The first news story you remember being aware of as a child?

[jp1]

A friend on facebook posed this question and I immediately recalled the Patty Hearst trial.

A bit of backstory. My mother didn't realize (or didn't care) that there was a fresh vegetable aisle at the grocery store. Six days a week we had some sort of canned, boiled vegetable with dinner. It wasn't until i was in my late teens that I learned that veggies could actually be enjoyable.* Until I was 13 or 14 our dinner routine was incredibly consistent. We would eat exactly at 5:30 while watching the local news. At 6:00 we'd be done, except I wouldn't have touched my veggies. Mom would do the dishes and I'd be forced to remain at the table with my now cold uneaten veggies, watching Walter Chronkite. Towards the end of the news Mom would take my plate after she'd finished all the other dishes and I was free to leave the table, not having touched those nasty things. Consequently I developed a lifelong interest in the news and was probably more well informed than virtually all of my elementary school classmates. (Not that I ever went to school and tried to impress my fellow students with my worldly knowledge... :~) )

When I was in maybe third grade the Patty Hearst bank robbery trial hit the news. OMG! What a cool story! I mean seriously, the villains were some organization called the Symbionese Liberation Army. That name! And these people didn't live vanilla middle class lives like mine. And to top it off they didn't allow cameras in the courtroom so the courtroom sketch artists provided vivid pictures of the proceedings. It was true story telling, like a book with illustrations. Walter would do the reading and I'd watch the pictures of what he was describing. I was riveted. I couldn't wait for the next day's installment to see what happened next.

*As a protest one time I went to our pantry and peeled the labels off of all the cans of veggies. My intention was to point out how uniformly bad they were. My mother's reaction made clear that I had failed. She found this to be absolutely hilarious and was perfectly fine with us having "mystery vegetables" every night for the next month.

[bae]

I was born in 1963.

Apollo 7, then Apollo 8. I remember vividly watching the Apollo 8 broadcasts. I later ended up living just down the street here from Bill Anders, who was on the Apollo 8 mission, and I have a print of Earthrise sitting right here that he printed up and signed for me.

I was a total space program nerd when I was a little kid. I really really wanted to be an astronaut, but the killed the Apollo program before I even made it to middle school. Neil Armstrong lived in a town near mine in Ohio, and he was a local hero to us all.

[jp1]

I was born in 1967. I remember going out into our backyard to look at the ‘spaceship going to the moon’. Not knowing what to look for I didn’t see it and was very frustrated since the rest of my family, including my 4 year older sister, did see it.

Random aside, my dad was a civilian accountant for the air force for 20-something years before he reitred. I still have an account with the credit union of the Air Force Accounting and Finance Center. The Space Age Federal Credit Union. My Visa card always has a relevant image on it and friends often find that and the name of my financial institution amusing.

[catherine]

I have to state the obvious for someone who was in 6th grade in 1963--the Kennedy assassination. I was in my Catholic school classroom when the Mother Superior came in and told us to pray for President Kennedy--that he'd been shot. She returned not long after to say that he had died. I remember my friend, Donna O'Brien, putting her head on her desk and crying. I was just shocked.

I also remember a couple of days later my mother had somewhere to go, and she left us at our babysitter's house. Mrs. Long had a black and white TV and I remember watching the news coverage which of course was on constantly, and watching Lee Harvey Oswald getting shot, live.

I also remember feeling sad that Jackie Kennedy wasn't going to be the First Lady anymore. She was so pretty and classy. Lady Bird Johnson just couldn't hold a candle.

[pinkytoe]

Perhaps the first news story I can recall was coming back from an August Colorado trip and seeing the newspaper headlines about Marilyn Monroe's death. 1963 maybe? And then JFKs death the day after he drove past our school in San Antonio. My father worked at NASA with the astronauts so all the early missions are part of my memory stream too.

[Alan]

Like Catherine, my first memory of a significant news story had to do with the JFK assassination, although I don't have a clear memory of that November 22nd, 1963 event that isn't jumbled with all the subsequent coverage. What I do have a very clear memory of is 2 days later, on a Sunday morning, watching with my dad when Jack Ruby assassinated Lee Harvey Oswald live on TV. I was in the 4th grade at the time.

