JFK, 50 years later: Local residents feel impact of event - Gainesville Times

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JFK, 50 years later: Local residents feel impact of event

As news of assassination spread, people in area reacted with disbelief

Jerry Castleberry was 15 years old and driving past the Terrell Philyaw Asphalt Co. on Athens Highway during Driver’s Education class at E.E. Butler High with instructor E.L. Cabell when news on the car radio told that President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. Cabbell told Castleberry to turn around and go back to the school.

1117JFKCastleberry2 — Jerry Castleberry was 15 years old and driving past the Terrell Philyaw Asphalt Co. on Athens Highway during Driver’s Education class at E.E. Butler High with instructor E.L. Cabell when news on the car radio told that President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. Cabbell told Castleberry to turn around and go back to the school.

The bullets didn’t just take down a popular president. They also struck the American public at its core, stirring up deep emotions, such as sorrow and fear. And for many Americans, they also shattered what they had perceived as an innocent, almost idyllic, age.