taught courses in employee benefits and insurance at Cleveland State University and local community colleges. In addition, Lee is an experienced and accomplished public speaker. He has been a member of Toastmasters International where he achieved the designation of “Able Toastmaster – Silver” in 1994. He has also served as a club president, Area Governor and District Public Relations Officer in Toastmasters as well as winning local speech contests. Lee has also been a member of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association’s Speaker’s Bureau where he was designated as one of the “official spokespeople for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” prior to the hall’s opening in 1995. He has given talks and presentations before many audiences including civic organizations, AARP chapters and many other community groups. With the implementation of the Medicare Modernization Act (Medicare drug bill) in 2006, Lee has shifted his focus to Medicare and helping Medicare beneficiaries navigate the often confusing array of choices and plans available. As an independent representative, Lee is not bound to any one specific company or plan, but he can offer a plan that suits an individual person’s needs and budget. In addition, Lee is well versed in the requirements and availability of various programs for assistance with Medicare part D as well as Medicaid. While he cannot make one eligible, he can assist in the process and steer one to where they may be able to receive assistance.