The Day JFK was Assassinated

I remember that day
As if it were yesterday.
I was in seventh grade
November 22, 1963,
When the teacher got a call
On the classroom phone.
I knew immediately
Something was drastically wrong.
Her body tensed
As she screamed NO!
Then began crying
And in tears told the class
President Kennedy
Had been shot to death.
John F. Kennedy embodied
The spirit of this country,
Made us proud
To call ourselves Americans.
He inspired our effort
To land a man on the moon,
And he was the one
Who championed
The US Peace Corps
Which I was to serve in
Many years later.
The trauma of that day
Lingers on in the national psyche.
It was a moment of vulnerability,
Fear and confusion
Welded into the consciousness
Of our nation.
We grieved and sighed
In collective disbelief.
Our hero was dead.