Outside that, the next clear memory of news coverage was a year or two later when Winston Churchill died. I remember thinking that would forever be a significant date in history so I wrote it down in a little notebook so that I would remember the date forever. As it turns out, I didn't.

[jp1]

Just like those of you remembering JFK I remember much later where I was when I learned that the space shuttle exploded. I was in High school band class senior year and the principal came in and informed us. He said something to the effect of ‘that was the one with the school teacher’.

[Tradd]

I remember two things as they happened on TV. The last moonshot taking off plus Nixon standing on the steps of Marine One doing that big wave after resigning. I was born in Merch 1969.

[rosarugosa]

Little Bitty Bobby will be proud: I remember reading all the stories about the Boston Strangler in the Boston Record American or Boston Herald Traveler, or whatever it was called back then, with horrified fascination. I would have been 5 to 6 years old, so definitely not age-appropriate reading, but my parents never did censor my reading material. I didn't even understand everything I was reading, but I understood the strangling part and that he did bad things to his victims. As an aside, it is only in posting this now that I realize how far back my reader vs. watcher behavior goes, since my earliest memory of a news story is print media and not the TV news.

[iris lilies]

Because I am the same age as many here, it was JFK assassination.

[ToomuchStuff]

While I don't remember it as a news story, it was, and it is my first memory and happy place. I attended Harry Truman's funeral, and was in the funeral home so my grandfather could get some pictures. He and grandmother were neighbors of his cousin, and grandpa worked in the funeral home.
Next one I can honestly say I remember, I was I think still six, and Elvis died and its the second time I saw my mother cry.

[Alan]

I realized this morning that I have an earlier memory than I shared above. We got our first TV when I was in the 2nd grade and growing up in the middle of nowhere S/E Missouri newspapers weren't readily available outside of the occasional Sunday edition of the St Louis Post Dispatch. Today I recall sitting on the floor in front of that new TV while good old Uncle Walter broadcast coverage of John Glenn orbiting the earth. That would have been early 1962.

About 40 years later I got to spend the day with then Senator Glenn and his wife on a protection detail while he was in town making a presentation at a private event. As part of the detail I sat with Annie in the first row of the audience as he spoke and later got a pic with him.

[LDAHL]

Born in 1958. I have a memory of being annoyed at all the TV time the JFK assassination and funeral coverage was consuming. We only had three or four channels in those days, and it was creepy having the same thing on every one.

[nswef]

In third grade I was made aware of the election between Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson. One boy in my class was saying we should all vote for Stevenson...my dad disagreed. As for TV...probably the Kennedy Assassination. I was in 10th grade. And we did see the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald on that Sunday morning.

[happystuff]

JFK here as well. Remember being told about it in school and it was very surreal seeing all the grown-ups crying. Got home and saw the news.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Snippets of the Vietnam War from a neighbor house where they had a tv when I was real little in rural New Hampshire. Rob

[Rogar]

I have a strong memory of the JFK assassination and the various funeral events. I even remember riding my bike home from elementary school and talking with my friend the day it happened. I suppose there are many people in my generation where that is a big one.

The space launches were big, but the lunar landing was HUGE. I went over to a friend's house where a dozen or so people were gathered around a relatively smaller B+W set.

I don't recall watching a lot of national TV news other than special events. Our dinner was on a strict schedule like JP1 and there was no TV until the dishes were done and by then you're into McHale's Navy. We did keep up with a lot of print news and aways have a few Time's or US News types on the coffee table, plus the daily local paper. And I vaguely recall a staticky AM radio in the kitchen that got a lot of use.

[littlebittybobby]

okay-----it was 1962, and a guy who was in deep trouble carried a bomb onto a 707 on a flight from K.C. to Chicago(or vice-versa. but yeah----the plane blew up over iwah, and crashed in zurra, killing all on board. i read about it in the sundy paper on a trip to galesburg, il. yup. isn't that interesting? there is a memorial to the incident, listing the names of the victims. hope that helps you some.

