OH+Interview

Topic: Assassination of JFK Subject: Sandy Berson (Jake's great uncle)

Where were you during the time of the assassination of JFK what was your status? What was your age? Did you vote in the election? Answer: I was in Madison, WI as a student at UW at the age of 21. No, I did not vote in the election, I was not old enough at the time. What was your initial reaction when you saw the assassination? Answer: Shock, putting it into perspective, I was young, I looked at all the presidents as old guys and then along came Kennedy a young president who I could relate to. Were you a supporter of JFK at the time? How do you think the reaction of a supporter of JFK would be different than a non-supporter? Answer: I was 100% a supporter of JFK. Well, IT was the president, even if you hated him or didn’t agree with him, the shooting of a president shocked everyone. No one shot presidents in my lifetime. IT started a chain of attempted assassinations of presidents and other public officials i.e. Gerald Ford, Ronald Regan, Bobby Kennedy, George Wallace, MLK Jr., etc. It was the first attempted assassination of a president in recent times in those days. How did your parents react? Was it much different than yours? Do you think age made a difference in the reaction of a viewer of the assassination? Answer: Something impossible happened, as a young person I was very emotionally affected. IT was the first president I could relate to as a person. My parents were also in shock. I think age did make a difference, young people were more idealistic and related better to him, older people had more experience and probably didn’t have as much shock as a younger person would have or as much anger. That is just my opinion you know… Did you think it was the end of an era? Did you think hardships were about to come? Answer: Well it was an era that hardly began, looking back I’ll say life changed, it was never the same. Yes, it was definitely a life changing experience for me. How do you compare the day JFK was assassinated to another crisis like 9/11? Can you compare your feelings? Answer: Honestly, JFK was more dramatic to me, not to say 9/11 wasn’t. I felt like I almost knew JFK, in 9/11 3,000 strangers were killed, it was still horrific, but JFK’s assassination was one of the worst days of my life. Does it matter to you whether Oswald acted alone or not? Answer: I cared at the time, but I am satisfied that he acted alone. I am convinced that the investigation was thorough and the conclusion was correct. You also saw the assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald on TV, right? What did you think of that assassination? What was your reaction? Do you think Jack Ruby’s actions were justified? Answer: I saw that live, I was laying in bed on a Sunday. Emotionally it didn’t bother me. Of course not, I do not believe his actions were justified, murder is not justified. I would’ve preferred a trial. Do you think your life would be different today had the event not happened? Answer: Yes, I feel like I’ve been scarred. Now I look at any public official as a possible victim. As soon as Obama was getting serious, the first thing that came to my mind was, “Someone will want to assassinate him.” I think many others felt that way, that was the first thing they thought about. I see many similarities between Obama and Kennedy. Life never was the same after the assassination