'It’s Hard To Imagine Any Event Having The Same Impact Today'

"In an instant, optimism turned to despair," says reader who recalls feeling "strong, unusual, and sophisticated emotions" as a child when JFK was killed

President John F. Kennedy portrait photograph, taken in the Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C.

[This is part of a continuing series of recollections of Nov. 22, 1963. Submit your JFK story in the comments sections here: “Where Were You When?”]

Steffen Saifer

“There is only one thing on my bucket list; I don’t want to die without knowing the truth a…