[littlebittybobby]

Little Bitty Bobby will be proud: I remember reading all the stories about the Boston Strangler in the Boston Record American or Boston Herald Traveler, or whatever it was called back then, with horrified fascination. I would have been 5 to 6 years old, so definitely not age-appropriate reading, but my parents never did censor my reading material. I didn't even understand everything I was reading, but I understood the strangling part and that he did bad things to his victims. As an aside, it is only in posting this now that I realize how far back my reader vs. watcher behavior goes, since my earliest memory of a news story is print media and not the TV news. TYVM, RR. but yeah---we saw the mooo-vee, starring Tony Curtis, in our high school auditorium, which at one time was the largest(auditorium) in Alaska. Not long afterward, Albert DeSalvo was murdered in prison. so anyway---they shoulda had Richard Crenna play DeSalvo. after all, he was italian-american, too. yup.(see photos) hope that helps you some. 58705871

[catherine]

Born in 1958. I have a memory of being annoyed at all the TV time the JFK assassination and funeral coverage was consuming. We only had three or four channels in those days, and it was creepy having the same thing on every one.

Aww, just because Kennedy was a Democrat? ;)

[early morning]

Well, I remember the hub-bub around the Nixon-Kennedy debates when I was 4, because my sister's employers were Catholic, and it was much discussed. I also clearly remember the palpable fear and concern during the Cuban Missile Crisis, as we lived between the Miamisburg Mound Laboratories and Wright-Patterson AFB, which at the time was a SAC base. We actually watched the news on TV, something we seldom did, because getting a signal from it was a LOT of work, apparently. I remember Dad standing behind it, fiddling with the antenna, and then blocking everyone's view while he tried to adjust the horizonal and vertical controls. We did bomb drills at school, it seemed like daily - but probably wasn't. I was in first grade, and we learned how to spell Khrushchev, for some unknown reason - maybe one of us asked? But I still remember it, lol.

[LDAHL]

Aww, just because Kennedy was a Democrat? ;)

Naw. Six year old me didn’t concern himself with such things. Although even then I didn’t have much use for maudlin drama. And it stretched on endlessly.

[iris lilies]

Well, I remember the hub-bub around the Nixon-Kennedy debates when I was 4, because my sister's employers were Catholic, and it was much discussed. I also clearly remember the palpable fear and concern during the Cuban Missile Crisis, as we lived between the Miamisburg Mound Laboratories and Wright-Patterson AFB, which at the time was a SAC base. We actually watched the news on TV, something we seldom did, because getting a signal from it was a LOT of work, apparently. I remember Dad standing behind it, fiddling with the antenna, and then blocking everyone's view while he tried to adjust the horizonal and vertical controls. We did bomb drills at school, it seemed like daily - but probably wasn't. I was in first grade, and we learned how to spell Khrushchev, for some unknown reason - maybe one of us asked? But I still remember it, lol.

oh yes! Those horizontal and vertical controls! So annoying.

[Tradd]

You folks all must be significantly older than I am (55)!

[early morning]

Old? Yes. that's me, lol. Will be 68 this summer, and happy to be here at that advanced age :~)

[catherine]

Old? Yes. that's me, lol. Will be 68 this summer, and happy to be here at that advanced age :~)

72 here--I've got you beat, early morning!

[littlebittybobby]

okay-----i'm no jack kennedy, nor did i know jack kennedy, either. but yeah----i been ta dealy plazza, twice! not only that, but i've got an authentic dougs gym tee-shirt! yup. you kids don't know this, but dougs gym was around the corner from dealy plazza, and where jack ruby lifted weights to stay in shape, so he could be the bouncer at his strip club. yup.

[Alan]

i been ta dealy plazza, twice!
Recognize the grassy knoll?

https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.18169-9/577714_3134567529250_648640823_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5f2048&_nc_ohc=6WwAOsDYqmEQ7kNvgFIfX4u&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-1.xx&oh=00_AYD6OF2JYM5JRBQeaGzt08HRLF9wfw_pgrs6fdKO2kUu IA&oe=666CA5AE

[catherine]

okay-----i'm no jack kennedy, nor did i know jack kennedy, either. but yeah----i been ta dealy plazza, twice! not only that, but i've got an authentic dougs gym tee-shirt! yup. you kids don't know this, but dougs gym was around the corner from dealy plazza, and where jack ruby lifted weights to stay in shape, so he could be the bouncer at his strip club. yup.

