Where were you? What were you doing when you heard the news? What was your reaction? What did you think?
These are the questions usually asked about one of the most tragic events in American history: the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK). This occurred 60 years ago today.
It won't be surprising to anyone to hear that the residents of Romeo reacted with shock and disbelief and made those same inquiries as evident by the front page of the November 26, 1963 issue of The Romeo Observer.
Various citizens were interviewed about their reactions to the assassination. One woman didn't even know that JFK was murdered until her doctor at an appointment said, "Isn't it terrible about the president?"
Many of them expressed surprise, sadness, and confusion. Philip Davidson, an attorney and secretary of the Macomb County Republican Committee, summed up the general feeling upon hearing the tragic news with this: "I still can't believe it. The most important man in Romeo[,] Michigan, in the United States, has been senselessly murdered. [Like] every American, regardless of political affiliation, religious belief, or ethnic background - I repeat, like every American I share personally in this tragic loss of my neighbor."
Every one, no matter who they were and where they came from, felt united through this loss.
On the editorial page, editor and publisher of The Romeo Observer Melvin E. Bleich also had something to say. While he echoed similar sentiments by acknowledging of the silence and disbelief to understand what had just happened, he knew that the country will move on because "we are a nation of laws, not of men."
In addition, Bleich encouraged the Romeoites to heed JFK's words like "Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather what you can do for your country" and to make decisions that aren't the easiest nor the most popular like JFK did because it was "the right thing to do."
True to the newspaper's words, it advocated for the support of the new President, Lyndon B. Johnson, and to carry on with courage, diginity, and stamina like Jacqueline Kennedy did.
The shock and grief were so great that Monday, November 25 became a day of mourning, and proclamations were made to close all business establishments, offices, schools, and courts during the time of the late president's funeral. It turns out that there was a precedent for this kind of situation in Romeo. When President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, Village President James Harvey issued a similar proclamation by having all business closed, allowing the bells to ring, and ordering the flags to be raised at half mast and drapped in mourning on Wednesday, April 19, 1865.
For those who were present on November 22, 1963, where were you when this man was assassinated?
Source: The Romeo Observer, November 26, 1963, p.1, p.4, and p.8