One of my first market research projects took me to Dallas. During my break I thought I'd walk around. I turned a corner and got the weirdest sense of deja vu, and then I realized I was at Dealey Plaza! Of all the places in the large city of Dallas I could have wound up, it was a couple of blocks from Dealey Plaza. I went to the book depository museum and walked around just thinking about that day.

And another weird story about market research in Dallas. A few years later I was back in Dallas--on November 22. So I said to the young facility assistant. Wow this is so weird that I'm here in Dallas on this day. And she looked at me blankly and said "Why?" I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but I kind of was.


ETA: Yes, Alan I do!

[Alan]

ETA: Yes, Alan I do!
We may have to explain that to Tradd, she's just a kid. :laff:

[Tradd]

We may have to explain that to Tradd, she's just a kid. :laff:

I know what the grassy knoll is, if that’s what you’re referring to! :laff:

[iris lilies]

Alan, that photo is funny of you sitting in the grassy knoll but honestly, it looks like it’s Photoshopped, and badly.

but I’m really not the one to identify Photoshopping.

[Alan]

Ellen, that photo is funny of you sitting in the grass you know, but honestly, it looks like it’s Photoshoped, and badly.

but I’m really not the one to identify Photoshopping.
Well Cyrus, it's not photoshopped. My wife insisted on taking that same shot from several angles, do they all look photoshopped?

https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/436317195_1449133959307362_4203982160478657272_n.p ng?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5f2048&_nc_ohc=zZ9K4RqjI5kQ7kNvgGk54aO&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=03_Q7cD1QHWIOXi5deUE_-eV7WmojQzWkE_kwkJFNaUSxgqcMS6Lw&oe=666CCCDE

https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/436421714_412034018328467_7775114611228096869_n.pn g?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5f2048&_nc_ohc=CGq1MTQRNX8Q7kNvgGJgZh7&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=03_Q7cD1QHJGEYkDQ30D27c92wJsqqj0D-B0nzlQtlWBR8L1Q9uhQ&oe=666CF3EC

https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/436526965_427331160004042_5327961562740478157_n.pn g?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5f2048&_nc_ohc=T7opJdnD0ToQ7kNvgFNbolX&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-1.xx&oh=03_Q7cD1QE_HBPw_mVKQWXESfRO5BOwDagvkdmLpBuXMGBA pWfe1w&oe=666CD309

https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/436470346_755732490101865_8738966831346738971_n.pn g?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5f2048&_nc_ohc=majfNu5J1ocQ7kNvgGJAvOJ&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-1.xx&oh=03_Q7cD1QEtIw270AgPDABcOmgwOhbIaIXz2RFTshPD9pCK r_FaYg&oe=666CD1EC

Edited to add: Actually, now that you mention it, they kinda do. But they're not. LOL

[iris lilies]

Other photos, better!

[Rogar]

I saw JFK give the commencement address at an Air Force Academy graduation. I was pretty young but it was quite the memorable pageant with the president arriving in one of three choppers that landed on the field and the throwing of hats at the end. Not too long ago I found the speech he gave some obscure corner of the internet. It was pretty heavy on the cold war and national defense.

It wasn't long after that that my folks drug me and my big brother along for the epic road trip to see the 1964 World's Fair and eventually JFK's gravesite at Arlington.

[KayLR]

The earliest, probably the JFK assassination. I also remember, for some reason (probably the duck and cover and timed runs home from school) that I was scared to death of Nikita Kruschev. I don't think I was old enough to know what the Cold War was all about, but I remember he was the bad guy we were all ducking and running from.

The widest background noise during our dinner hour over many years, though, was the Huntley-Brinkley Report and the Vietnam War.

[catherine]

Kay, I remember being fearful, too! I remember walking in my neighborhood and I looking up at every plane crossing the sky above me, wondering if it was a Russian aircraft carrying a bomb.